JS Online [imgl]http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/sports/buck/img/oct05/sab1004.jpg[/imgl]St. Francis - As the Milwaukee Bucks wound down their first practice of the coach Terry Stotts era Tuesday afternoon at the team's training center, rookie center Andrew Bogut was positioned under a basket with hands on knees as he and his teammates ran a full-court layup drill. Hands on knees is a sure sign of fatigue in a player but to Stotts, who wants to have the best-conditioned team in the National Basketball Association on opening night of the regular season, it was not necessarily a bad thing. That meant Bogut hadn't been cutting any corners. "I think he's in pretty decent shape," Stotts said. "He played hard. He practiced hard. He was terrific in his approach and how hard he worked. If he was tired at the end, that was probably a good thing. "He picked things up quickly. He's a sponge. He's taken up all the information from the coaches and the players. He's committed to being a good player." It was the first official practice as a professional for Bogut, whom the Bucks made the first overall pick of the college draft in June. Bogut was a member of the Bucks' summer league team but this was the beginning of the real deal for him. Bogut said because of his workouts over the summer, he was in better shape than he would have been entering any of his college seasons but he acknowledged there was still a long way to go. "Not too bad," Bogut said when asked about his level of conditioning. "There's always room for improvement in every area, I think. It's tough . . . basketball shape compared to just conditioning shape. But we'll get there. "I've got a lot to work on. It'll be an exciting year but I think I have a lot of work to do. It'll be an adjustment for me but I have to take it in stride and just keep working." Source
