Marcin Gortat hits back at Randy Wittman over public criticism
By Grey Papke
Washington Wizards center Marcin Gortat was a primary target of coach Randy Wittman’s postgame criticisms on Tuesday, and he’s not particularly happy about it.
After Tuesday’s 125-101 loss to Oklahoma City, Wittman ripped his players for being too soft, and while he didn’t name names, Gortat was clearly singled out. On Friday, Gortat defended himself to reporters, said he didn’t like being called out, and jabbed at Wittman for allegedly breaking a promise he made during training camp.
“I don’t think it was necessary to call me out in the media like that,” Gortat said Friday, via the Washington Post’s Jorge Castillo. “But it happened. I heard a different story in training camp, that stuff like that won’t happen. But it happened. So I disagree with what he did.”
Gortat conceded that his rebounding total wasn’t good enough, as Wittman had alluded to. However, he proceeded to go into a lengthy defense of his performance, asking for context to how the game went.
“I believe a lot of the reasons [why] I didn’t get rebounds was because if we’re giving up 100 points in three quarters then there’s not much to rebound. That’s the first thing,” said Gortat, who is averaging 7.3 rebounds per game. “The second thing is I’m challenging a lot of shots. … The statistics don’t lie. I’ve been challenging a lot of shots. I’ve been helping in a lot of different rotations and I’m pretty much out of position over half of the time. The other half, when I’m under the basket, the ball most of the time just goes into the basket. So it is what it is.
“Again, that’s not an excuse at all. I watched the game. I watched the statistics from the game. And, yeah, I agree, there were probably two or three situations where I should’ve had the rebound in my hands and I just didn’t secure the ball. But stuff like that will happen. It’s not like I’m going to come back to the weight room and do a bunch of different exercises or go to the practice court and start doing a lot of drills to catch the rebounds. Stuff like that happens. It’s a part of the game … I don’t think I was the biggest problem in that game.”
Gortat added that he doesn’t plan on talking to Wittman about the situation because he has “nothing to talk about.”
“It is what it is. He’s the man who’s in charge and I’m a player,” Gortat said. “I have to follow the rules. I have to follow what he says and, hey, that’s it. It’s a business.”
If Wittman did tell his players that he wouldn’t call them out through the media, it was pretty poor form to do it anyway. Gortat has a good, measured take on things. It sounds like the team has a lot of issues that it needs to work out. Singling out any one player seems unfair.
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