Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg put the officials on blast after providing a backhanded compliment to Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas, claiming his greatness on the court while shining light on his constant traveling violations.

“Let me say this, Isaiah Thomas is a hell of a player,” Hoiberg told ESPN's Chris Forsberg. “An unbelievable competitor — he's a warrior, everything he's going through right now. He had a hell of a game tonight. But when you're allowed to discontinue your dribble on every possession, he is impossible to guard. He's impossible to guard when you're able to put your hand underneath the ball and take two or three steps and put it back down. It's impossible to guard him in those situations.”

Thomas came back from two subpar nights in Game 2 and Game 3, putting up 33 points on 12-of-21 shooting to lift his Celtics even with the Bulls and lock the series at 2-2 as it takes a turn back to the TD Garden for Game 5.

Standing at a mere 5-foot-9, Thomas' center of gravity is definitely different from most others on the court, though Hoiberg hasn't been the only coach to point that out from the sidelines.

“That's a great question,” Hoiberg said regarding the referees honing into traveling violations more and more every season. “They talk about it every year. They talk about it every year, being a point of emphasis. It should be called. I've said all I'm going to say about it. I'm not going to talk about it anymore.”

Bulls swingman Jimmy Butler claimed he didn't pay attention to his dribbling maneuvers, but was rather focused on trying to stop him.

“Isaiah's a terrific basketball player,” Butler said. “So I wasn't paying attention to whether he was carrying the ball or not. It's not my job to watch that.”

His teammate Dwyane Wade also declined to comment on the matter.

“I'm not getting into the officiating,” Wade said, while vouching for Hoiberg's willingness to stand up for his players. “All players want coaches to have their back. Whenever Coach does that, it makes guys want to do a little bit more for him. Want to give him a little bit more. So it's always great when you feel that your coach has your back.”

Hoiberg could potentially be facing a fine from the league office, despite not criticizing officials as openly as Memphis Grizzlies coach David Fizdale did in his Game 2 press conference, but if it's bound to be an eye-opening moment for the Bulls, the man at the helm will welcome any fine coming his way.