Denton: 'Hammering' Down the Opposition
By John Denton
January 29, 2010
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 made a clutch bank shot Thursday night that gave the Orlando Magic their first lead of the night against the Boston Celtics. He had a nifty alley-oop pass to fellow center Dwight Howard for a dunk, he played his most minutes since early November and he was on the floor for most all of the tense moments of one of the biggest wins of the season.
But Gortat’s favorite moment from what proved to be a memorable night came much earlier and on the other end of the floor.
With Gortat baling the Magic out of trouble after Howard picked up three early fouls, the reserve center swatted a shot by Paul Pierce and then on back-to-back entry passes, he poked the ball away from superstar Kevin Garnett. It doesn’t get much better than that for a wide-eyed player from Poland who is still sometimes star-struck by players he’s facing.
``First of all, it was a huge dream for me to play against K.G.,’’ Gortat said. ``He’s a great player, but there was a stretch of about 15 seconds there where he couldn’t get the ball. It was weird, but it was great, too.
``My energy was great. Playing that kind of game, I was ready,’’ Gortat continued. ``I had this huge adrenaline in my body and I was ready to jump out of the gym.’’
Gortat proved to be a central figure in Orlando’s 96-94 defeat of the Celtics on Thursday night when head coach opted for the Magic’s biggest lineup to combat Boston’s towering frontline. Having Howard at center, Gortat at power forward and Rashard Lewis at small forward is a look that the Magic (30-16) could feature in the future, maybe as soon as Saturday against the Atlanta Hawks (29-15) at Amway Arena.
``It is a lineup that we need to give more thought to at times, but it’s strictly situational,’’ Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said Friday following practice. ``I’ve never had my doubts that that can be a really good defensive lineup for us because we have great size and a better chance at protecting the basket. The question is whether or not we can be efficient offensively and get the spacing that we need. But (against Boston) we had a very good offensive fourth quarter with those guys together. It allows us against big teams to matchup better. It’s got some real positives.’’
There was plenty of positives to take out of how Howard, Lewis and Gortat meshed against the Celtics. Lewis made the game-winning layup with 1.3 seconds remaining and had a game-high 23 points by aggressively attacking off the dribble. Howard shook off his early foul trouble by scoring 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter and he added 10 rebounds and four blocks.
As for Gortat, who has mostly been relegated to reserve duty this season behind Howard, he played as well as he has all season. In almost 27 minutes, he scored six points, snatched eight rebounds and blocked three shots. And he played a major role in holding Garnett, one of his boyhood idols, to just six points on two of eight shooting.
``Marcin is one of the best Polish centers to ever play the game,’’ joked Howard, who playfully tweaks Gortat on a regular basis.
Added Van Gundy: ``He got bigger minutes and at a newer position, one that he’s excited about and he likes being able to play with Dwight. He played with great energy and, for one night at least, it worked. (Gortat) has put in a lot of time working on all aspects of his game. Give him credit because he put on a great performance.’’
When Gortat played almost 16 minutes in Thursday’s first half in relief of a foul-plagued Howard, he figured he would return to his reserve role and play only sparingly in the second half. But much to his surprise, head coach Van Gundy opted to give the big lineup a look.
Orlando had experimented with it three nights earlier in Memphis with mixed results when the Grizzlies played a big frontline of Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph and Rudy Gay.
Gortat said one of the biggest keys to his success was being prepared for the opportunity. He is a tireless worker before and after practice, usually get up hundreds of shots in an attempt to expand his game so that he will be given a shot at playing power forward.
``I was ready because I have been paying attention in practice and picking up stuff from (power forwards) Rashard, Ryan (Anderson) and Brandon (Bass),’’ said Gortat, whom the Magic retained last summer by signing him to a five-year, $35 million contract. ``I’m just happy that I was ready.’’
Gortat has never been one to be lacking for confidence, and he feels he’s more than ready for an expanded role in sets where he can play center or power forward. Offensively, he’s confident in his shot. As for the defensive end of the floor, well, his faith is off the charts with both him and Howard on the floor together.
``It’s different offensively with both of us because we both normally play on the block, but I think it’s going to be good for Dwight because he will have only one big guy on him and not two,’’ Gortat said. ``And if he can swing the ball, I can get duck-ins on the other side. And defensively, we’re killing it out there. There’s no way anybody can stop us defensively. We can stop everybody defensively with two big men under the basket blocking shots.’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard each week on ESPN 1080 AM. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
By John DentonJanuary 29, 2010
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 made a clutch bank shot Thursday night that gave the Orlando Magic their first lead of the night against the Boston Celtics. He had a nifty alley-oop pass to fellow center Dwight Howard for a dunk, he played his most minutes since early November and he was on the floor for most all of the tense moments of one of the biggest wins of the season.
