<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Andrew Bogut gave the Milwaukee Bucks reason to feel good about their No. 1 selection. Bogut scored nine points and had eight of his nine rebounds in the first half as the Bucks posted a 92-89 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in the preseason opener for both teams. A 7-0 native of Australia, Bogut left the University of Utah after two stellar seasons and was taken first overall by Milwaukee, who has been in need of a standout center for years. He was active in his debut with the team, helping the Bucks claim a 43-34 advantage on the boards. Michael Redd and Desmond Mason, who combined to average 40.2 points last season, provided a total of 28 to lead the offensive output for Milwaukee. Bobby Simmons, the NBA Most Improved Player last season while with the Los Angeles Clippers, added 13 off the bench for the Bucks, who rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit. Despite the loss, the Timberwolves saw good things in their top pick Rashad McCants, who led all scorers with 18 points. A star on North Carolina's 2004 championship squad, McCants was taken 14th overall and should provide Minnesota a scoring threat at the swing position. The Timberwolves played without superstar forward Kevin Garnett, who was bothered by a sore right knee. Marko Jaric, acquired from the Clippers and slated to start at point guard for Minnesota, sat with a sprained right ankle. </div> Source Bogut off to a solid start. That's great, great news. If he could give us 9 and 9 every night, it'd be huge!
I don't know if the 9-9 being huge is real or a joke, but I'm going to think of it as real, which I think will be dissapointing. He was the first pick on a team where decent big men is rare so he should be playing a lot of minutes and be getting better than 9-9 per game.
I was totally serious. After what we've had out of the center position lately, if he averaged 9 and 9 I'd be very happy. I'm not one of these people expecting him to average 18 and 10 a night. If he can score in double figures more often than not and approach a double/double, I'll be very happy with him. That means he'd be providing some stability at a historically (well, at least since we gave away Kareem) troubling position.
I agree, Bogut doesn't need to fill up the stat sheet, he just needs to play consistently and present a threat on the inside. The Bucks have plenty of other players who can score, and Bogut will help open the floor up for them. Bogut is also great at passing out of double teams and swinging the ball when he's in the high post. Too, bad KG didn't suit up tonight, I want to see how Bogut and the Bucks do against a full squad. Rashad McCants was impressive with 18 points in 23 minutes, in just his first game against NBA competition.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">I agree, Bogut doesn't need to fill up the stat sheet, he just needs to play consistently and present a threat on the inside. The Bucks have plenty of other players who can score, and Bogut will help open the floor up for them. Bogut is also great at passing out of double teams and swinging the ball when he's in the high post. Too, bad KG didn't suit up tonight, I want to see how Bogut and the Bucks do against a full squad. Rashad McCants was impressive with 18 points in 23 minutes, in just his first game against NBA competition.</div> I'm fine with Bogut getting his first game experience without having to face KG at the same time
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Schaddy:</div><div class="quote_post">I was totally serious. After what we've had out of the center position lately, if he averaged 9 and 9 I'd be very happy. I'm not one of these people expecting him to average 18 and 10 a night. If he can score in double figures more often than not and approach a double/double, I'll be very happy with him. That means he'd be providing some stability at a historically (well, at least since we gave away Kareem) troubling position.</div> Your talking about the Bucks lack of a decent center in recent years so having someone averaging a 9-9 would be great as I agree but this Andrew Bogut the 1st pick of the draft. He is absolutly capable of putting up way better numbers than that in his rookie year and throughout his career. I have have seen him play many, many times and he will have a much better 9-9 rookie year. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I agree, Bogut doesn't need to fill up the stat sheet, he just needs to play consistently and present a threat on the inside. The Bucks have plenty of other players who can score, and Bogut will help open the floor up for them. Bogut is also great at passing out of double teams and swinging the ball when he's in the high post. </div> I disagree, he has to fill the stat sheet, now I'm not talking about MVP stats but he needs to put up some pretty good numbers. You said that he needs to present an inside threat and he can't do that without putting up solid numbers, better than 9-9, because teams won't think of him as scoring threat.
Be interested how Bogut does tonight. It may be pre-season but for the brief time he will be on the court against Wallace X2 It will be a real nice early test for him.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting TwinTowers:</div><div class="quote_post"> I disagree, he has to fill the stat sheet, now I'm not talking about MVP stats but he needs to put up some pretty good numbers. You said that he needs to present an inside threat and he can't do that without putting up solid numbers, better than 9-9, because teams won't think of him as scoring threat.</div> Sure he can, playing aggressive, hustling, and being intimidating don't show up in a stat sheet. He scored 9 points on 8 shots, and if he hit all his free throws he would have had 11 points in the game. He had a very efficient game for the Bucks last night, and his reputation from college and the Olympics will have teams payint attention to him. A good example is Brendan Haywood of the Wizards. He doesn't fill up the stat sheet, but opponents are well aware of his presence on the inside. They won't leave him open, and they know he is good at altering shots and is a solid rebounder. Last year he scored 9.4PPG and shot 56% from the field, and finished with 114 blocks. He did the little things on the inside to get Arenas and Hughes better looks, and extra opportunities on offense.
Bogut had real problems last night against the Pistons. Went 0-4 from the field although he did have 6 boards and 3 assists in 21 minutes and picked up 4 fouls. Ben Wallace blocked his shot 4 times Was a tough night for him but It was a good learning experience for the big guy.
