Milwaukee Bucks Blog - The Bob Boozer Jinx : Chris Kaman

Bucks Weekend: After let-down in Philly, Bucks rebound in NY; Scott Skiles vs. Chris Duhon; the Guinness Book of World Records and the Clippers

J.D. Mo — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 02:23:00 GMT

What a schizophrenic week it was for the Bucks on the road in the East.

After perhaps their strongest performance of the season in Miami Monday, the Bucks showed that old habits die hard two nights later in Philly, losing 93-88. The starters in particular looked sluggish, uninspired and out-of rhythm -- and in the 4th quarter looked as though they had no clue how to win the game. They also shot like middle schoolers, hitting only 2-18 shots in the 4th.

Then the Bucks arrived in New York, where they continued their mastery over Mike D'Antoni's ever retooling Knicks, and won 105-81. The Bucks have played NY three times this season (won all three) and faced a different Knicks team in each game. Last time, at the Bradley Center, the Knicks were down to seven players after (on gameday) dealing guard Jamal Crawford to the Warriors for big forward Al Harrington; and on the same day, PF Zach Randolph to the Clippers for guard Cuttino Mobley and ex-Buck Tim Thomas.

Mobley was forced to retire after the trade when doctors diagnosed that his heart condition had worsened to the point where playing would have put his life in danger. Mobley is just 33-years-old. The Knicks could have voided the trade, but were content with the salary cap relief they had gained in dealing Randolph and his $47 million contract.

This time, Harrington reportedly got stuck in traffic on the way to the Bucks game and didn't get there until mid-first quarter. Apparently coach D'Antoni wasn't too upset about it -- he put Harrington into the game shortly after Al arrived on the bench.

Thomas played 6 minutes in the first half and scored 4 pts but then left the bench in the 2nd quarter with a stomach virus and did not return. Timmy of course came to the Bucks in a trade with Philly during the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season and was traded mid-season 2003-04 to the Knicks for Keith Van Horne -- one of many of ill-fated moves by ex-GM Larry Harris, and possible source of Timmy's tummy ache.

This is 31-year-old Thomas' 2nd stint in NY and 2nd stint playing for D'Antoni, who brought him to Phoenix for the Suns 2006 playoff run. Thomas, 31, thrived for 40+ games in D'Antoni's run-and-gun system, then signed on with the Clippers as a free agent.

The Knicks key player, point guard Chris Duhon -- who's not only been playing well but playing more than any player in the league, with 994 minutes in 25 games, a 39.8 per avg. -- reserved his second worst game of the season for the team of his old coach Scott Skiles. The Knicks acquired Duhon in the offseason from Chicago, where Skiles was Duhon's coach for the young point guard's first three-plus NBA seasons. Duhon is 2nd in the NBA in assists this season. His worst of the game year? The first Bucks game in NY against his old coach.

I sense a trend here, of course. So I put the question to some Knicks fans. Is Skiles implementing a special anti-Duhon defense that only he knows about? Or is it ...

A) The recurrance of repressed memories induced by the barking tone with which Skiles yells at his players;

B) Skiles' ridiculously fearsome forehead;

C) Skiles' menacing glare;

D) The ever-present, ominous Skiles scowl which usually precedes A above.

I'm still waiting for the Knicks fans at realgm.com to realize that I'm not necessarily joking. I think Skiles has some mojo going against Duhon; it's almost as if Duhon reflexively thinks that if he makes a mistake, Kirk Hinrich will appear in a Knicks uniform to take over the point and his job.

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The Bucks got a taste of the Skiles treatment after the Philly game, as the coach laid on his harshest criticism of his team so far this season, saying:

“We had a bunch of guys who looked like they didn’t feel like playing from the opening tip. We were just heavy-legged, slow-footed. We couldn’t get up and down the floor and had tremendous trouble guarding them. We got exactly what we deserved.”

