Journal Times <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">When a player is taken as the No. 1 overall selection in the NBA draft, it's generally assumed he's a lock to be in the starting lineup for the first game of the regular season. A team simply has too much invested in that player, not only monetarily but from a public relations standpoint as well. But with the Bucks' regular-season opener less than two weeks away, Bucks coach Terry Stotts told me Thursday it would be wrong to assume Andrew Bogut will open the season as the team's starting center. Bogut, who was the consensus national Player of the Year while playing for the University of Utah last season, was the top overall pick in last June's draft. "Going into training camp, I said I wanted to keep an open mind,'' Stotts said. "I still haven't made up my mind yet who'll be starting other than, obviously, Michael.'' Stotts was referring to Michael Redd, the team's All-Star shooting guard who became the highest-paid athlete in Wisconsin history over the summer when he signed a six-year, $91 million contract. Who'll be joining Redd in the starting lineup when the Bucks play the 76ers in Philadelphia on Nov. 1, Stotts said, will be determined over the course of the team's four remaining preseason games.</div> Source
In my opinion this is bad coaching. You have to make the aggressive bullish move and start your no.1 pick, otherwise you're sowing seeds of doubt amongst the team. Also you're telling the other teams "we're not sure about this guy". Make a statement, start Bogut, give him confidence and the team confidence that they have a no.1 guy in the middle. 10 games in, see how he's doing. Your bench options are just that - prototypical bench players in Ervin and Gadzuric.
Gadzuric is one of the most underrated centers in the league, and he's been posting solid numbers for the minutes he gets. He's extremely quick for his size, and he hustles on the glass. He's one of those low risk high reward players, but he does it quietly. I wouldn't mind if Gadzuric starts in the beginning of the season, but Bogut should get that spot sometime before the end of the season so he gets experience.
I don't understand that. If your going to pick Bogut and he is the first pick, he should be a starter. Why waste your 1st pick and end up not even starting him.
All because he isn't starting doesn't means he's a bust. One of the reasons Bogut was drafted #1 was because his worse case scenario is a decent center. That's a commodity these days. Dan Gadzuric is a beast and at this stage is better than Bogut. In 22 minutes last year, he averaged 7.3/8.3 and 1.3 blocks. Those are excellent stats in limited minutes, so the Bucks wouldn't want to change anything.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting phunDamentalz:</div><div class="quote_post">In my opinion this is bad coaching. You have to make the aggressive bullish move and start your no.1 pick, otherwise you're sowing seeds of doubt amongst the team. Also you're telling the other teams "we're not sure about this guy". Make a statement, start Bogut, give him confidence and the team confidence that they have a no.1 guy in the middle. 10 games in, see how he's doing. Your bench options are just that - prototypical bench players in Ervin and Gadzuric.</div> Gadzuric is not a "prototypical bench player". He's a servicable starting center for a lot of teams. Look at his numbers last year. He's limitted offensively, but he's a high energy rebounder, defender and shot blocker.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PlaTsanity:</div><div class="quote_post">bogut=bust</div> Would you like to elaborate? http://www.justbball.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44742 ^That is a link to the thread in which Raptors fans are crying about people coming into their team forum and ripping the team, players, coaches, whatever. And now I've got a Raptor fan in my forum saying "bogut=bust", and nothing more. How is that any different than what Raptor fans are complaining about? Double standard much?
^^Wow wonderful reply and post. My guess would be Schaddy is the "team leader" for the Bucks forum, thus it is in a way "his forum". Calling Bogut a bust so early is a very ridiculous thing to do. So what he might not start right away, even though it never said he WOULDN'T, it said he MIGHT not. Gadz is a really good rebounder and defensive player, and i think its good to not just hand the player the spot. You've gotta earn respect and this is the beginning of it. Bogut has to prove he deserves the spot, being picked means he's on the team, and shows all the confidence they need to show. From there its on him to prove he can back it up.
^ lol i deleted it.. anyways--Bogut WONT be that good as people expect i see him (if he's lucky) making the all nba 2nd-all all-rookie team and btw schaddy--CV31 isnt a bust CV>Bogut anyyyyday homez
The Bucks just have the luxury of having some depth at Center/Power Forward. It has nothing to do with Bogut being a bust. If anything you should respect him for not crying about it and realizing he's better off coming in as a sub. Bogut is putting up close to 10/10 at this point, that's solid for a rookie, especially one playing center.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting B-22:</div><div class="quote_post">I've never heard of a #1 pick not starting the season he got picked. Can somone proove me wrong?</div> I don't know, I think we'd have to jump in the way-back machine and go all the way to 2001, when Kwame Brown started a total of three games his rookie season. However, the next one after that is a little more of a leap, we then jump to Pervis Ellison in 1989, then Danny Manning the previous year. All in all, there isn't too much precedent for success in this scenario, but it also looks like so much tough love posturing from a new coach to a new player, so that coach can assert himself to the team. In truth, while Gadzuric has been solid in the action I've seen him, I see Bogut starting simply on stamina and his (seeming) ability to avoid foul trouble. Even if he doesn't avoid fouls, at least his legs won't fail him in the first fifteen minutes. I didn't see much action out of Gadzuric usually twenty or so minutes into the game, and that says to me that he needs some conditioning. Bogut can log significant minutes now, and save Gadz some grief, and I think that's just what Stotts will end up doing. And knock it off with this bust nonsense. You can judge a bust when his career is over, and not a second sooner. As for those Raps fans swearing by Charlie, let's see how he handles some time on the road legging out significant minutes before we get too hyped up. He may be good, I agree on that, but there are plenty more variables he needs to endure before he proves anything.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting PlaTsanity:</div><div class="quote_post">^ lol i deleted it.. anyways--Bogut WONT be that good as people expect i see him (if he's lucky) making the all nba 2nd-all all-rookie team and btw schaddy--CV31 isnt a bust CV>Bogut anyyyyday homez</div> I don't remember saying he'd be a bust, more like he was an iffy pick at #7, but whatever. I don't think Bogut will be a bust. He's already proven that he can rebound at this level, which is something very important for a young center. Look how long it took Eddie Curry to average 5 boards. Bogut has proven that he'll average 8 or 9 right out of the box, and that's big for a team that needs a solid presence in the paint. He's also been a solid playmaker. I always said that I didn't think that he'd be a huge offensive force from the start. I think that will take time. However, if he can give us rebounding, defense and a couple of tip ins or dunks per night, the rest will all fall into place. I also think that it's good that we have a guy like Danny to backup Bogut, take some pressure off, let him develop. I think we're fine, and Bogut's going to be fine, too.
When I first read this article I saw that Bogut was willing to come off the bench, not that he was gonna come off the bench.
