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Last updated on March 5th, 2018 at 02:03 pm
Melbourne boy Andrew Bogut is big news in the US:
Andrew Bogut was just another international player when the college basketball season started, not even meriting an honorable mention in the preseason All-America balloting. All that has changed now for the 7-foot sophomore from Australia. The Utah center was the leading vote-getter on The Associated Press’ All-America team announced Tuesday.
Bogut may become the top pick of the 2005 NBA Draft. He’s worked hard to get this far:
Ever since being overlooked for the Dandenong Rangers’ Under 16 club side when he was 14, Bogut worked with a private coach for two hours after school every day. Later he missed out on the Victorian Under 18 team.
“I was pissed off,” Bogut says. “That was the last straw for me. I was in the emergency squad but I really thought I should have been in that team.
“I thank my state coach for cutting me because I don’t think I’d be here if I just had a smooth ride. That was my drive – proving people wrong.”
(Via Chris Johnson)
- Michael Jordan was once cut from his high school team. Not that this guy is the next MJ.Posted by Some0Seppo on 03/23 at 10:18 AM • permalink
- The real problem with the NBA is all those tall players keep blocking the view of the cheerleaders…Posted by richard mcenroe on 03/23 at 10:37 AM • permalink
- Down there, does the ball swirl around the basket the other way?Posted by Jim Treacher on 03/23 at 10:57 AM • permalink
- Chaz, America is the land of the free, home of the brave and the multimillion dollar signing bonus.
Hey my Aussie friends, tell me about Ben Allen. He’ll be in Bloomington, Indiana next year helping the Hoosiers return to their rightful place among the powerhouses of college basketball.
Anybody got a scouting report on this guy?
jvk
- Anyone know what happened to Aussie Andrew Gaze, who played for Seton Hall in the 1989 Final Four?Posted by chinesearithmetic on 03/23 at 12:03 PM • permalink
- The Utah Utes, in the Mountain West Conference played my alma mater, the University of New Mexico three times this year, twice in the regular season and once in the conference tournament. UNM won two of the three, the second win in the conference championship game. I got to see Bogut play a couple of times. That’s New Mexico’s tie to Aussie greatness this year.
Another is that Aussie Luc Longley went to UNM. (Later he was a Minnesota Timberwolf and Chicago Bull, during the Bulls’ heyday.)
Reese
- Here’s a link to a roundup of sports bloggers covering the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Click on over to find the blogospheric coverage of the Utah Utes.
We’ll be doing another roundup next Monday that will have all the Andrew Bogut links we can find, so stop by for a look-see. We love the big guys!!
- That story reminds me of Charles Barkley, an overweight kid raised by his mother and grandmother who practiced incessantly when the other kids mocked him.
His weight remained an issue in college (“The Round Mound of Rebound”) but he stuck it out, becoming an NBA and international star and earning millions in the process.
He came out as a Republican and his grandmother said, “Charles, the Republican Party is for rich people.”
Barkley replied, “Grandma, we ARE rich people!”
- Hey, Reese, I’m a Lobo, too!
After watching Bogut a lot this year, I don’t think he’s all that. But he is a legitimate 7’, so there you go.
Still bitter about our loss to ‘Nova…
And, hey, I once danced with Lauren Jackson after the Capitals won the WNBL title, so that must make me some sort of expert. 😉
Posted by dnewlander on 03/24 at 07:24 AM • permalink
- Chinesearithmetic,
Gaze played a few years in the NBA after the 1996 Olympics. He spent most of his career with the Spurs, and got a ring when they won in, what? 1998?
He never averaged more than 5-10 minutes a game, though. I think he was all done in the NBA before the Sydney Olympics. Great player, though. Much better sportman than Shane *spit* Heal.
Posted by dnewlander on 03/24 at 07:29 AM • permalink
- Hey, Dnewlander. Don’t be bitter. The Lobos had their best year since ‘99, finally making it back to the big tourny.
Any team can have a bad day. [But why that particular day, dammit?]
Bogut’s all that as far as MWC goes, and our Danny Granger got honorable mention for the AP All American team.
I appreciate your brush with greatness, re: Lauren Jackson.
Reese
It’s also rather unlikely that after one year of college ball, he would be named honorable mention A-A. That the sports pundits are all giddy is probably a reflection that they hadn’r seen Bogut play before–Utah not being a perennial power, and playing in what is called a mid-major conference.
All of this is not to deny that he’s demonstrated wonderful skills in the NCAA tourney. But as is noted, Bogut doesn’t “play above the rim.” He’d be better off, as Tim Duncan did, to stay for his entire college career, and further develop his skills, IMO.