“I’m bewildered by my team,” Skiles added. “I’ve got a really bad taste in my mouth. It was a very poor all-around effort by us.”

Old habits dying hard in red. The team that played Philly looked nothing like the Bucks of just 48 hours prior in Miami. In fact they didn't look like the Bucks at all in those new red road uniforms. And when I saw Michael Redd make a genuine effort to move the ball on offense (he had six assists), I wondered if I had missed THE BIG TRADE. When Redd also hit the glass more than usual, I called ready reference for a reality check on the state of things. The librarian assured me that it was still 2008 and that Milwaukee still had an NBA team called the Bucks. Yes, Richard Jefferson is a Buck, she said. "And Obama won the election, didn't he?" I asked.

"Sir, where are you?"

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After a relatively invisible game in Philly, our forgotten man, Richard Jefferson hit from downtown against the Knicks -- three 3's to get the Bucks going. Michael Redd led the Bucks scoring with 21 pts and again showed interest in moving the ball, finishing with six assists. (Yes, there's a trend shaping there Mike -- sharing is caring and this does apply in the NBA.) Andrew Bogut also had six assists to go with 13 boards.

Bucks are 3-0 vs. the Knicks this season, after going 1-3 last year and needing overtime at the Bradley Center to get the one win. They also won the road trip, winning two out of three and are now 12-16 and in 10th place in the East. Win the Philly game and the Bucks would have been in the 8th and final playoff spot in the conference despite their grueling schedule (which can no longer be used as an excuse, per se, but can still be generally referred to, I hope).

As of today, the Bucks have played more games (28) than any NBA team except the Trailblazers (28) and have played more games on the road (18) than any team. Beginning with the Clippers game at the BC tonight, seven of the Bucks next ten are at home.

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Clippers come to town Saturday night at the Bradley Center, gametime 7:30pm. As for what follows here, I made none of it up, and in no way altered the photo of Clippers center Chris Kaman.

At the game, the Bucks Game Operations Department will attempt to set nine separate Guinness World Records, according to a Bucks press release. There will be an official Guinness judge on hand, and below are the records Game Ops is after:·

Longest time to spin a basketball on one finger, using one hand (current record: 37.46 seconds)

· Most basketball half-court shots in one minute (current record: 4)

· Highest forward flip trampoline slam dunk (current record: 10 feet, 9 inches)

· * Most slam dunk bounce passes in 30 seconds (current record: 21)

· * Furthest forward flip trampoline slam dunk (current record: 19 feet, 2 inches)

· Most basketball forward flip slam dunks in 30 seconds (current record: 17)

The asterisks mean: both those records are held by the Milwaukee Bucks Rim Rockers, set on February 14, 2008, at the NBA All-Star Jam Session in New Orleans.

Here's more from the press release:

"In addition to the six records listed above, the Bucks will also attempt to set three records that have never before been recorded. A member of the dunk team will attempt to complete the first-ever double front flip dunk on record during halftime. The final two record attempts will not be disclosed until Saturday night, but there are currently no official records on file for either one ..."

Sounds like a fun night to be at the Bradley Center. Remember, I made none of this up, not even that stuff about Skiles and Duhon.

~~Clippers center Chris Kaman~~ ~~will also be on hand, which ought to make Andrew Bogut's night interesting, if not necessarily graceful.~~ SCRATCH THAT - Kaman's not playing tonight. I can't take Kaman seriously as an NBA center, despite the fact that he loaded up on rebounds in Western Conference paints last season in PF Elton Brand's absence. But Kaman has Marcus Camby and Zach Randolph to back him up these days, and Randolph has been lighting up scoreboards in the West (25.1 ppg) since he was traded by the Knicks.

The Clippers are 8-18 but have won four of their last five, with three of those wins coming on the road. The Clips are at the end of a 4 game road trip and beat Indiana in double OT Friday after losing in OT to the Bulls on Wednesday.

