Aych: Marcin Gortat Shows Impressive Low-Post Skills in Eurobasket Competition
by Evan Dunlap on Sep 11, 2009 12:06 PM EDT
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PrintI briefly wanted to note this bit of news on Marcin Gortat's play in Eurobasket. Jay Aych of The Painted Area--whose coverage of the tournament is thorough, insightful, and engaging--came away impressed with Gortat's offense in Poland's recent loss to Turkey:
Maybe Marcin Gortat is more than just a defensive & rebounding presence. Looks like Marcin can show D-Howard a few things about post footwork. Marcin put on a clinic. That's right, Gortat put on an offensive clinic.
Marcin did most of his work on the left block, usually choosing to turn right shoulder. He had two quick baseline spin moves for reverse lay-ins, two turnaround jumpers, and a nice up/under step-thru into a scoop shot. Marcin even hit a 12-foot jumper coming up thru the lane off a baseline screen.
Wait, we're not done yet. Maybe Marcin's most impressive move came when he faced up from just below the right elbow and proceeded to drive into a spin move that he finished off with a lefty hook. Maybe this game was a one-off, but maybe Stan [Van Gundy] needs to add some Gortat plays to his Magic playbook.
It's interesting to read about Marcin's offensive game developing, since he's little more than a pick-and-roll finisher/garbageman in the NBA. There's nothing wrong with that, because he's converted a tidy 56.4% of his shot attempts in his two NBA seasons, but the Magic's offense has to adjust ever so slightly when Gortat replaces Howard, whose power game is slightly more refined. Gortat hasn't shown a consistent ability to create for himself at the NBA level, although I know I'll never forget the nifty hook he flipped in over Rasheed Wallace in his rookie season, which you can see at about the 2:06 mark of this highlight reel. Thus, Aych's report is encouraging to Magic fans perhaps concerned that Gortat can't maintain that level of efficiency as his career progresses.
Maybe nothing comes of this news, and Gortat continues to be a highly efficient garbageman in the NBA. But maybe, just maybe, his solid performance against Turkey isn't a fluke. It'd make the Magic that much more dangerous.
A final note on that game: Aych says former Magic forward Hedo Turkoglu "hit two back-2-back 3pters midway thru the 4th that put the game out of reach, then knocked in a long 2-pointer a few minutes later." Sufficient evidence to illustrate that not everything from that game is surprising.
UPDATE: Aych's recently posted preview of the Qualifying Round has more to say about Marcin:
Marcin Gortat has been an interior force and also turned himself into an offensive juggernaut in the last week. Gortat is averaging 17 ppg (5th best) on 67% (4th best) & 11 rpg (2nd best).
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great read
I have been saying since his rookie year, the boy can flat out play. I keep saying here (and getting shot down) that Orlando should figure a way to use a twin tower system to use Gortat more. Not for entire games just for 2 or 3 4 minute stretches. This would force teams to load up super big and slow to defend. And for people who say it would slow us down or lessen our 3pt threat I counter by saying D12 and Tat are two of the faster & better break running bigs in the game.
Experimental 2 big lineup (3-4 mins a stretch)
Jameer
Carter
Lewis
Gortat
Howard
Not enough 3pt threat? These 3 guys combined for close to 400 makes last year.
The article says how Gortat has hooks and jumpers so you can still spread a little.
What would our defensive and rebounding efficiency be? hmm?
And then as quickly as a team adjusts we put our unconventional lineup back in and force them to switch. If Gortat picked up a foul or gets tired, you still have Bass.
I think this lineup could produce eyepopping results and D12 would go apey bananas with all the single coverage it would give him.
cmon SVG use it.
Thats me chilling with Nick Anderson
by The Magic made Lebron run off the court on Sep 11, 2009 9:36 AM EDT reply actions
I just have horrible associations of the Dwight and Darko era;
not saying that I wouldn’t like to see a twin tower wrinkle with Gortat though. That is, assuming either he or Dwight can start hitting 12 footers consistently.
by CaliFlorida on Sep 11, 2009 11:01 AM EDT up reply actions
LOL, who's shooting you down?
I don’t think anyone here would disagree that using Gortat and Howard together would be a bad thing, but it wouldn’t be wise to pair them together on the court for extended periods of time. The only way it’d work is if either Gortat or Howard developed a jumper to spread the floor a bit, offensively.
SVG’s has used the pairing before and it’s been relatively successful, but still, pairing the two bigs together completely eliminates the essence of the 1 in, 4 out offense which makes the Magic devastating.
I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.
"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone
he said 3-4 min. stretch at a time
has a point. but i like bass cuz he can shoot too. gortat cant
1st i would like to give the familes from 9/11 my prayers and our military god bless.
and on the twin tower thing. i like it but i think we have twin towers in bass and howard. and bass can shot so we can spread the floor just fine. i would like to see more minutes with gortat and howard. wow what a team we have this year.
by magicman775 on Sep 11, 2009 11:33 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
See my comment below.
I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.
