Oct. 14--Bobby Portis grew up admiring Kevin Garnett and trying to pattern his intensity after Garnett's. Now, the Bulls rookie has been trash-talked by one of his role models.
"I loved it," Portis said of the experience during Saturday's exhibition against the Timberwolves. "It kind of taught me some things I can do. I might put that in my game and talk a little trash. I think he did that just to fire himself up and get his teammates going. They went on a 10-2 run.
"But he didn't make me laugh. I just had my eyes bugged and stuff. That's just who I am. He was talking about, 'Grown-man business right here, boy. I'm 40 and you're 20.'"
And that's about all Portis said he could share. Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg, who played with Garnett in Minnesota and called him the best teammate he has ever had, confirmed there weren't many "PG words exchanged" but added "it was good for 'the rook' to experience that."
Indeed, the incident means at least Garnett knows who Portis is. And Portis' preseason play has been of the attention-getting variety.
In fact, with Portis averaging 12.5 points and 12.3 rebounds, Hoiberg confirmed the first-round pick is complicating the crowded frontcourt picture.
"He is making it hard," Hoiberg said.
And that was after both Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson fully practiced Tuesday, with both on track to play Wednesday against the Pistons. That would mark Noah's first action in two games and Gibson's preseason debut following offseason surgery on his left ankle.
"I've said since day one that my biggest job is going to be to figure out a rotation and try to get everybody to buy into roles. It's going to be tough," Hoiberg said. "A lot of guys deserve to play. Obviously, we know what Niko (Mirotic) and Pau (Gasol) can do too."
Hoiberg said Portis' play has him considering some bigger lineups with Mirotic playing small forward. He also isn't worried about Portis' practice habits should he not initially land in the rotation.
"He'll try to run through a wall and break into the rotation if he's not in it initially," Hoiberg said. "Anybody that plays that hard every possession, good things generally happen. And that's exactly what Bobby has done."
For his part, Portis admitted it'd be "tough" not to land in the rotation but that he'd view it merely as adversity he must overcome. He's also not surprised by his preseason play.
"Everything isn't peaches and cream. You can't come in and be LeBron (James) or (Kevin Durant)," he said. "But I prepared myself to be a good NBA player someday. I always stayed composed, level-headed. It's being ready for your moment. When Coach puts me out there, only thing I try to do is play hard."
Layups: Doug McDermott likely will draw his first start with Tony Snell not expected to play after spraining his left ankle. ... The Bulls waived camp bodies Jake Anderson and Stefhon Hannah.
