Denton: Gortat Aims to Improve
By John Denton
November 13, 2009
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO -- Marcin Gortat always figured that by going against Dwight Howard daily in practice that there’s nothing he could see in games that would be any more challenging.
Maybe the Orlando Magic reserve center figured wrong.
With Howard in early foul trouble Wednesday night, Gortat got heavy doses of 340-pound Cleveland center Shaquille O’Neal, and the Magic’s young center more than held his own on the low block.
Despite giving up roughly 90 pounds, Gortat defended well and held his ground in the post. He had a controversial blocked shot on O’Neal that was whistled a foul, but otherwise Gortat allowed O’Neal just one basket while the two were matched up together.
``Shaq did his job and I did my job and it was fun,’’ Gortat said of the Shaq experience. ``It’s way different than Dwight. Shoot, that’s like a train coming at you. When he’s running the floor and I’m about to get hit, it’s like (oh my) I’m about to get run over and this is going to be a big crash. But it was a lesson for me.’’
Gortat, who admittedly has been none too pleased with how he’s played so far after signing a $34 million free-agent contract in the summer, could get another shot at big minutes tonight against talented New Jersey center Brook Lopez. Howard will start on Lopez at center, but if foul trouble arises, Gortat knows he’ll be in the game soon.
He predicted friends back in Poland and along the Magic bench Wednesday night that he’d see big minutes against Shaq. But he wasn’t all that confident of how he’d fare, calling himself ``fresh meat.’’
``I’m gonna be the fresh meat they’re going to throw at Shaq, that’s what I said to everybody on the team,’’ Gortat said. ``Ask any friend of mine back in Poland, I was 100 percent sure I was going to play a lot against Shaq. I took off my (warm-up) pants before the game and I said, `I’m coming in. Dwight is gonna get fouls or Shaq is gonna get fouls and I’m I gonna come in.’’’
Gortat hasn’t known exactly when he was coming in this season, struggling to find consistent minutes behind Howard. He’s played 19.8 minutes a game, putting up decent scoring (4.9), rebounding (5.0) and blocks (1.11) numbers. But he expected so much more from himself and he still considers himself to be ``one of the best centers in the NBA.’’
Moving back to a reserve role took some time to adjust to after he starred for Poland’s national team in the European Championships and he saw major minutes during the preseason with the Magic. He played exceptionally well for Orlando in exhibition play, three times hitting double figures in scoring and twice grabbing more than 10 rebounds.
Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said that when Gortat’s minutes rose in the preseason he fell into the trap of trying to ease his way into games. The 7-foot center from Poland was one of the Magic’s best players last season at giving instant production in short bursts. He wants Gortat to get back into the mentality that he has to produce as soon as he checks into games.
Wednesday’s noble effort against O’Neal was a good start.
``I’m kind of down with what I have been doing and how I have been playing so far, but I’ll come back to my game real soon,’’ Gortat said.
As for the comparisons to guarding Howard in practice and O’Neal in games, Gortat said the two of them differ greatly, especially in their energy levels. He said holding off Shaq’s weight was a serious challenge, but he still aches from the collisions he has with the ultra-powerful Howard.
``You can’t compare Shaq at 37 years old to Dwight who’s 23, you can’t compare,’’ Gortat said. ``Dwight is Dwight, he’s gonna go at you every single time even if the ball is on the other side of the floor. Pushing doing everything to just (upset you). You’re just feeling pain through the whole body all the way through your arm. Dwight is a monster.’’
Gortat, who is in his third year as a NBA player, called playing against O’Neal one of the highlights of his professional career. He liked how knowledgeable O’Neal was and he was blown away by the veteran center’s personal touch during timeouts.
``First of all I can say that he’s a big man with class,’’ Gortat said. ``I never expected that he knows about me so much. He asked me about my dad who was a boxer in the Olympics. He told me to say `hello’ to my dad, and that was impressive to me. I’m a kid from Poland who is probably the last guy on his list and he knows so much about me. It was so cool to play against him.’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
By John DentonNovember 13, 2009
Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Magic and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.