"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone
I understand that he's doing so well,
but look at the shooting percentage-67%.
That’s (kindly) 10% higher than what he would get in the NBA. So some of those more impressive moves are probably the ones not made in an NBA game. Not trying to be a debbie downer, and I mean duh, this is great news. But I want to see it in big boy land first.
The Eurobasket is no joke.
It’s not the NBA, but still.
I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.
"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone
so either way, we are running the twin towers?
at least for the first 10 games. im not so sure that bass qualifies as a tower at 6’8’’. a wall, certainly, but not a tower. due to all the recent reports, i feel that giving the towers a chance would be worth the risk. i could also see ryan anderson starting. regardless, one of our bench players is going to be sitting with a hefty contract, be it bass or gortat. all in all, i am so excited to for the season to begin! how about hedo, still clutch, huh?
No. Gortat and Howard are incapable of playing with each other for extended periods of time.
It has everything to do with the lack of spacing that occurs offensively, more than anything else.
I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.
"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone
bass has a wing span of 7'6'' or something real close to that.
he plays like a tall guy thats why he played center for the mavs most of last year. not saying he can play tall like shaq. but he can def. hold his own on most big men in the leage. with that said he will not get a lot of min. with howard. we have better rotations than that imo.
Bass' wingspan is listed as 7'02.5"
Third Quarter Collapse: An Orlando Magic blog at SB Nation | Brandon Bass: "I just play hard."
thanks
did not know for sure. read somewhere it was more.
bass was the backup PF behind dirk
the only reason he may have seen time at the center is one word… dampier. if he could play the center effectively than we would not be discussing whether anderson is going to pass him on the depth chart
Wrong.
Bass can play center effectively, as he spent the majority of his time (28%) at that position last year.
I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.
"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone
bass can play center he proved that last year.
not that we will need him to tho. just trying to say he matchs up with big men better than most think. his wing span helps with the lack of height.
gortat
You have a lot of options this year with Gortat. Living in poland I have a chance to see gortat this year and he’s been impressive during all the matches poland played.
Especially on the defensive end, he got 7 blocks in two games and 27 rebounds, offensivlly (17 points per game) he can’t show everything because we’ve got week point guards so there is hardly any pass near the basket that he could use any post moves. poland advanced to teh second round but I cant see them any further, Gortat and Lampe wont win them some games.
still, rest assured that Gortat can have the same numbers as against 76ers this year day in day out, when given starter’s minutes, That’s a great security , isn’t it?
That's exactly the reason why Otis Smith went ahead and brought Marcin back.
I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.
"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone
I do agree that we have the best center backup in the league
look for a future poll on this topic
Thats me chilling with Nick Anderson
by The Magic made Lebron run off the court on Sep 11, 2009 3:23 PM EDT up reply actions
I don't even think it's a contest.
Gortat could start for a number of teams in the NBA.
I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.
"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone
No. Gortat and Howard are incapable of playing with each other for extended periods of time.
RE: playing two towers
I’m not an expert but if you have a line-up like this:
5.Howard
4.Gortat
3. Lewis
2. Carter
1. Nelson
you can think of playing inside to Howard for a dunk or to pass the ball outside to 3 point shooters, (Lewis, carter nelson) but as gortat is not as big a threat offensively as Howard the defense can double Howard therefore stalling such plan. I think it can work sometimes, depends on the team but i see gortat as a back up for Howard.
thats all I am saying, SOMETIMES
I dont know I just remeber how devastating S.A. used to be w/ Duncan + Robinson. We could do that too.
Thats me chilling with Nick Anderson
by The Magic made Lebron run off the court on Sep 11, 2009 3:04 PM EDT reply actions
That's the thing, both of those players could shoot around the perimeter. They each had range.
Dwight and Marcin don’t have that, yet.
I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.
"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone
D-12 and The Hammer are a couple a bricklayers
true true Duncan was devastating doing the jumper sing Wake, And Robinson’s 71 points is testiment to his shot. I guess we dont have that option yet, I just thought we could over power inside, but I see your point. The 2 of them in at the same time would clog the paint unbelievably.
Thats me chilling with Nick Anderson
by The Magic made Lebron run off the court on Sep 11, 2009 4:32 PM EDT up reply actions
yep very true
cant compare duncan/robinson to dwight/gortat.imo dwight and gortat are far from them two guys.
As careers stand now...
I am sure Dwight will surpass Robinson in pecking order, but IMO TIMMAY is best PF of all time, so Dwight might have a hard time beating that.
Also Gortat is Beast and I would pull a “lil wayne” and mouth kiss him for retaining him!!
Daughter dominated 43 inch LCD, must go replace for football.
Have a good weekend Yall
Pick O the week: USC 45 Ohio State 13.
thats why we got bass.
he will start. i dont think people realize what he brings to this team. really its a perfect fit for us. howard will have a 12 15ft. shot this year. might not need it to much tho.and dont forget about anderson too.
It isn't a guarantee that Bass will start.
