Andrés Nocioni

Andrés Nocioni

Philadelphia 76ers
Position	Small forward/Power forward
Personal information
Born	(1979-11-30) November 30, 1979 Santa Fe, Argentina
Nationality	Argentinian/Italian
Listed height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight	225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
NBA draft	2001: Undrafted
Playing career	1996–present
Career highlights and awards
2x All-Euroleague Second Team 2003, 2004 Spanish League MVP 2004
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com

Andrés Marcelo Nocioni (born November 30, 1979 in Santa Fe, Argentina) is an Argentine professional basketball player for the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, and for the Argentine national team. Nocioni won a gold medal with the Argentine national team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. In the 2008 Summer Olympics, he helped the Argentine national team win the bronze medal. His natural position is small forward, though in the NBA he has played some minutes at power forward.

Andrés was the second son of Pedro José Pilo Nocioni and Ángela Palmira Roux, both also born in Santa Fe. Though both he and his older brother Pablo were born in Santa Fe, the family actually lived in Gálvez, 80 km south of Santa Fe, where Andrés attended school. Andrés and his wife, Paula Raquel Aimonetto, have two sons, Laureano and Benicio. Nocioni is known as Chapu after the children TV series El Chapulín Colorado, very popular in Argentina. He holds Argentine and Italian citizenships.

Pro career

Argentina and Spain

Nocioni's professional career began in the Argentine basketball league (LNB) in the 1995–96 season, and in 1998–99 he was already named Best Sixth Man. In 2001, Nocioni went to Vitoria-Gasteiz, where he spent three seasons as a refuerzo (reinforcement player) with Spain's TAU Cerámica of the ACB Spanish professional league. He was the league's 2004 Most Valuable Player and his stellar play earned him an All-Euroleague Second Team selection in 2003 and 2004.

NBA career

Andrés Nocioni signing basketballs for fans.

After winning the gold medal at the 2004 Olympics, Nocioni was signed as an undrafted rookie free-agent by the Bulls. Two of his countrymen, Manu Ginóbili and Carlos Delfino, were also in the NBA at the time.

He played in 81 games during his rookie campaign and posted averages of 8.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.5 apg and 23.4 mpg. Nocioni's physical style of defense created controversy around the league, and he was suspended for one game after a hard foul to Detroit Pistons' Tayshaun Prince. Nocioni had previously committed a hard foul on the Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade and then was shoved past photographers and into the first row of spectators by Udonis Haslem. A spectator tossed a drink at Nocioni, which was similar to the incident that triggered Pacers–Pistons brawl at The Palace of Auburn Hills. The fan was ejected by security. For the incident Nocioni received a flagrant-one foul (which is a foul involving excessive or unjustified contact) and a technical. Haslem received a technical and an ejection.

While giving a teleconference interview with NBA.com, Nocioni spoke about the hard fouls and his suspension, "First, the one with Wade was completely my fault. It was a bad reaction on my part. If I had received any penalties because of it, it would be a fair sanction, but it was not given. However, the sanction set after the game against the Pistons is totally unfair. I see it as a totally real play taken out of context in the game — absolutely nothing happened. It was an accidental blow. Without purposely trying to, I hit him. I apologized on the court. I also asked Carlos Delfino to give my apologies to him, so I don't understand why there is a sanction for something totally normal in a game." In Nocioni's first NBA playoff game, he scored 25 points and grabbed 18 rebounds while playing all 48 minutes. Due to his outstanding play, the sold-out United Center crowd in Chicago chanted his name. This game solidified Nocioni's status as a Chicago favorite.

In Nocioni's second season with the Chicago Bulls, he averaged 13.0 ppg, 6.1 rpg, and 1.4 apg, while playing in all 82 games, 43 of them starts. Nocioni was named the Chicago Bulls' Player of the Year for the 2005–06 season. In the playoffs Nocioni averaged 22.8 points, 9.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists including two double-doubles. In game two against the Miami Heat he scored 30 points shooting 10–12 overall from the field (83.3%), including 3–3 in from the three point line and 1–1 in free throws, with 6 rebounds and one steal in almost 40 minutes played. Nocioni scored 30 points again on November 19, during the 82–72 defeat against L.A. Lakers. He also scored a career high 31 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the December 1st 111–108 road victory against the Hornets. Nocioni missed a third of the 2006–07 NBA season due to plantar fasciitis. He returned to action late in the season on April 8, 2007, against Toronto.

