Given that the first two games in the Bulls’ Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Wizards produced few positive lasting memories, it’s time to visit the archives before the series shifts to Washington for Friday’s Game 3.

You remember.

Noc-i-oni! Noc-i-oni!

Thursday marked the nine-year anniversary of Andres Nocioni’s hyperactive 25-point, 18-rebound effort in the Scott Skiles-coached Bulls Game 1 victory over the Gilbert Arenas-led Wizards.

And the chants that began in the upper reaches of the 300 level and cascaded downward still linger.

“I remember that a lot,” Nocioni said on the phone from Spain, where he still plays professionally. “It was an amazing feeling and one of the best memories of my career. For me, coming from a small town … in Argentina, a country where soccer is the biggest sport, that was awesome.”

With his hustling, physical style and inimitable English, Nocioni quickly became a fan favorite in his four-plus seasons with the Bulls. Nicknamed Chapu after a popular cartoon character in his native Argentina, Nocioni teamed with fellow rookies Ben Gordon and Luol Deng and second-year guard Kirk Hinrich to help change the Bulls’ culture.

The Bulls ended up losing that series to the Wizards in the first of three straight playoff appearances that featured a first-round elimination of the defending champion Heat in 2007. After an underachieving 2007-08 season that led to Skiles’ firing, they were headed to a fourth postseason appearance when Nocioni got dealt to the Kings in the move that netted Brad Miller and John Salmons.

“Chicago was the best moment in my career, especially because I was in my best shape and playing my best game,” Nocioni said. “I decided to go there after four years in Europe. I was really mature about playing my basketball. And my body was still young.”

Now, it’s not. At 34, Nocioni, who played sparingly over two seasons with the 76ers from 2010-12, said his goals could change after he finishes his contract with Laboral Kutxa Baskonia in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.

Though Nocioni loves the European lifestyle for his family, which has three young children, he may revisit interest that several NBA teams showed in him last summer.

“Europe is a great, great place to play basketball,” Nocioni said. “I came back here because I sat on the bench a lot in Philly and that was frustrating for me because all my life I have played. But my situation has changed a little bit. I don’t need to play as many minutes. I’m too old.

“So maybe I go to the NBA and try to enjoy a good organization and try to help young guys and the team to win games. I think about playing more like a veteran helping with fewer minutes and more experience. But I have no decision now. I’m not thinking long-term.”

Well, beyond this summer, when Nocioni may join national team stalwarts like Carlos Delfino and Manu Ginobili at the FIBA World Cup in Spain for one last run in a glorious international career that featured Argentina winning gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics and bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“If it happens, that would be awesome because it will probably be the last chance to play with the great players from Argentina,” Nocioni said.

Derrick Rose could be there for Team USA. And Nikola Mirotic, whose draft rights the Bulls own, could be there as well. Nocioni has played against Mirotic in Euroleague competition.

“Mirotic is a great player,” Nocioni said. “He’s really young and talented. He’s the best power forward in Europe right now. I think he’s ready to make a step and go to the NBA. But he has to make that decision.”

Nocioni made that decision a decade ago and loved it.

“Tell everyone in Chicago hi,” he said.

kcjohnson@tribune.com

Twitter @kcjhoop