<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> Earl Boykins scored 30 points and Andrew Bogut added a career-high 27 points and 11 rebounds to lead the banged-up Milwaukee Bucks over the Charlotte Bobcats 99-91 Monday afternoon. The Bucks, minus four starters, snapped a five-game losing streak behind the 5-foot-5 Boykins, acquired from Denver last week. Boykins' 3-pointer with 4 minutes left snapped a tie and put Milwaukee ahead to stay. His shot in the lane with 1:46 left gave the Bucks a 94-88 lead.</div> http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=270115030 Ok, is it finally time to quit calling Bogut a bust? I can't count how many times I've heard people complain about his lack of production, but they aren't looking between the lines. Bogut doesn't get NEARLY enough shots in our offense. He's still averaging fewer than 9 shot attempts per game - think about that. A #1 pick who doesn't even get to shoot it 10 times a night? WTF. It's symptomatic of our style offense, but it's still stunting the growth of as talented a young big man as there is in the league. Since Redd went down, Bogut's numbers have all taken a jump. He's always productive; it's just a matter of whether or not we give him a chance to succeed. Here's a stat that should open some eyes. For the season, Bogut is averaging 12.1 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 3.1 apg (and he's shooting 56.0% - 7th best in the NBA). In games when he gets at least 10 shots (it's happened 15 times this season), Bogut is averaging 15.4 ppg, 11.2 rpg and 3.5 apg. Stack those numbers up against any center in the league not named Shaq or Yao - he's not even close to a bust, and anyone who continues to say that is a damn idiot. He does need to improve his shot-blocking ability; 0.47 per game is simply unaccptable for a player with his size, anticipation and instincts.
He needs to be on the highpost, as he is just a brilliant passer for a big man and has beautiful hands. The Vlade Divac comparisons are very apt. Unfortunately the likes of Redd, Mo Williams and Charlie Bell are black holes when they get the rock.
<div class="quote_poster">Sir Desmond Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">He needs to be on the highpost, as he is just a brilliant passer for a big man and has beautiful hands. The Vlade Divac comparisons are very apt. Unfortunately the likes of Redd, Mo Williams and Charlie Bell are black holes when they get the rock.</div> I disagree about the guards, man - when we played our best basketball of the season, it was when those three took charge offensively and Bogut used that high-post playmaking ability. Redd is a catch-and-shoot guy more than anything still, and he doesn't have the ball in his hands as much as most top scorers. Williams still does need to look for his own shot a little less, but he's improving. He does things in other aspects of the game, like getting in passing lanes and creating on the fly that you don't always notice that he's still not 100% a point guard. Bell, well, I'm probably biased in all areas as far as he goes, but I think he is a good combo guard, too. The problem has been that Stotts wants to push the ball, and with Bell and Williams playing with Redd, the Bucks have run more and more, limiting their ability to get Bogut involved offensively. I disagree with that offensive strategy; Stotts wants to run, but if I was coaching I'd be getting Bogut almost twice as many touches as he's getting now. However, when our guards were healthy, that fast pace was working. I think it's a bit of a misconception that our guards aren't willing to share the rock with Bogut down low; it's more that the offense is built around the backcourt and Bogut has gotten used to using his elite passing skills to make them the focal point instead of focusing on developing his offense in the paint.
Felton, May, and Okafor looked so disinterested out there..the only Bobcat who looke even cared there was a game Mondayday was Carroll and he only took 2 shots in the entire 2nd half after exploding in the first. Oh well, good game you guys ended our 3 game win streak