Olympic Weekend: Bogut powers Australia into medal round matchup vs.Team Redeem; Yi delivers China in final minute; Jason Kidd laments shooting incident

J.D. Mo — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 16:55:00 GMT

Continuing doggedly on my mission to spark some interest in Olympic basketball while the Brewers go yard for the playoffs and the Packers embark into the post-Favre era, take a look at what Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut was doing Friday night halfway around the world in Beijing, China.

That fiercely emphatic dunk on Andrei Vorontsevich were points 10 and 11 of a 14-7 Australia Boomer run to begin the 4th quarter of a do-or-die medal round qualifying game against 2007 Eurobasket champs Russia, hammering the Aussies home to an 80-62 lead. The.Australia run effectively buried Russia, though forward Viktor Khryapa (Chicago Bulls) made it interesting with a barrage of three-pointers after the Aussies had pushed the lead to 21. The final was a convincing 95-80, with Bogut throwing in a three-pointer with 30 seconds left to spite the equally chippy Russians. Bogut finished with 22 pts, 8 rebs. Aussie point guard C.J. Bruton scorched the nets for 22 of his own and handed out 6 asts.

Their reward? The Group A #4 seed and a ~~an almost certain~~ quarterfinal matchup against Team USA, which on Saturday made perhaps the strongest statement USA basketball has uttered since the Jordan-Magic-Bird Dream Team -- a 119-82 blowout of 2006 world champion Spain. Team Redeem clinched the Group B #1 seed and meets the Boomers Wednesday. (Standings and latest scores). Both teams played meaningless 5th games, with Australia waltzing Sunday night 106-75 over injury-conscious Group A top seed Lithuania and Team USA this morning destroying Dirk Nowitzki and Germany 106-57.

Until Friday night, the 23-year-old Bucks center's Olympics had been disappointing and frustrating. As Australia crumbled against Croatia and Argentina, Bogut scarcely resembled the aggressive post player Bucks fans saw most of last season. Worse still was that he wasn't playing very much and was the focus of debate about the team's failures. Aussie coach Brian Goorjian rose to make an impassioned defense of Bogut Thursday but along the way revealed that he, as coach, was de-emphasizing his star player -- on purpose. The coach apparently believed that some of the lesser Aussie players would be responsible for delivering wins and Australia's first-ever basketball medal.

In the Russia postgame, Goorjian again told reporters that he still didn't think the team should rely on Bogut to carry them. The coach is in obvious denial about his team. (I'd love to hear an opinion from Yao Ming's China coach about Goorjian's attitude toward his center).

Against Russia, however, Goorjian finally did what basketball coaches do: he played his best players and finally seemed to settle on a rotation, riding Bogut and the timely shooting of Bruton to victory. Bogut logged 28 minutes and was strong from start to finish (including a "we mean business" unsportsmanlike foul on Utah Jazz/Russia star Andrei Kirilenko to open the 2nd half). Less than 48 hours after the coach had said Bogut could not be expected to carry the team, Bogut carried the team. That's what star players do. Unfortunately for Australia, Goorjian spent the first three games of the Olympics foolishly trying to prove otherwise.

For more about Goorjian's curious handling of Bogut in Beijiing, I made live game notes during the Australia-Russia game and have moved those to the bottom of this, the BBJ mothership weekend Olympics post.

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Team USA 119, Spain 82 Boxscore. What to say about Team Redeem that hasn't already been said? The Team USA defense is the dominant force in this Olympic basketball tournament. Pau Gasol (Lakers), Jose Calderon (Raptors) and their world champion Spanish team were no match. Lebron James and Dwyane Wade seem to have found a higher gear of intensity that may not have existed until now. The two stars are playing with what looks like controlled fury. I don't think either one of them cracked a grin the entire first half, as they again led the team.

