Frustrated Joakim Noah trying to find his way

Jekyll-and-Hyde performances by the Bulls from game to game are getting to big man Joakim Noah, who admitted after Saturday night’s 112-107 victory against the Phoenix Suns that he’s been frustrated a lot this season.

‘‘I think everybody is frustrated,’’ he said, ‘‘but at the end of the day we have to look at the big picture and focus all of our energy on .?? channeling our energy on the positive, and figure out …’’

He changed thoughts in mid-sentence.

“It’s our intensity,’’ he said. ‘‘When we have that dawg, it’s a whole different team.’’

Is that ‘‘dawg’’ the focus of his frustration?

‘‘No question,’’ he said.

Noah isn’t the first to bring up intensity. The mystery has been why it continues to be a factor. Noah said he knew but it was ‘‘something I don’t want to share.’’

In the meantime, intensity is just the start of Noah’s aggravations.

First, what hasn’t been a problem for him: Pau Gasol’s presence. The notion that it changed Noah’s position is just false. Noah might have been listed as a center, and is announced as ‘‘the man in the middle’’ during pregame introductions, but he always has been given power-forward duties on offense and defense.

The change in his numbers from last season starts with offseason knee surgery and the minutes restrictions he has been under since training camp.

‘‘He’s played a lot less, and he’s labored through the injury, so that’s really the biggest thing,’’ coach Tom Thibodeau said. ‘‘He’s doing the same thing [as last season]. When he played with Carlos [Boozer], he guarded the fours. So I don’t know where that comes from. It’s a bunch of nonsense.’’

Besides coming back from the injuries, Noah has dealt with not having the ball as much with the return of Derrick Rose. When Rose went down last season, the offense was forced to go through Noah, who almost became a point-center. Now, when Noah runs to the top of the key to get the ball in the offense, he’s often simply dragging a big with him and bringing more traffic to Rose.

But there are positive signs. Though his scoring has been down in February — just 6.6 points per game in seven games — his all-around game is more Noah-like, starting with his rebounding: He has averaged 11.1 rebounds since the game on Feb. 4 at Houston. In that span, he has averaged 4.1 assists, the most since his November number of 4.6.

But the best sign for him came Saturday against the Suns, when he had 12 rebounds and eight assists. There was emotion in Noah’s game. He found that ‘‘dawg.’’

Can he keep it, and can his teammates keep it?

‘‘That’s the big question,’’ Noah said. ‘‘Isn’t it?’’