nzkickass
08-18-2005, 01:47 PM
Aug 18, 2005
By Oliver Christiansen
Twelve months ago the name Andrew Bogut would hardly have caused a ripple in basketball circles.
Today however, the 7 foot centre from Melbourne's suburbs is the sport's hottest property worldwide, fresh from a dominant college career in Utah, and having being named 1st pick overall in the NBA Draft on June 29, after only his sophomore year.
The Bogut show rolled into Melbourne on Thursday, with the game's new superstar, now dubbed "The Bogey Man", welcomed amid flashing lightshows and booming US-accented introductions. Refreshingly though, the man himself remains focused on the difficult challenges ahead.
"I'm the happiest when I'm on the court, with the doors locked, and just find myself, and find my mind, that's when I'm happiest. Just get to the basketball court and I'm fine."
The perils of the transition from college to pro ball were often highlighted, but Bogut maintains it was pretty seamless, and credits NZ's Kirk Penney, also in Milwaukee for Summer League as a decisive factor in finding his feet quickly.
"Oh definitely, we hung out every day, we went to lunch and dinner together, it was just good to hear someone talk normally for once. We gave each other a lot of crap about New Zealand and Australia for a bit of a laugh. He's a great kid too."
"It was good to have someone I could relate to in the Summer League team, a lot of the guys don't know what it's like in Australia, or how I grew up, but me and Kirk got along very well."
"The Bogey Man" will need to settle quickly, as he faces Miami's Shaquille O'Neal in the opening home game of the season, then Chinese giant Yao Ming next outing.
"It's definitely not going to be a coming out party against Shaq for me. He's going to give it to me, I already know that. I'm going to get a lot of help from my teammates, just play hard. He's probably going to get 30 (points) or something first game. He's the best centre in the world."
Despite an already impressive list of achievements, Bogut knows the hardest yards remain ahead.
"I think all aspects of my game need improvement, there's not one part of my game that's perfect, and I think that's the challenge of playing basketball or being a professional athlete. Michael Jordan was the closest to perfect and even he had bad games."
It's this improvement the Bucks will be relying on to lift them into the post-season for the first time since 2002.
By Oliver Christiansen
Twelve months ago the name Andrew Bogut would hardly have caused a ripple in basketball circles.
Today however, the 7 foot centre from Melbourne's suburbs is the sport's hottest property worldwide, fresh from a dominant college career in Utah, and having being named 1st pick overall in the NBA Draft on June 29, after only his sophomore year.
The Bogut show rolled into Melbourne on Thursday, with the game's new superstar, now dubbed "The Bogey Man", welcomed amid flashing lightshows and booming US-accented introductions. Refreshingly though, the man himself remains focused on the difficult challenges ahead.
"I'm the happiest when I'm on the court, with the doors locked, and just find myself, and find my mind, that's when I'm happiest. Just get to the basketball court and I'm fine."
The perils of the transition from college to pro ball were often highlighted, but Bogut maintains it was pretty seamless, and credits NZ's Kirk Penney, also in Milwaukee for Summer League as a decisive factor in finding his feet quickly.
"Oh definitely, we hung out every day, we went to lunch and dinner together, it was just good to hear someone talk normally for once. We gave each other a lot of crap about New Zealand and Australia for a bit of a laugh. He's a great kid too."
"It was good to have someone I could relate to in the Summer League team, a lot of the guys don't know what it's like in Australia, or how I grew up, but me and Kirk got along very well."
"The Bogey Man" will need to settle quickly, as he faces Miami's Shaquille O'Neal in the opening home game of the season, then Chinese giant Yao Ming next outing.
"It's definitely not going to be a coming out party against Shaq for me. He's going to give it to me, I already know that. I'm going to get a lot of help from my teammates, just play hard. He's probably going to get 30 (points) or something first game. He's the best centre in the world."
Despite an already impressive list of achievements, Bogut knows the hardest yards remain ahead.
"I think all aspects of my game need improvement, there's not one part of my game that's perfect, and I think that's the challenge of playing basketball or being a professional athlete. Michael Jordan was the closest to perfect and even he had bad games."
It's this improvement the Bucks will be relying on to lift them into the post-season for the first time since 2002.