*Jason Kidd shocked the world by taking and making a shot, joking after the game that he had ruined his Olympics. "My man gave me the ball and I had to take the layup - even though I didn't want to," Kidd said. The shot came at the 6:56 mark of the 3rd Quarter with Lebron James leading a fast break. Kidd dutifully filled the left lane just like in practice drills and Lebron found him with a pass too close to the basket for Kidd to do anythng but plant his right foot and go up for the left-handed layin -- which, by the way, was textbook. Obviously feeling sheepish after the game, he snuck out of the arena like Mike Tyson the night Buster Douglas knocked him out.

*After hitting nothing but rim the first three games, Denver's Carmelo Anthony found his jumpshot, scoring 16 pts on 6-8 shooting, 4 of 6 from behind the arc. Anthony and the Pistons' Tayshaun Prince (Pistons) were partly responsible for the extra gaudy margin of victory, shooting a combined 7/10 from downtown, while the rest of the team shot a merely human 5/15. Bucks guard Michael Redd missed his lone three-point attempt.

* Team Redeem stole the ball 16 times, led by Chris Paul's 5 steals (also 14 pts). Spain turned the ball over a whopping 28 times, a rate of one turnover every 85.7 seconds.

* Lebron James led with 8 asts (and 18pts). Lebron leads the Olympics in assists through 4 games with 22 (5.5 avg).

* Pau Gasol played 33 minutes but was held check, with just 13 points on 5-8 shooting. His 7-foot-tall, 270-lb brother Marc played some solid stretches, with 8 pts, 3 rebs in 18 mins before fouling out. Marc Gasol has a good-looking mid-range shot and mixed it up against the US, getting to the line six times. Looks like the Grizzlies have a player.

* Redd played 12 minutes in the second half, scoring 4 pts on 2-4 shooting (0-1 from downtown). He did not play in the first half, but didn't try to force any offense during his stint in the 2nd. With all the frenetic defense and fast-paced transition the Redeem Teamers play, they haven't had much of a role for him.

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Yi hits crucial final minute shot, China advances 59-55 over Germany: Much like his former teammate, Bogut, Nets forward Yi Jianlian rose from goat to hero status in his fourth Beijing game, swishing an 18-footer with 28 seconds to go to put China up 58-55. Yi wasn't done. He then sealed the win on the defensive end, harassing Mavs All-Pro Dirk Nowitzki into a missed three and a turnover. Yi finished with 9 pts, 11 rbs in his best game of the Olympics while also guarding Nowitzki most of the night. Dirk scored 24 and hauled down 17 rebs, but shot only 7-20 from the field, capping the night with that horrific final 28 seconds. Somewhere in New Jersey, a GM is breathing a little easier.

Yao Ming carried China with 25 pts, 11 rebs. China made the medal round for the second Olympics in a row, and closesd against Greece Monday. It could get goofy. The loser plays Lithuania, a preferable matchup to the one the winner gets: Spurs All-NBA guard Manu Ginobili and Argentina, the defending gold medalists. (Unfortunately, it didn't get goofy - Yao just didn't play most of it. He scored 16 pts in 18 mins as Greece "won" the #3 seed 91-77.)

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Australia 106, Lithuania 75 - With Lithuania undefeated and Croatia securing the #3 seed with a blowout of Group A patsy Iran earlier Sunday night, this game was meaningless. Australia started quickly with Bogut scoring 9 points in the first 2:20 seconds and only briefly looked back - when Bogut went to the bench for seven minutes in the first half. That stretch was the last time Lithuania pulled to within single digits. Bogut led all scorers with 23 pts on 10-12 shooting in just 16 mins. The Aussie D forced 25 turnovers, a good workout with Team USA next.

The boxscore and game lines say Bogut shot 3-3 from 3-point land, but there must be some mistake. A criticism of Bogut in the NBA is that the midrange jumper he had in college has disappeared, but what's this? Was it a long-range jumper all along? With 3 threes last night and 2 against Russia, he now has more 3-pointers in Beijing than Michael Redd, Team Redeem's three-point specialist. Perhaps Bogut's trying to send a message to Scott Skiles? The message is probably for Aussie coach Goorjian. "Keep me in the game" would be appropriate.

