C- for rebounding? D+ for interior defense? Leads all rookies in rebounding, has had 18 rebound games in a strong rebounding frontcourt. Not to mention his game winning blocks. People get into the habit of rating rookies as if they are seasoned veterans too much.

Boguts a top bloke

I guess thats an A in the "how he rates as a bloke" category then....

Seriously what a friggin load of shit, person who wrote this seems to be judging Bogut entirely on the game played against the pistons and seems to be reveling in the whole white player/number 1 draft pick that was always inevitable.

Boguts defense and rebounding grades are crap which reaffirms my suspicions that the authors only seen the 1 bucks game. Here's a few quality quotes:

"And Bogut's hands are his downfall"

"However, his slowness afoot and his sub-par athleticism could haunt his entire career"

"But Bogut's screens were unsatisfactory"

Hm... lets judge Bogut against the best team in the NBA. Adam Keefe my arse, I bet he never saw him play either.

Why shouldn't he be judged against the pistons? Should he be judged against Toronto or Atlanta or something, where every man and his dog can get 10+ rebs. he's the number 1 pick he should be performing in every game.

It doesnt matter about who there playing against... thats true 'eastern'... whos to say he isnt performing in every game? could you get 10 rebounds in a game? please... if you live anywhere near golden grove in south australia... il challenge you to a game... if you pull down more then 6 rebounds against me in a 1 on 1 first to 21 game il give you 50 bucks! then again try it in the NBA.... just cos your the number one draft pick doesnt mean your an automatic franchise player! if bogut went to the hawks whos to say he wouldnt average 20 a night? hes in a team witgh alot of offensive weapons with a point guard that barely lets anyone but himself touch the ball Bogut and Magloire are just left to scrap for the ball... id say he perfotrms pretty niceley, if every man and his dog can get 10 plus rebounds in the NBA then cant any man (and his dog) go onto a completely fucked team and become a double digit scorer? number one pick doesnt mean league MVP... and lets face it hes rebounding against older, stronger seasoned veterans that have been hitting the weights for about a decade most of em.... its harder for a big man to make the impact a guard can as a rookie cos the plays more physical.... having to adjust to bigger shotblockers in a league that is much taller then college. Actually think about the weight on Boguts sholders... and shit maybe even show some national pride

by the way eastern Shaqs last game against the pistons he only got 5 rebounds... does that mean he cant?

I mean no disrespect btw... i just get ampted up... it is Australia day after all.....

Hey Hurley,

I need a bit of cash, you good for the money?

you'd better not be 7 foot tall mofo!

If you have ever read a lot of Charley Rosen articles, the guy has a very negative point of view on NBA basketball. He's a master at playing devil's advocate and pointing out the negatives in almost any situation - I'm sure he would be able to point out the flaws in Nelson Mandela if you gave him half a chance.

While I appeciate that you need a balanced view of the league, and can see that it does have its imperfections, the bottom line is that it is the highest standard league in the world and has many more things going for it then drawbacks.

If Charley Rosen got his way, the NBA would be filled with untalented, unspectacular players - read the Damon Baileys, Fred Hoibergs, Bobby Hurleys of this world - running complicated offensive sets where thirty passes were thrown before a wide open jump shot was executed (with perfect techniqwue mind you). He would then be able to write a bunch of articles how the league was in the best state that it has ever been because of the supurb fundamental level of the league and the ability of every player to execute a 'right handed post entry to the post players left target hand'.

Charley - my advice is to take a break from anaylsis and dont be afraid to pump a fist next time Tracy McGrady dunks in traffic during "broken play".

"Why shouldn't he be judged against the pistons? Should he be judged against Toronto or Atlanta or something, where every man and his dog can get 10+ rebs. he's the number 1 pick he should be performing in every game. "

You continue to miss the point ELG ! Last year you had some great posts - what happened? 2006 has been bad for you so far IMO.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING IS :

Rosen seems to have based the majority of his opinion of Bogut from ONE game (PISTONS) to show the guys deficiencies, then slightly skirted over the rest of the season to show his strengths. I cant tell from that article if Rosen has seen to much of Bogut at all.

Rosen seems to miss the point that Bogut is a team man , a role player if you will - not a FOCUS. Not yet anyway. Big men always come on a little slower.

Rasheed only avg 10.1pts/game and 6 rebs in his Rookie year.

This is Boguts game against Pistons:
MIN FG 3FG FT REB A ST BS TO PTS
45 5-7 0-0 4-6 6 3 1 2 2 14

That is a pretty good stat line against the super team of the NBA. Bogut seems to have good games against the Spurs and the pistons .
By the way , if you look at his career highs , youll see that Atlanta does not figure in nor does Toronto .

thankx skyhook... Boguts doing good enough i think.... i think hes gonna be huge, theres so manyt stars (especially big men) that were only role players in the first season but became stars... jason kidd is one. wghen people read Boguts stats they forget how many minutes he gets, how much he gets the ball and other key factors that if put into perspective show hes doing a great job.

