Marcin Gortat Wants More Shots. The Magic? Not So Much

Poor Marcin. No one in Orlando cares much for what he wants. They just need him to keep banging down low. From the Sentinel: “When Gortat does try to showcase his offensive game with the Magic, he gets talked to by the coaching staff. And that adjustment has not been easy for the 26-year-old big man. ‘There are days when I’m about to explode and just say a couple of things or go to the coach and tell him what I want to do,’ Gortat said. ‘I feel like I’m one of the guys who has to sacrifice a lot to adjust to this team. I can tell you that it’s not easy.’ The Orlando Magic, meanwhile, are not overly concerned about Gortat’s desire to play more offense. During the team’s 3 1/2- hour meeting last Monday, his teammates told him they wanted him to focus on his role of defending, rebounding and running the floor. They weren’t interested in any offensive flash from Dwight Howard’s backup. ‘A lot of players feel that they can do more than what everybody’s asking them to do,’ Dwight Howard said. ‘But you’ve gotta know your role. Teams that win championships, everybody knows their role.’ After the first week of training camp, coach Stan Van Gundy was concerned about Gortat’s focus on his role … ‘I think that he’s a guy who has a lot of trouble accepting his role,’ Van Gundy said. ‘He really wants to be more of an offensive player. I’m not discouraging that. … But he needs to focus on defending and rebounding and running the floor. He needs to get back to that. Those are the things he does well, and he has not done a good job of that.'”