But Gortat’s favorite moment from what proved to be a memorable night came much earlier and on the other end of the floor.
With Gortat baling the Magic out of trouble after Howard picked up three early fouls, the reserve center swatted a shot by Paul Pierce and then on back-to-back entry passes, he poked the ball away from superstar Kevin Garnett. It doesn’t get much better than that for a wide-eyed player from Poland who is still sometimes star-struck by players he’s facing.
``First of all, it was a huge dream for me to play against K.G.,’’ Gortat said. ``He’s a great player, but there was a stretch of about 15 seconds there where he couldn’t get the ball. It was weird, but it was great, too.
``My energy was great. Playing that kind of game, I was ready,’’ Gortat continued. ``I had this huge adrenaline in my body and I was ready to jump out of the gym.’’
Gortat proved to be a central figure in Orlando’s 96-94 defeat of the Celtics on Thursday night when head coach opted for the Magic’s biggest lineup to combat Boston’s towering frontline. Having Howard at center, Gortat at power forward and Rashard Lewis at small forward is a look that the Magic (30-16) could feature in the future, maybe as soon as Saturday against the Atlanta Hawks (29-15) at Amway Arena.
``It is a lineup that we need to give more thought to at times, but it’s strictly situational,’’ Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said Friday following practice. ``I’ve never had my doubts that that can be a really good defensive lineup for us because we have great size and a better chance at protecting the basket. The question is whether or not we can be efficient offensively and get the spacing that we need. But (against Boston) we had a very good offensive fourth quarter with those guys together. It allows us against big teams to matchup better. It’s got some real positives.’’
There was plenty of positives to take out of how Howard, Lewis and Gortat meshed against the Celtics. Lewis made the game-winning layup with 1.3 seconds remaining and had a game-high 23 points by aggressively attacking off the dribble. Howard shook off his early foul trouble by scoring 11 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter and he added 10 rebounds and four blocks.
As for Gortat, who has mostly been relegated to reserve duty this season behind Howard, he played as well as he has all season. In almost 27 minutes, he scored six points, snatched eight rebounds and blocked three shots. And he played a major role in holding Garnett, one of his boyhood idols, to just six points on two of eight shooting.
``Marcin is one of the best Polish centers to ever play the game,’’ joked Howard, who playfully tweaks Gortat on a regular basis.
Added Van Gundy: ``He got bigger minutes and at a newer position, one that he’s excited about and he likes being able to play with Dwight. He played with great energy and, for one night at least, it worked. (Gortat) has put in a lot of time working on all aspects of his game. Give him credit because he put on a great performance.’’
When Gortat played almost 16 minutes in Thursday’s first half in relief of a foul-plagued Howard, he figured he would return to his reserve role and play only sparingly in the second half. But much to his surprise, head coach Van Gundy opted to give the big lineup a look.
Orlando had experimented with it three nights earlier in Memphis with mixed results when the Grizzlies played a big frontline of Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph and Rudy Gay.
Gortat said one of the biggest keys to his success was being prepared for the opportunity. He is a tireless worker before and after practice, usually get up hundreds of shots in an attempt to expand his game so that he will be given a shot at playing power forward.
``I was ready because I have been paying attention in practice and picking up stuff from (power forwards) Rashard, Ryan (Anderson) and Brandon (Bass),’’ said Gortat, whom the Magic retained last summer by signing him to a five-year, $35 million contract. ``I’m just happy that I was ready.’’
Gortat has never been one to be lacking for confidence, and he feels he’s more than ready for an expanded role in sets where he can play center or power forward. Offensively, he’s confident in his shot. As for the defensive end of the floor, well, his faith is off the charts with both him and Howard on the floor together.
``It’s different offensively with both of us because we both normally play on the block, but I think it’s going to be good for Dwight because he will have only one big guy on him and not two,’’ Gortat said. ``And if he can swing the ball, I can get duck-ins on the other side. And defensively, we’re killing it out there. There’s no way anybody can stop us defensively. We can stop everybody defensively with two big men under the basket blocking shots.’’
John Denton writes for Orlandomagic.com. His Magic ``Behind the Scenes’’ segment can be heard each week on ESPN 1080 AM. Submit questions to John for his ``Ask J.D.’’ mailbag feature that will appear every Friday at AskJD@orlandomagic.com.
