Alvin Gentry responds to Marcin Gortat interview
Nov 19, 2012, 11:48 PM | Updated: Nov 20, 2012, 12:07 am
Phoenix Suns head coach Alvin Gentry responded to a Polish interview in which his starting center, Marcin Gortat, expressed he was unhappy with his current offensive role.
“I’m glad he did,” Gentry said of Gortat’s remarks.
However, Gentry wasn’t quick to defend the “Polish Machine,” claiming that the Suns “try to throw him the ball and we will try to give him the ball as much as we possibly can.”
In the interview, Gortat described being one-on-one with his back to the basket as one of his “strongest variants.”
Gentry disagreed.
“We would love to be able to throw him the ball, have him post up and score for us, but that hadn’t been one of his strengths really,” Gentry said.
Instead, Gentry wants to continue to use Gortat in the same ways that made him successful last season.
“Screen and rolling to the basket, athletic enough that he can get defensive rebounds, running in the open court like he did last year,” Gentry said. “Nothing’s changed from last year.”
Gortat is averaging 11 points per game and averaging 9.3 field goal attemps per game this season, both of which are fewer than last year’s averages.
