Bulls' Portis takes offense at flagrant foul criticism
Bobby Portis went on the offensive Monday, two days after the Bulls forward was ejected for a flagrant foul against Washington's Tomas Satoransky.
After the game, Wizards guard Jodie Meeks was quoted in The Washington Post about the foul, which happened with 2:35 left in the fourth quarter.
"If a guy has a clear lane to the basket, if you can't get there, let him go," Meeks said. "Don't try to take him out. Obviously, not everybody abides by those rules."
Seeing that quote on Twitter, Portis tagged Meeks with a response.
"Bruh, shut up. You sound foolish. Anybody watching the vid know I went for the ball," Portis' tweet read.
Satoransky drove to the basket and when he jumped for a layup or dunk, Portis came over and attempted to block the shot, but knocked Satoransky off-balance and the 6-7 guard flipped in the air and landed hard on the ground, opening a cut on the side of his face. After being down for a few minutes, he walked to the locker room.
Portis talked about the Twitter feud before Monday's game at the United Center.
"I mean, I don't like that he (Meeks) said I didn't abide by the rules," Portis said. "In what basketball world does it say just let a man go lay the ball up? He said, if a man has a clear path to the lane just let him lay it up. Where I'm from, that's not basketball. So I just thought it was stupid.
"I'm going to play as hard as I can. I was just competing on the ball, made a basketball play. I can't control how the man feels. At the same time, I feel like I blocked the shot. I can't argue with the officials. They called what they called. At the same time, I don't think it was the right call."
Portis did get a piece of the ball, so it wouldn't be right to say he intentionally tried to knock Satoransky off-balance. The complaint from the Wizards was more that it was a dangerous or reckless play on Portis' part. Satoransky is not expected to miss any time.
"It's a dangerous play," Washington coach Scott Brooks said after the game. "I'm sure if (Portis) had to do it all over again, he probably would've taken it back."
Portis fights negative rep:
Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg talked about whether Bobby Portis is getting a reputation for physical play after he was ejected Saturday for a flagrant foul against Washington's Tomas Satoransky.
Of course, Portis made negative headlines for the Oct. 17 practice skirmish which sent Bulls teammate Nikola Mirotic to the hospital with a concussion and facial fractures.
"I'll say this about Bobby Portis: He's a wonderful kid, one of the most polite kids I've ever been around. 'Yes sir, no sir. Yes ma'am, no ma'am,' type of kid who's very competitive when he steps on the floor," Hoiberg said. "So again, I said it the other night. There was nothing dirty about that play. I feel bad for Satoransky. he played an unbelievable game. With the way he fell, I hope he'll be OK. But the play itself from Bobby's standpoint, I don't think it was a dirty play."
Portis did not receive any additional punishment and was active for Monday's game.
Dunn stays out:
Kris Dunn missed his 11th game Monday while recovering from a concussion. He did practice with the Windy City Bulls, however, and continued to try to get back in shape for a return to game action.
Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg wasn't sure if Dunn would play Wednesday against Toronto or if he will participate in the Rising Stars game this weekend in Los Angeles.
"We'll see how he does," Hoiberg said. "Today he'll get a good practice and practice tomorrow with us and we'll make a determination for Wednesday."
Cristiano Felicio and newcomer Noah Vonleh also joined Windy City Bulls practice on Monday.