Gortat Begins Preparations for Orlando Summer League
On Draft night 2005, the Magic acquired the rights to Marcin Gortat, who was drafted by the Phoenix Suns with the 57th overall selection in the second round.
Gortat played for the Magic in the Vegas Summer League last year before returning overseas to polish his game for a future NBA career. The Polish native returned to Orlando this week where he will begin training to participate in July's Pepsi Pro Summer League, held in Orlando at the Magic practice facility at the RDV Sportsplex.
Gortat played this past season for RheinEnergie Koln, where the 6-11 forward/center helped lead the team to its very first German Championship. In 26.7 minutes per game, Gortat averaged 9.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg to go along with his 1.2 blocks per game.
After going through his first workout session at the Sportsplex, OrlandoMagic.com sat down with Marcin for a quick chat:
OrlandoMagic.com: Tell us what it was like to win the German Championship with RheinEnergie Koln?
Marcin Gortat: It was really great. I had a lot of fun. But now that we've won, the people expect a lot from us and they expect a lot from me now, also here in Orlando. I hope I'm going to do my best.
OM: What's the past year been like for you overseas, going back after being drafted into the NBA?
MG: It was a little hard. One group of people would say, 'Well, you didn't make it. That's bad. There's no way you can still play basketball at the big level.' The other group of people say, 'Now you've been drafted, you can just work hard and become a great player one day.' Personally, I knew what I could expect here this year, so I was just working harder - in a different way than I did last season. I think I had a good season. I expected I'd have a better season, but that's alright. I'm happy with this season. It was good.
OM: You're going to play in Summer League again this July for the Magic. What are your expectations this go around?
MG: As a big guy, I want to show that I can play in the low post. I think that's my advantage, along with running the floor, grab some rebounds, playing defense. The things that are most important. I definitely want to show I can play bold this year and much better than last year.
I didn't play so much last year, so I hope I'm going to be starting everytime. That's way I'm here, to work harder and play. I hope I'm going to show a lot of people that I can play and even if I'm not going to stay in Orlando, I'll be able to get more offers from Europe.
OM: Did you keep up with how the Magic were doing last season?
MG: Oh yeah. Last year, I met a few of the guys on the team, Dwight Howard, Travis Diener, Jameer Nelson and some of the coaching staff. Everybody was really nice. I'm real happy that I'm back and I can work out with them. I can really learn a lot. Today I had my first workout with Bo Outlaw. He showed me a few things and from the first second he was very friendly. Maybe I'm going to learn in one month more than one year in Cologne.
OM: Are you staying in Orlando from now through Summer League?
MG: Yes. This is my first day here. I had a really long day yesterday. I had to fly 10 hours and my flight was delayed seven hours. So it was a really long day. I haven't felt the (time) difference yet, but I'm sure tonight I'll feel it because I should already be sleeping. I'm going to be staying here and working out in Orlando from now through Summer League. I was thinking after Summer League I'd go somewhere in Europe for three or four days, but we'll see.
Quelle:
http://www.nba.com/magic/news/Gortat_Begins_Preparations_for-182192-800.html