re: Best rookie from 2013 NBA draft

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For the past couple of days, Noel has been on display for the media to see. Monday it was in Atlanta following the team's shootaround. Yesterday it was at the team's practice facility at PCOM. The rust from not having played since a torn ACL in his left knee toward the end of his only season at Kentucky felled him is more obvious than anything. But there are just so many signs that he could be everything that people thought he could be in the NBA before the injury that dropped him from the undisputed top pick to the sixth overall.

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"The first thing that I've fallen in love with is that he is beyond competitive. There is a dog in him, there is a toughness in him that I misjudged, because you look at him and he's got those big eyes at 19 years old and there's a naiveté that no doubt exists within him, as it should. So you're talking to him and he doesn't talk a lot, he listens a lot, he's a fantastic listener. As you go through all those months shooting one-handed with him and then all of the sudden you see him come out here, he's a tremendous competitor. For me, it's the No. 1 quality that makes somebody special. Then you get into the athleticism where he's got that bounce and he can jump twice. People that can miss a blocked shot, hit the floor and go back up are special. And he can do it both with his right hand and his left hand. I think the growth of his actual foul shot will carry over to his real shot, [which] has been excellent this year. I'm proud of the time that we've spent with him. I see a far more mature type of player having gone through all the film sessions and the weight room sessions and on a team bus. He's been with the team, he just hasn't played. This year has been invaluable to him."

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