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USA 106, Germany 57 - Team Redeem jumped out to a 20-3 lead and the rout was on. Carmelo Anthony opened the scoring with a jumper, which isn't so unusual, but when Jason Kidd hit a three-pointer and Dwight Howard made a free throw in the early minutes, Germany should have packed it in and headed for the Olympic Village.

Proving that, yes, Orlando Magic center Howard has been somewhat bored against the likes of Greece and Angola, Team Redeem's only center woke up against Germany's NBA big men Dirk Nowitzki and LA Clippers center Chris Kaman. Howard led all scorers with 22 pts, 10 rebs and 5 missed free throws. Kaman answered with 6 pts and 4 rebs in 17 mins, hardly worth the special German work visa that has allowed him to play for his great grandparents deutschland in the Olympics. ... Kaman committed 3 turnovers in less than a minute spanning the end of the 1st quarter, first few ticks of the 2nd quarter - which is difficult to do. This is one of the reasons, 2006 playoffs also among them, that Kaman did not make the Bob Boozer Jinx Top Ten (or 13) NBA Centers' List.

Lebron and Kobe were a combined 7-10 from 3-point land, which should probably be against the rules of fair play. The rest of the team shot just 4-16 on threes, including 0-4 from Michael Redd. On the game, Redd played nearly 13 minutes, mostly in the second half, and shot 1-9 from the floor, finishing with 2 pts, 1 reb, 1 steal and 1 turnover. ... Germany has a 6' 9", 247-lb forward named Sven Schultze who looks precisely like Sven Schultze.

WEDNESDAY'S QUARTERFINALS

1-USA (5-0) vs. 4-Australia (3-2) - 7AM

2-Spain (4-1) vs. 3-Croatia (3 - 1:30AM

3-Greece (3-2) vs. 2-Argentina (3-1) - 9:15AM

4-China (2-3) vs. 1-Lithuania (4-1) - 3:45AM

All times are CST. NBC's basketball channel will have all the games, and USA Network will begin broadcasting at 5:30 AM. NBC's network daytime broadcast starts at 10AM and they may have at least a portion of the game, one would hope, especially if it's a good game. The Olympics network won't really stick with its plans to show men's beach volleyball, will they? ...

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AUSTRALIA - RUSSIA GAME NOTES:

We have our answer r.e. the hubris of the Aussie coach Brian Goorjian. He's apparently come to his senses (maybe Goorjian read the Bob Boozer jinx today). Bogut dominated Russia in the first half, starting and finishing strong, scoring 12 points and grabbing four rebounds. The Aussies lead at half, 49-33. They've led throughout, pushing it to 16 on some hot shooting by David Anderson at the end of the 1st quarter, early 2nd. Bogut was on the bench during that run, but returned when Russia cut it to 11. Five straight points in the post by Bogut extended the lead back to 14, and he muscled in the final two points of the half for a 16 point lead. Bogut played 15 mins in the half.

Unless there's foul trouble, Bogut should get one break per 20 minute half, and clock at minimum 32 minutes a game. I'd play him 35. Bogut's the one advantage the Aussies have over most teams in these Olympics - every team except China and Team USA. He should be on the court 80% of the time. It was asinine for Goorjian to try to prove otherwise or play it any other way.

Bogut's 4/5 from the line, which would be a nice trend. He's a 59% free throw shooter in the NBA, as bad as Dwight Howard. Russian center Aleksei Savraskeno had a good first half, and so did the Bulls' Viktor Khryapa. Khrypa's got 9 pts, 4 rebs at half; Savrasenko 12 pts, 10 in the first quarter until Australia fed Bogut and forced the 7' 1" center to the bench with fouls.

