One of the things scouts like best about Bobby Portis is that he possesses a terrific motor - that he constantly appears to be giving the maximum possible effort.
Well, you'd be giving it your all constantly, too, if you thought your opponent had just assaulted the woman who gave birth to you.
In one of the best quotes from this week's 2015 NBA Draft Combine, Portis explained that in order to psych himself up and play angry, he takes a page out of Bobby Boucher's playbook and imagines opponents hitting his mother.
Here's Portis:
I'm very crazy. I play angry. I play mad. I play very angry because every game, I sit in the locker room and I envision that the other player on the team slapped my mom. That's why I get mad, and now I've gotta get you because you slapped my mom.
...
Just some of the things that I went through in the past, some of the things I had to go through in my household, and some of the things I had to go through in school. So I create this thing that I do now -- me getting mad -- so when I get on the court, I know I can help make you just as mad.
Portis witnessed his mom live through an abusive relationship, so the visualization tactic is far more personal than simply borrowing a trope from Adam Sandler.
Whatever the root, how Portis plays works in a serious way. ESPN's Chad Ford ranks him as the No. 17 prospect in the 2015 NBA Draft and DraftExpress has him one spot higher at No. 16.
With few weaknesses on the court and a motor that doesn't quit, the 6-foot-11 Portis is considered to have one of the most significant floors in the draft. In other words, few see him failing and most agree he'll at least be a serviceable power forward, even if his ultimate upside may not be enough to push him into the lottery.
