Marcin Gortat returns to Wizards practice, this time as a temporary coach

The Washington Wizards spent the majority of this week in practice after returning from last week’s Japanese-based preseason series against the Golden State Warriors. They also welcomed back former center Marcin Gortat, who was a temporary assistant coach.

Check out some pics and video below.

During practice, Gortat worked with the posts, and showed the art of the screen. During his time with the Wizards, Gortat was known as one of the NBA’s best screen asters, allowing guards, especially John Wall to make easier drives to the basket.

In an article by Ava Wallace of The Washington Post, Gortat mentioned that President of Basketball Operations Tommy Sheppard invited him to practice and that he will be with the team until around Oct. 15, perhaps longer.

Gortat also mentioned that he has a more hands-on teaching style. From Wallace’s piece:

With the coaches, they teach it for sure, but when it comes from the players — they’ve been in those situations,” Gafford said. “… Visual learning, hands-on learning is the best type of learning for me, and it helps me think on it more, really get to the point where I can have it in the back of my mind.

I’m glad to see that Gortat is back and that he could be a regular at practice after the season starts. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.