He probably will since Rashard is suspended, but don’t expect that to be the norm during the season. I think almost everyone here thinks Brandon is a good fit, but he does have his limitations as a player.
I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.
"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone
a guess
but i bet bass starts atleast 40+ games this year.
No way.
I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.
"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone
40+
he gets 10 off the start and when he plays great ball with us. stan will run with it. its a big part in why we paid him.i’m no one and def. not as close to the team as you but his fit is perfect. i’ll save this and bring it up in 8 months e. if i’m right or wrong
imo, that only happens if.....
1. Barnes is a bust/hurt and
2. Pietrus is hurt (forcing Lewis to SF) and
3. Bass plays better with the 1st unit than Anderson
In other words only if SVG is forced into it.
but we get it….you like Bass.
[If you want to save my reply, too, I’m always open to receiving “I told you so”s from people….seems it happens quite often to me. lol.]
by magicfaninTN on Sep 11, 2009 10:51 PM EDT up reply actions
yeah
barring disaster, I think we got Bass to deepen our bench and add a little toughess. Dont get me wrong I think Bass could start for us and several teams, but starting Bass would directly conflict with our 4-1 and turn us to a 3-2 team. SVG covets his unconventional lineup and besides experimenting or exploiting a particular matchup Bass will be best served being an anchor on the second squad.
Heres why we have Bass
2nd string:
Dad
Reddick
Barnes
Bass
Gortat
I dont know about you but that is a super strong lineup, (and conventional too, just what a second string needs to be, all business no gimmick) and if you rotate in R.Anderson it becomes even stronger.
Having a competant 2nd string is going to rest our starters a little bit all season long giving the Magic that extra energy needed come playoffs to get over the hump.
Thats me chilling with Nick Anderson
by The Magic made Lebron run off the court on Sep 12, 2009 7:39 AM EDT up reply actions
The bench will be a strong unit, yes.
I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.
"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone
svg wanted him so we can play 3-2
we need it for boston. we allmost got spanked by a kg less celtics. he will be the key for la. bos.
Seriously.
A multitude of things would have to happen for Bass to start 40+ games.
I will be happy to admit I’m wrong but I guarantee, barring a disaster (injury, players struggling, etc), Brandon isn’t starting the majority of the season. Just don’t see it.
I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.
"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone
bass has very good d too
that alone will make svg start him.
with such a frontcourt power
I hope U will soon prove James’s plan to win the championship this year an illusion.
It'll be tough, Cleveland will be damn good this year and deserve the respect of being a worthy foe.
I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.
"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone
very true. but how much better than last season? with shaq they are better at 5 but still he's old and
might not be their saviour this season. IMO with all changes Smith made this offseason it depends much more on how YOUR new guys will mesh and how much stronger U will be.
They're supporting cast is much stronger with Moon, Parker, Powe, and company.
Moving Ilgauskas to the bench will pay dividends, too.
I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.
"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone
It is LBJ`s Team.........
It does not matter how good the Cavs`5 are or how good and strong is their bench, because Cleveland is one man team; LBJ is not a team player, he will win or lose the game by himself now more than ever in his last year contract, I am not impress at all with the Cavs this year, but the Celtics is my biggest concern to the Magic pass to the finals once again this year.
dont forget washington
if that team is finally healthy….loookk out
Thats me chilling with Nick Anderson
by The Magic made Lebron run off the court on Sep 12, 2009 12:32 PM EDT up reply actions
The Wizards won't pose a serious threat.
I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.
"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone
Playoffs?
Thats me chilling with Nick Anderson
by The Magic made Lebron run off the court on Sep 12, 2009 4:09 PM EDT up reply actions
They'll make the playoffs, but they're not going to pose a serious threat in the East.
I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.
"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone
Cleveland isn't a one man team.
And to say LeBron isn’t a team player is foolish to say. It’s not his fault his teammates couldn’t make shots against Orlando in the Conference Finals. James is happy to pass his ball and make his squad better.
I'm the other guy at Third Quarter Collapse, with a Twitter account.
"Never hate your enemies. It affects your judgement." - Michael Corleone
one man team
surely, but when their offence suffered against magic due to various reasons, be it Ilgauskas or Mo williams’s lucklaster performance, their turned to James and it looked like a one man team. I’m sure they’ll do something about it this year. still I’m not convinced that Moon, Parker and Powe is the answer. Healthy Shaq may be.
cleveland has always been a one-man show!
its not shaq that bothers me, rater it is the additions of Moon, Parker, and Powe that makes this a more potent offense. all these guys have great length for their respective positions, which creates match-up problems for other teams, something that we were famous for last year.
Update from Poland
Gortat and his supporting cast lost to Serbia who they played smarter and Poland played the same defence as against Turkey, or rather its lack. therefore all the news about Gortat are of no importance coz you can’t really be evaluated when you play hard when others are pretending. you will run from one post player to the other losing rebounds and not blocking shots, not to mention how stupid it look. Having 16points 9reb 2 bl doesn’t mean anything therefore. just saying:)
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