I'm very well aware he is a great role player, rebounder, defender etc. I'm just saying he was judged for this game. It's unfair, but get used to it. He's the number 1 pick.

To say his hands let him down is ignorance, in most of his games. But to be truly great you have to play well against all teams, no matter if Dirk Nowitski or Ben Wallace is guarding you. His high post play is probably a highlight of his game. And his defense is quite good for a rookie still getting used to the rule changes of the NBA. But why get angry about this?

Lets be honest...he is the most underperformed No. 1 draft pick since Michael Olowokandi

I think we shouldn't worry about this guy who wrote it. Pretty much every other NBA analyst/writer says he is a great rookie, and does everything required.
He is a great rebounder, has good hands, and is a good defender and certainly deserves more than a D-. How many has he come from the weak side to block a shot? Shaq, Manu, Jason Terry and alot of other players(Chauncey, Rip) have been swatted by him due to his weak side help.
He says he isn't a good enough perimeter defender. Well, he is a C and, even though he plays the 4 for Milwakuee, should be considered one.
And like even Rosen said, many times he will direct everyone through on offence and even call the plays.
Come season end, he should be averaging a double-double.

HURLEY - i'd like to see ELG take you on in that game of 1v1.. i reckon he'd carve you up..

MW, what about Kwame Brown?
And how can you say he is underperforming? He's on a team with, lets be honest, hogs in Michael Redd and Bobby Simmons, a guy who loves having the ball in his hands in TJ Ford, Then he has to share the post with Jamal Magloire.
He shoots a tremendous FG%, pulls down 8 boards a game, gets 2 apg(most for a non-guard rookie) and 1 block a game.
People seem to forget he is the 3rd best rookie so far this season based on stats, and if he was on a weaker team(Atlanta), would probably be getting close to 15 & 10.

Even I could get 15 & 10 playing for Atlanta!
Yibbadee yibbada

If he was any other draft pick than No. 1 he would not be underperforming IMHO...You expect more from No. 1

This is what people aren't realising about Bogut. The way the draft lottery is set up the No. 1 pick goes to one of the leagues worst teams. Milwauke were not even close to being as bad as atlanta, charlotte, new orleans, or even portland. Yet they got lucky and got the pick, they also got TJ Ford back this yr resigned redd, signed simmons, and traded for Magloire. Bogut has come onto a very good team with a strong rotation. Most No 1s r thrown into it straight away and if they do not perform the team doesnt win. It is a very different scenario this year.

Good point

Spot on M Dizzle, the bucks have a considerably more talented squad compared to NO, Atlanta etc. Bogut could do a lot more damage on a weaker team, or even on a team where the Coach runs plays for him to score. Bogut isnt required to score much for the bucks so he concentrates on other areas. Be interesting to see how a player, ie Chris Paul, would go playing for them. I dont think he'd be getting anywhere near the stats he's getting now if he played for a better team, ie the Bucks.

Who has Insider access to the ESPN site? I think there's something on Rumor Central about Bogut maybe coming off the bench?

I've got it.

Joe Smith is returning from injury so ESPN were speculating that the Bucks were thinking a putting the one dimenional, defensive lacking, injury prone forward in the line up ahead of the guy that rebounds his arse off and doesnt take shots away from their best players.

Great idea!

Lebron and Melo came to teams with no all star calibre players to speak of. Cavs best player was ricky davis at his worst, and denver were bottom dwellers with guys like lorinza harrington, donnell harvey, and rodney white starting for them. They were drafted to have the team built around them from scratch. Bogut came to a team with an allstar guard who they payed $90 million dollars for. Bogut was not drafted as the franchise's saviour. If he develops into one of the premier big men in the nba then they have a lethal inside outside combo which has been proven to go along way to winning championships.

I can't really see Bogut off the bench now. 41 games into the season, and when Smith was in the starting line-up the Bucks struggled. Smith would now be more productive of the bench as the 7th man behind Mo, and backing up Bogut. That makes a nice second unit in Gadz, Smith, TK, Jiri and Mo.

My fellow Cats man, m dizzle is a 100% right. Melo came to a team that was downright awful and the only way they could go is up.

LeBron was classed as a 'franchise-saviour' before he was drafted and was going No 1 regardless on who got him. Remember John Lucas was fined by the NBA for including BronBron in a pick up game whilst he was in HS. Melo was rated almost as highly as LeBron.

Bogut has never been classed or will be classed as a 'franchise-saviour'. He wasn't drafted for that reason, he was drafted because he was:
- College Player of the Year
- Legit 7 footer with skills
- Best bigman in the draft
- Filled a need on the Bucks roster
- Seen as NBA-ready and could contribute right away
- Leadership skills
- Highly level basketball IQ