I haven't watched this one yet (for whatever reason Direct TV League Pass isn't broadcasting preseason games) but the number of the night is Bobby Portis' boards. 17 rebounds in 25 minutes is insane; as was the 14 rebounds in 23 minutes he put up against the Bucks. He doesn't even look like he's in shape yet, honestly. I think we have to have sky high expectations for Portis at this juncture. Some young bigs aren't taught how to rebound out of their area in college, and it just clicks when the get the right instruction in the pros. I think Portis may be one of those guys. The thing that kills me is, at least in some of the action against the Bucks, he was playing outside the three point line on four-out-one-in basketball. It's really tough to rack up any rebounding numbers when you're that far away from the rim. The thing I keep going back to is young bigs are supposed to look terrible in preseason of their rookie years -- even young bigs who eventually go on to become all stars look awful. Niko looked all over the place last preseason, right before he went on to challenge for rookie of the year. Portis already often looks like a veteran out there. I love his defense (even if its expectedly mistake prone); I love his rebounding; he's way bigger than I thought he would be; I think he's definitely a player who can cover minutes at both front court positions; I love his passing and court awareness; if he can figure out put the ball in the hoop with the some consistency . . . he really doesn't have a ceiling. He already has the makings of a solid inside-outside game. He just looks like a superb pick.
Two games isn't much of a sample size, but what the hell, I'm with ya. As for putting the ball in the hoop, in college he made 43.5% of his jumpers from 17+ feet. That's damn good and he really hasn't shown us this part of his game yet.
Hard to fault their drafting in recent years. Since making their worst mistake (2006 - Tyrus Thomas), the Bulls have drafted in the top 10 only twice. They came away with Rose (1) and Noah (9). With picks 11-30, they've netted Butler, Gibson, Mirotic, McDermott and Portis. During this period, they also drafted James Johnson and Marquis Teague. Only Teague is a bona fide bust. That's some good shootin', pard.
And if I recall correctly, they never really did any homework on Teague. Didn't even have him in for an interview, because they didn't expect him to fall. I guess I'm crediting them with a reach.
