'Tough' Portis shows winning attributes in C's workout

CSNE

A.SHERROD BLAKLEY

WALTHAM, Mass. – Bobby Portis has a ways to go before his game will make folks speak of him in the same breath with Kevin Garnett.

But in terms of attitude, approach to the game and maybe most important – intensity – it’s hard to look at him, hear him speak and not think about the former Boston Celtics great.

Portis was among the six players Boston brought in for workouts Wednesday, and easily the most decorated and highly-regarded prospect.

The SEC player of the Year was the only player among those at the workout who is considered a lock to be selected in the first round, with most NBA experts having him go anywhere from late-lottery (top-14) to somewhere in the teens.

In an age where players are drafted more on potential than proven work, Portis is a bit of an oddity.

The 6-foot-10 big man spent two years at Arkansas capped off by winning the league’s player of the Year award this past season despite much of the attention in the SEC being paid to Kentucky and its bevvy of NBA-caliber talent.

In fact, there are at least two Kentucky players, Karl-Anthony Towns and Will Cauley-Stein, who are likely to be selected prior to Portis despite him and not them, being the SEC’s top player.

Portis, 20, takes it all in stride.

“I really don’t care about that,” Portis said. “Everything is about age. People go on age. They’re 18, 19. I’m 20. I feel like if I was a freshman I would be top-5 too. It’s good, though. Everything happens for a reason.”

The Celtics have four picks in next month’s draft with the best of the bunch – the 16th overall pick – the one they would likely use on selecting Portis.

Boston’s director of player personnel Austin Ainge was pleased with what he saw out of a number of players at the workout.

And the many qualities that elevated Portis to being one of the top players in this year’s draft, were on display Wednesday morning.

When describing Portis’ workout, “tough” was one of the first words uttered by Ainge.

“He’s tough; he’s tough,” Ainge said. “He’s very physical. And he knows how to play for a young kid. He’s got a great feel for the game; he can pass, he can shoot, dribble. He’s pretty good at everything.”

And it is that jack-of-all-trades quality that serves as both a strength and weakness for Portis leading up to the draft.

Because he can contribute in so many different areas at both ends of the floor, teams love the idea of being able to plug him into a number of different scenarios.

But not having a go-to strength in the eyes of some teams might be seen as a weakness.

“If I do everything good that’s pretty good,” Portis said. “I don’t have to do everything great. I just bring a different type of skillset than most 6-10 players don’t have.”

Portis can score in a multitude of ways.

While he didn't take a lot of 3s in college, he did shot 46.7 percent on 3s as a sophomore (14-for-30) which is a clear indicator he can score from the perimeter in addition to being able to score in the low-post.

Defensively, he has good lateral quickness, great instincts and maybe most important, he’s a tough-minded big man who plays a fearless brand of basketball.

When you get past all the accolades and praise that has been bestowed upon Portis recently, his greatest strength lies in his desire to win.

“I’m a winner,” Portis said. “Every level I’ve won and got my team (far into the postseason). In high school I won four championships. In college, I took Arkansas from a team that didn’t win, into a team that made the NCAA tournament.

Portis added, “Some players play to play; I play to win. Playing to play means you want to be out there and play 30 minutes to say you played 30 minutes. But if I’m out there five minutes, I’m going to give my all and that’s to play to win.”

112288

you have to like that article about the kid.

if Ainge stands pat on draft day, he would be a good pick if there still.