Pax help us all.
I can't imagine liking this pick as recently as a few weeks ago, but lets focus on the good things that Noah does. He's 7 feet. He can man-defend the center position, good help defender and shotblocker, and on offense he can run, pass, catch and finish.
That's a pretty good player, and that's not going into the intangibles like his 'proven winner' status.
There's also those negative intangibles, such as: he's annoying as hell.
But hey, they're equally unimportant in my eyes.
The way the top ten unfolded was all pointing towards Noah. The only way you can be really upset over this pick is if you thought Spencer Hawes was something special. I don't know if he is, and Pax thought he wasn't. Hawes and Noah worked out against eachother, so I'm guessing a lot was learned then about both.
But Yi and Brendan Wright were gone. Jeff Green and Corey Brewer were gone. It may have been a case with those other guys, but I can't see a time in the future when an NBA team is kicking themselves over not taking Spencer Hawes. Not that he can't or won't be good, but he's not some uber-upside chance that was there for the taking. Sure Pax went safe, but to me it was a safe pick with no real good risks to be taken.
And as a semi-impatient fan, at least we know what we're getting with Noah. This team gets even better on defense, gets size(!), and can really really run on offense. Shotblocking, rebounding, and bigs running the floor are crucial to a high-paced offense, and what better frontcourt mates for that then Ben Wallace, Tyrus Thomas, and Joakim Noah?
But no, that frontcourt isn't complete. We know they need a low-post scorer, Pax knows they need a low-post scorer. There's still free agency and the possibly nutso sign-and-trades that may follow. The low-post scorer wasn't to be found at #9, so what's wrong with taking a guy you know will immediately fit your team? He's replacing Malik Allen in the rotation for chrissakes.
Even if it will take me a while to get used to rooting for him.