Other than the big men, the Russians are having problems. The point guard from Pittsburgh, John-Robert Holden (a guy with a pretty interesting story) shoots a lot but he's not hitting. Neither is.Kirilenko.

The speedsert Patty Mills isn't playing well for Aus but the other point guard, CJ Bruton is. He's hit a couple of threes and has 8. Forwards David Anderson and Matt Nielson are also playing well. I don't understand why the Aussies stick with center Chris Antsey. He's a veteran, age 33, an Aussie basketball league MVP, etc. But he does next to nothing on the court ... Bogut, Anderson and Nielson are all 6' 11" plus. Maybe this is at the heart of the Aus problem. It's time NOW to transition to the younger guys, not in two years. Whether Goorjian wants to admit it or not, the games are here, and they count. Having your opponents drill home the need for transition in the middle of the Olympic games has looked awful and pathetic ...and confused the players about their roles. Antsey's only played five minutes this game, probably 2 too many. He's backing up Bogut.

3RD QUARTER

Bogut starts the half by hammering Kirilenko - "unsportsmanlike" foul. Good idea to keep Kirilenko from getting his game together. This sets off a 9-0 run by Russia, though, cutting the lead to seven points before Nielson finally scores to stop it. Bogut then pushes the lead back to ten with, believe it or not, a three-pointer!! What is he doing out there? He's 1-2 from behind the arc for the game.

Ugly play - Khryapa blocks Bogut's shot about five minutes in. Bruton hits a three. He's got 11 now. Anderson's got 11 but he's in foul trouble (again) with three. So is Nielson (again). We're at the point in the game where the refs may give the Russians a shot at getting back in the game. Bogut has Savrasenko in foul trouble.

61-48 - Bogut goes to the bench six minutes into the quarter, replaced by Antsey. Too short a run for Bogut. Antsey turns the ball over. Rus center Savrasenko comes in to try and take advantage of Bogut's absence.

Russians can't hit - Holden's missed two threes and turned it over twice. ...Antsey hits a three as I was writing about him. ... 65-49 ..

Kirilenko's still stuck on that one shot he hit. Russians finally hit a three, but it isn't Holden or Kirilenko.... It was Vorontsevich, Andrei. They've fired quite a few in an effort to close the gap. Kirilenko misses another one. ...

69-55. Holden and Kirilenko have hardly rested at all. The Australia D has been very good for the first time in the Olympics, and Holden and Kirilenko are shooting terribly, accounting for Australia's big lead.

4TH QUARTER

Bogut and CJ Bruton back in to start the quarter. Bruton opens with a three to push the lead to 17 - 72-55. Bruton has four threes in the game. Bogut had a quiet 3rd (just the three pointer) but the Aussies are going back to him now in the 4th. He missed his first two shots but hit the third.. Bruton misses, Bogut grabs the offensive board - Mills hits.. 78-62. Kirilenko goes to the bench, leaving Holden, Khryapa and Savrasenko. Australia's playing their best lineup: Bogut, Bruton, Mills, Newley and Nielson ... Russia can't score.

THE DUNK: Bogut wheels in from the arc and throws down an Olympic sized jam over the defender (Vorontsevich again). And the foul! He's got 19. 80-62 ... What a statement! Russia gets Kirilenko back in the game w/ two others. Savrasenko's out. Bogut misses the free throw. Next Aussie possession, Sergei Montya hacks Bruton - an unsportsmanlike, followed by a scrap with Nielson retaliating. Bogut steps into it too. The Russians are losing it. Bruton makes the free throws - 82-62. Three minutes into the quarter and the Aussies have outscored Russia 13-7. This is probably the game.

Bogut to the bench, Antsey in. Huh? It's not over yet. The game's getting chippy, but wouldn't that be reason to leave him in? Aussies aren't supposed to duck a potential broken nose. Maybe his arm's numb from the dunk?

