Mickael Pietrus unhappy with his playing time
During the off-season, Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy said that he will be changing his rotation to make his team more flexible, but his experiment is slowly creating a tension inside
their locker room after Mickael Pietrus expressed his disappointment with his playing time.
According to reports, the 28-year old guard-forward and Van Gundy had a shouting match after the veteran coach pulled Pietrus out of the game three minutes into the final period of their
blowout win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday 3 November.
"MP was unhappy about when he went into the game and he was unhappy about me telling him to play defense," Van Gundy said. "He didn't like what I was saying and I didn't like his response,
so I took him out of the game."
Van Gundy clarified that reducing Pietrus’ minutes is nothing personal because the French forward is a competitor and has been a key part of their team in their last two play-off runs.
On the other hand, the 6ft 6in Frenchman also admitted his frustration, but said that he has nothing against Van Gundy, whom he treats like a member of his family.
"I respect Stan, of course. He's like part of my family," Pietrus said. "I'm a very competitive guy. What I miss the most is being out there. It's not playing time; it's getting back that
adrenalin that I need. It's hard for me not to have that. That's why I'm so frustrated"
Pietrus, who is averaging 4.3 points in 13 minutes a game, also downplayed the rumours that he’ll ask for a trade if he continues to receive limited amount of playing time, because he doesn’t
want to leave a team that will be a title contender this season.
Despite the negative responses from his players, Van Gundy, who also talked with the discontented Ryan Anderson, said that rotation will still be tweaked regularly to make their team ready
for an expected tough playoff run this year.
"It's going to be a tough thing for a few of our guys. The good part is we have a flexibility to play different situations," Van Gundy said. "I don't mind if they are pissed off with me,
but I don't want it translating to their teammates. I need them to stay together as a group."
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