ORLANDO -- Marcin Gortat always figured that by going against Dwight Howard daily in practice that there’s nothing he could see in games that would be any more challenging.
Maybe the Orlando Magic reserve center figured wrong.
With Howard in early foul trouble Wednesday night, Gortat got heavy doses of 340-pound Cleveland center Shaquille O’Neal, and the Magic’s young center more than held his own on the low block.
Despite giving up roughly 90 pounds, Gortat defended well and held his ground in the post. He had a controversial blocked shot on O’Neal that was whistled a foul, but otherwise Gortat allowed O’Neal just one basket while the two were matched up together.
``Shaq did his job and I did my job and it was fun,’’ Gortat said of the Shaq experience. ``It’s way different than Dwight. Shoot, that’s like a train coming at you. When he’s running the floor and I’m about to get hit, it’s like (oh my) I’m about to get run over and this is going to be a big crash. But it was a lesson for me.’’
Gortat, who admittedly has been none too pleased with how he’s played so far after signing a $34 million free-agent contract in the summer, could get another shot at big minutes tonight against talented New Jersey center Brook Lopez. Howard will start on Lopez at center, but if foul trouble arises, Gortat knows he’ll be in the game soon.
He predicted friends back in Poland and along the Magic bench Wednesday night that he’d see big minutes against Shaq. But he wasn’t all that confident of how he’d fare, calling himself ``fresh meat.’’
``I’m gonna be the fresh meat they’re going to throw at Shaq, that’s what I said to everybody on the team,’’ Gortat said. ``Ask any friend of mine back in Poland, I was 100 percent sure I was going to play a lot against Shaq. I took off my (warm-up) pants before the game and I said, `I’m coming in. Dwight is gonna get fouls or Shaq is gonna get fouls and I’m I gonna come in.’’’
Gortat hasn’t known exactly when he was coming in this season, struggling to find consistent minutes behind Howard. He’s played 19.8 minutes a game, putting up decent scoring (4.9), rebounding (5.0) and blocks (1.11) numbers. But he expected so much more from himself and he still considers himself to be ``one of the best centers in the NBA.’’
Moving back to a reserve role took some time to adjust to after he starred for Poland’s national team in the European Championships and he saw major minutes during the preseason with the Magic. He played exceptionally well for Orlando in exhibition play, three times hitting double figures in scoring and twice grabbing more than 10 rebounds.
Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said that when Gortat’s minutes rose in the preseason he fell into the trap of trying to ease his way into games. The 7-foot center from Poland was one of the Magic’s best players last season at giving instant production in short bursts. He wants Gortat to get back into the mentality that he has to produce as soon as he checks into games.
Wednesday’s noble effort against O’Neal was a good start.
``I’m kind of down with what I have been doing and how I have been playing so far, but I’ll come back to my game real soon,’’ Gortat said.
As for the comparisons to guarding Howard in practice and O’Neal in games, Gortat said the two of them differ greatly, especially in their energy levels. He said holding off Shaq’s weight was a serious challenge, but he still aches from the collisions he has with the ultra-powerful Howard.
``You can’t compare Shaq at 37 years old to Dwight who’s 23, you can’t compare,’’ Gortat said. ``Dwight is Dwight, he’s gonna go at you every single time even if the ball is on the other side of the floor. Pushing doing everything to just (upset you). You’re just feeling pain through the whole body all the way through your arm. Dwight is a monster.’’
Gortat, who is in his third year as a NBA player, called playing against O’Neal one of the highlights of his professional career. He liked how knowledgeable O’Neal was and he was blown away by the veteran center’s personal touch during timeouts.
``First of all I can say that he’s a big man with class,’’ Gortat said. ``I never expected that he knows about me so much. He asked me about my dad who was a boxer in the Olympics. He told me to say `hello’ to my dad, and that was impressive to me. I’m a kid from Poland who is probably the last guy on his list and he knows so much about me. It was so cool to play against him.’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Orlando Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard on ESPN 1080 AM on Thursday at 5:05 p.m. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