Khryapa hasn't been a factor in the second half. He's rebounding, but he hasn't hit a bucket. Russia finally gets a hoop with 4 minutes left to make it 83-64. 14-7 for the Aussies in the first six mins of the 4th. Inside out game with Bogut, Bruton and Mills. Until that last hoop, nearly a three minute scorelss drought for the Russians - it killed them.

Holden hits a three w/ 2:40 left, cutting it to 12. Bogut's still on the bench. Russians are on a 9-0 run. Goorjian puts Bogut back in after a Mills turnover.

Khryapa hits a three. Then another. It's too late. Bruton and Nielson are hitting their free throws. Should be game barring some craziness. Rus could always employ the hack-a-bogut defense here.

.. BOGUT JUST HIT A THREE for the helluvit, as if the dunk wasn't enough ... Bruton sews it up with two free throws - he and Bogut finish with 22.

FINAL: Australia 95, Russia 80. Boxscore.

Bogut finishes with 22 pts, 8 rebs, 2 asts in 28 mins. Bruton also had 22 (4-8 on threes) and 6 asts. Viktor Khryapa led Russia with 21 pts, 9 rebs, on the strength of his three-pointer barrage in the last four mins of the game. Kirilenko was held to 6 pts on 1-10 shooting. Holden from Pittsburgh had 20 pts but shot 20 times to get it. Savrasenko had 16 in 19 mins but was invisible in the 2nd half due to foul trouble. I'd call that a win for Bogut (and Antsey), who neutralized the Russian big man.

Bogut's 28 mins were easily the most he's played in Beijing. That's still not enough PT in a 40 minute game, especially with full two-minute rests at the quarters (NBA breaks are 90 secs.) Realistically, if he's given breathers around those breaks, Bogut should play 32-33 minutes or more in a contested game. In this game, Bogut sat for 1/3 of the game until he reentered in the 4th after Khyrapa started hitting threes. Goorjian never should have taken him out of the game in the 4th. Is the coach obligated to find minutes for Antsey?

All that talk from Goorjian before the game about Bogut being "the future" of Aussie basketball, about other players defining the team's success ... I think Goorjian finally had little choice but to acknowledge that Bogut is the present of Australia basketball and that the Aussies needed to win a game NOW or go home. The team needed a big game out of Bogut and he delivered. It was the first time a big game had been asked of him, which probably explains why the Aussies are looking at a quarterfinal game against Team USA instead of Spain or Greece.

A difficult Olympics for Bogut: Goorjian seemed to use Bogut's ankle injury (he rolled it July 31 against Angola) as an excuse to deemphasize Australia's celebrity, $72-million-dollar contract, NBA "star" -- who joined training late -- and then try to make the unrealistic statemet that the team should be bigger than its best player. The Australia Boomers aren't like the 2007-08 Bucks where it became very debatable as the season wore on who the best player was. Bogut is the man for Australia, and the reality is that Australia was only going as far as Bogut could take them. Perhaps Goorjian threw in the towel against Croatia and Argentina. Or maybe it was simply about playing Chris Antsey. Whatever the case, and it was probably a combination of all three, the coach foolishly rejected his star player until it was too late to salvage Australia's medal hopes.

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An interesting pose ....

That's Russia's Maria Stepanova boxing out Australia's Lauren Jackson. Australia won the game.

Apparently, things got rough out there ....

Bogut update: Ankle injury won't sideline center vs. U.S.; Team USA downs Russia; another crazy Bogut-Yao photo

J.D. Mo — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 05:40:00 GMT

A minor ankle injury Andrew Bogut suffered last week benched the Aussie center in the second half Friday against Argentina, but he's sure to play in the Aussie's next Olympic warm-up Tuesday ayem in Shanghai against Team USA. Contrary to a report on JSOnline yesterday suggesting that the Bucks center was injured in the Argentina game, Bogut tweaked the ankle during his 32-point, 11 reb rampage against Angola Thursday. Aussie basketball reported that Bogut carried the ankle injury into the Argentina game.