Nocioni became a restricted free-agent following the 2006–07 season. On July 6, 2007, he agreed a 5-year deal with the Chicago Bulls worth a reported $38 million. Teams that were interested in Nocioni included the Memphis Grizzlies. The deal became official on July 18, 2007. In preparation for the 2008–09 NBA season, Nocioni admitted the knee tendinitis which had hampered his performance during the 2008 Olympics was still affecting him and specifically he had hardly done anything in between winning the bronze medal and reporting for training camp. On February 18, 2009, Nocioni was traded to the Sacramento Kings along with Drew Gooden and Cedric Simmons for John Salmons and Brad Miller. Nocioni started for the Kings the last 23 games of the 2008-09 season, averaging 13.7 points a game. But with the arrival of Tyreke Evans and others, the 2009-10 season saw Nocioni relegated to the bench, playing less than 20 minutes a game; Nocioni let it be known that he wanted out of Sacramento. During the 2010 offseason, Nociono was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers along with Spencer Hawes for Samuel Dalembert.

Argentine national team

Andrés Nocioni

Medal record
Representing Argentina
Men's Basketball
	2004 Athens	National Team
	2008 Beijing	National Team
FIBA World Championship
	2002 USA	National Team
FIBA Americas Championship
	1999 Puerto Rico	National Team
	2001 Argentina	National Team
	2003 Puerto Rico	National Team

Nocioni was called up to the Argentine national basketball team that won the silver medal at the South American Basketball Championship. In 2001, Nocioni played on the Argentine national team that won the 2001 South American Title. In 2002, Nocioni was part of a team that made basketball history, when Argentina became the first team to beat the United States team at the Basketball World Championship, held that year in Indianapolis, U.S. His team once again earned the silver medal, losing to Yugoslavia.

In 2004, Nocioni was a key factor when Argentina became the first South American team, as well as the first Latin American one, in Olympic basketball history (and the fourth team ever, after the United States, Yugoslavia, and the USSR) to win the Olympic gold medal.

In 2006, Nocioni started for Argentina in the FIBA World Championship. In a game against Venezuela, Nocioni landed on an opponent's foot and looked to have injured his ankle, though he was cleared to play in Argentina's next game against Nigeria. In Argentina's game against Nigeria, Nocioni led the team in scoring with 23 points playing 18 minutes, while not missing a single shot. Nocioni was 9–9 from the field including 5–5 from the 3-point line. "I don't think I've ever played a game where I didn't miss a shot - at least not for the national team." Argentina secured winning group A of the tournament, going a perfect 5–0 in the first round of play.

Argentina lost to Spain in the FIBA 2006 world championships semi-final, with a final score of 75–74. Nocioni had a chance to win the game for Argentina, but his three-pointer at the end of the game missed, giving Spain the win, and the chance to win the championship. Nocioni's Argentine team next played the US team in the bronze medal game, which Argentina lost 96–81. Nocioni scored 18 points in this game, in which he played against NBA teammate Kirk Hinrich.

In 2008, Nocioni was selected to play with Argentina in the Beijing Summer Olympics. Argentina advanced to the quarter-final with four wins, placing behind behind Lithuania in the group stage, after defeating Russia. In the game against Russia, Nocioni hit 4 three-pointers, finishing with 19 points. After defeating Greece, the Argentine team lost their Olympic semifinals rematch from 4 years earlier against the US team. Due to a knee tendinitis, Nocioni only played 18 minutes, scoring 10 points and securing 4 rebounds. Argentina next played Lithuania in the bronze metal match, which Argentina win 87–75. Nocioni scored 14 points in that game.

NBA career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2004–05	Chicago	81	38	23.4	.401	.258	.766	4.8	1.5	.5	.4	8.4
2005–06	Chicago	82	43	27.3	.461	.391	.843	6.1	1.4	.5	.6	13.0
2006–07	Chicago	53	31	26.5	.467	.383	.848	5.7	1.1	.5	.4	14.1
2007–08	Chicago	82	27	24.6	.432	.364	.807	4.2	1.2	.3	.5	13.2
2008–09	Chicago	53	2	24.1	.414	.378	.806	4.2	1.1	.5	.3	10.4
2008–09	Sacramento	23	16	31.0	.448	.441	.763	6.0	1.8	.6	.7	13.7
2009–10	Sacramento	78	28	19.7	.399	.386	.717	3.0	1.0	.4	.4	8.5
Career		449	185	24.6	.433	.375	.802	4.7	1.3	.4	.5	11.3

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2004–05	Chicago	6	6	33.7	.403	.353	.739	8.2	2.3	.2	1.0	12.8
2005–06	Chicago	6	6	38.3	.560	.476	.857	8.8	1.5	.8	.3	22.3
2006–07	Chicago	10	0	19.7	.360	.333	.722	3.5	.8	.2	.5	8.8
Career		22	12	28.6	.443	.377	.789	6.2	1.4	.4	.6	13.6

External links

• Official site Template:Es
• NBA.com Profile - Andres Nocioni
• Euroleague.net Profile - Andres Nocioni
• Andres Nocioni at ESPN