Gortat's Interview (on SVG panicking, on contract issues)

[Jiwol]

http://www.sport.pl/celebrities/1,85636,6512848,Marcin_Gortat__W_Orlando_zostane_ja_albo_Hedo_Turkoglu.html

Here's my translation of short but interesting interview with The Polish Hammer.

Q:Shaquille O'Neal said that your coach Stan Van Gundy is trembling from fear in crucial moments of games and that he losts control over his team. How you as a team approached to those words?

A:That's true, that's the nature of our coach, he panicks very often during games. He's got some behaviour which is not good for us. With his gestures he makes us more nervous on the floor. We did't comment Shaq's words.

Q:Has Stan Van Gundy finally started to draw plays for you? A few months ago he openly stated that you can only count on putbacks as far as offense is concerned. He said you need to concentrate on defense and rebounding and that there are other players to score points.

A:Unfortunately, that is still an issue, nobody draws palys for me. Recently coach joked during timeout that I would get the ball at the end of the game only if I get 10 rebounds. My role is to play defense, rebound, block shots of the best big man on other teams. Things I do for years on high level. Offensive game will come... but on another team.

Q:Recently there's much talk in Orlando's media about the future of yours and Hedo Turkoglu. Local journalists are concerned that Magic will look for savings not to exceed the salary cap and not to pay the penalty.

A:Press has been speculating a lot about our future recently, indeed. I think there's gonna be a big problem with signing both of us. For sure one of us will start next season on a different team. But that's what our agents take care of.

[magicfan4life05]

thanks for the translation

hmm, some interesting choice words by mr gortat !

[TheChaser]

How sure are you that this is a completely true interview? And in no way putting down your great work on the translation, good stuff. But if this is truly credible than none of that is great news.

[Jiwol]

How sure are you that this is a completely true interview?

How about it's been published by the daily paper which solds 400.000 everyday?

[TheChaser]

How sure are you that this is a completely true interview?

How about it's been published by the daily paper which solds 400.000 everyday?

Well I would say that it's all true. Wow, some interesting words indeed.

[CourtsideTV]

I don't mind letting Gortat walk. There are a lot of big men in the league that can do what he does.

[Cigamodnalro]

If this is true, then Gortat is gone. Why he would speak out against Van Gundy heading into the playoffs is absolutely beyond me though. That's incredibly irresponsible, let alone disrespectful, behavior at the most integral part of the season for the team.

If this is a newspaper overstating things, then that's one thing. If it's true to life, then good riddance to one of my favorite players on the team.

[Shishnizzle]

I would say what Gortat said about SVG is probably true. We see Stan and he won't even take out the starters when we are up comfortably with less than 5 minutes togo. Part of it makes him such a good coach, and part of it will get to older more experienced players like Shaq. He is good for our team now but he may need to trust his players a little more as we mature because he could run the risk of losing his players.

As for Gortat saying this. Not good to air out your teams dirty laundry in the press. Also from a team standpoint you are supposed to have your teammates and your coaches back. This is a mistake on his part. He needs to learn to be more careful about what he says in the press.

[zuppafly]

Bye bye Marcin

[Cigamodnalro]

I think this hurts Gortat's value around the league, if anything. You don't speak out against your coach and tell the media you're leaving your team the day before the first game of the playoffs. I always saw Gortat as a "street smart" player after reading his interview about money management, but saying this stuff now is beyond stupid. I hope Gortat only gets garbage time minutes in the playoffs.

[Shishnizzle]

Yeh Gortat has hurt his value. If he loses value to the Magic who can pay him more than anyone else.

[magicfanatic23]

No big deal

[Shishnizzle]

I would expect to hear some damage control on all fronts pretty soon.

[glennathan]

I think this hurts Gortat's value around the league, if anything. You don't speak out against your coach and tell the media you're leaving your team the day before the first game of the playoffs. I always saw Gortat as a "street smart" player after reading his interview about money management, but saying this stuff now is beyond stupid. I hope Gortat only gets garbage time minutes in the playoffs.

Lets do a role reversal. We saw Foyle play all 82 games last year and then Gortat took his minutes. Now we see Gortat play a lot this year and lets see Foyle grab his playoff mins because he is healthier

If Gortat is saying this and it turns out to be true, he might as well go back to the Euro League. He will not be getting the big contract in the NBA especially when and if other teams hear about his comments.

For him to say this stuff right before the playoffs I hope Van Gundy hears about this and purposely makes his mins drop nill to none.

[UCFJayBird]

you guys would really sit him in the playoffs when he's our best backup big? Yea he said some stupid stuff, and he's most likely gone next season, but i'm not sure the Magic are going to sit him at the end of the bench during the playoffs out of spite and maybe cost us a chance at an NBA Championship.

[Diehardmagicfan]

You do not say this stuff about your coach and especially before the playoffs.

[AdamTheGreek]

I call bull, I see no quotes in there. I don't care if that paper serves millions, a lot of European papers in all countries generate BS to sell papers. I say about half that interview is true and the rest is embellished.

[magicman123]

if this is true, he is just plain dumb... bye bye

[AdamTheGreek]

Anyone who has heard Gortat conduct interviews a few times knows how well the man handles himself. He's not one to make PR mistakes.

[Jiwol]

I call bull, I see no quotes in there.

This is an interview, 3 questions (bold) and three Gortat's answers. So there are many quotes there. Here's the link to the full interview (I just saw that previous one was a reprint):
http://www.rp.pl/artykul/292757.html