Back on Sept. 29 at Media Day, Wizards center Marcin Gortat laid out the numerous positives about his first NBA coach, Stan Van Gundy.
Gortat was pulled up to the Orlando Magic in 2007 when Van Gundy was in his first season as the Magic head coach. Gortat had been in the D League with the Anaheim Arsenal. Gortat played just six games that season, but he still draw the ire of his coach when doing things incorrectly.
“I had gotten on him because — as I will on young players at times — with him not doing what he’s told in his first year,” Van Gundy, now the Detroit Pistons coach, said. “I made some off-hand comment about, maybe I need to speak Polish.”
Instead of irritating Gortat, this inspired him. He went to the store and bought Van Gundy a gift.
“He went out and got me Rosetta Stone Polish,” Van Gundy said. “I’ve never opened it up and listened to it, but I still have the box. It’s a very good memory from a really hard-working guy.”
Gortat has evolved from a bit player for the Magic to a crucial post piece for the Wizards. Van Gundy said he was not surprised by the progress.
“The thing with Marcin is he’s deserved to get to that because he has put in a lot of time and effort to get there,” Van Gundy said. “There are guys that come into this league with as much ability, maybe more than Marcin has, but there are few guys who have worked to develop themselves the way he has.
“The way he’s developed himself physically, the way he’s developed himself mentally, I saw it from day one. I didn’t see it change over the four years that I had him. I don’t think it’s changed since he left there. He’s a guy that takes great pride in getting better all the time. He has really deserved all the good things that have happened for him.”
Beal on the mend
Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal was on the floor shooting floaters and jump shots Wednesday before the game against the Detroit Pistons.
Beal moved around the floor well and with just a moderate black wrap around his surgically repaired left wrist. He wasn’t catching passes with his left hand yet. Though, he was dribbling with it and not avoiding it anymore when he was shooting. Beal had been shooting exclusively with his right hand and not using his guide hand as late as last week.
Beal had surgery to repair a non-displaced fracture of the scaphoid bone Oct. 12 and was projected to miss six weeks. He visited a doctor in New York last week and was deemed to be progressing well, according to coach Randy Wittman.
Wizards still not pleased with defense
The Pistons scored 34 in the first quarter thanks to point guard Brandon Jennings, who scored 16 in the opening 12 minutes and 21 by the half. By halftime on Wednesday, the Pistons had 59 points. That was too many for Wittman, an understandable position since Detroit arrived with the worst field-goal percentage in the league.
“I wasn’t real pleased at halftime defensively,” Wittman said. “We weren’t sharp. We weren’t aggressive. We didn’t dictate play. I thought third quarter, coming out at halftime, we pushed it to 70-63, it kind of pushed us back in from a defensive standpoint.”
Paul Pierce was not happy with the defense, either, saying the Wizards play it in spurts. Pierce pointed issues on the pick-and-roll when big men sagged too far back into the paint. That, in part, helped get Jennings going.
Late in the first quarter, Kevin Seraphin played the pick wrong and that had Pierce off the bench yelling instructions to him. The next defensive trip, Seraphin was in position to handle the guard turning the corner following a pick.
It’s another layer of what Pierce can bring, even when he’s not shooting his normal percentage.
• Todd Dybas can be reached at tdybas@washingtontimes.com.
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