Orlando Magic star Franz Wagner believes that Goga Bitadze has been terrific filling in as the starting center while Wendell Carter Jr. recovers from a left plantar fascia strain (averaging 10.7 PPG/10.0 RPG/3.0 APG/1.0 SPG/2.0 BPG/62.5% FG/66.7% FT during the last three games).
(via Orlando Magic):
“It’s not easy to do that, man: to not play that many minutes, and then come in and play big minutes in a lot of games. So, I think it’s a credit to his work and just staying ready. He’s done it in the past years already, so I’m not surprised at all. I thought he did a great job the last couple games of kinda creating extra opportunities for us, and making it really difficult for guys when someone’s attacking, he’s active around the basket. Especially defensively, I think he sometimes doesn’t get the credit that he deserves. Like I said, I think the whole situation is going to help us down the road. Everybody gets opportunity and gets playing time, and that’s what you need in a long season.”