Bogut started and played most of the first half against Argentina but missed most of the second half. With Bogut on the court, the Aussie Boomers built a double digit lead up to 19 early in the 3rd Quarter. Without Bogut in the paint, Argentina big forward Luis Scola (Houston Rockets) went off for 28 second half points as the Aussies couldn't close, losing 95-91.

Is it possible Bogut could sit out Tuesday's game against the U.S.? Slightly, but he's almost certain to play. It is much more possible that Australia and Team USA could never meet in these Olympics (Australia is in Group A, the US is in Group B). The way the Olympic tournament is set up, if the Aussies finish 1st or 3rd in group play, the Boomers would not play the US unless they made the gold medal game (assuming Lebron and Kobe et al win Group B) or if Team USA loses one along the way. The Aussies would be the surprise of the tournament if they did that well, though I think they're becoming a great sleeper pick for at least a bronze medal.

But that's looking too far ahead. Tuesday's game for Bogut is a matchup in the paint against the Orlando Magic's 1st team All-NBA center Dwight Howard and a chance to play against his Bucks teammate, Michael Redd. Bogut's a guy that doesn't like to sit out Bucks games even when his nose has been mashed, much less a test against Howard that he'd run to on one leg. The ankle injury is minor. He's playing Tuesday.

Game time Tuesday is 7AM Central Time. ESPN2 has the game live from Shanghai, China. (Shanghai's 13 hours ahead of Milwaukee). For an internet feed go here to myp2p.eu. You'll probably need to download the p2p software to make it happen.

This is the last tune-up game for both teams - Olympic basketball starts this Sunday, Aug. 10. Team USA opens Group B play against China; the Aussies in Group A go against Croatia.

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USA defense, Kobe, stop Russia 89-68: Lebron fouled out with just ten points but Kobe Bryant was relentless on D and on the O, leading all scorers with 19 in what ESPN's Chris Sheridan described as "a defensive struggle." (Sheridan's again got the Olympic basketball beat and that's a good thing - he's one of ESPN's better writers). Andrei Kirilenko (Utah Jazz) led Russia with 18. Carmelo Anthony added 17 and D-Wade 16 off the bench for the US.

This game was closer than the final score indicates, as the Russians continually pushed the US lead toward single digits. The Russians had pulled to within 10 in the 3rd quarter, but the Bucks' Michael Redd drilled two threes and D-Wade got 4 pts to drive the lead back to 20 going into the 4th. Redd, still getting only spot playing time, finished with six points on those two 3-pointers. Redd, however, again missed the ESPN highlight reel:

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Kobe gave himself a new nickname after the Lithuania blowout: The Doberman. This has something to do with defense and Kobe priding himself on being able to shut down the other team's best player. Apparently that didn't apply to Ray Allen, who carved Kobe's Lakers up during the NBA Finals. US coach Mike Krzyzewski locked Detroit's Tayshaun Prince on Kirilenko in the first half.

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Jason Kidd was benched in the 2nd half in favor of Chris Paul and Deron Williams, and that may be a sign of things to come, Sheridan wrote. Or it could just be Sheridan picking up bad ESPN habits for manufacturing controversy. Obviously, Paul is going to get some minutes with Kobe and the starters and it's really not a big deal for him to playing instead of Kidd. The bigger controversy is Kidd starting over CP3 to begin with. Most basketball fans around the world haven't seen the spectacular point guard who finished 2nd in the MVP voting play all that much, and the Olympics are a made-to-order stage for CP3's arrival. Something tells me, however, that Coach K would like to think he's immune to these sorts of pressures. We'll see.

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Another story building seems to be Coach K's growing frustration with center Dwight Howard. He played Howard just 17 minutes against Russia and singled out forward-center Chris Bosh for praise after the game. Bosh isn't a center at all, of course, and therein lies Howard's problem so far in these warm-up games: The US has yet to play a team with a decent center. Howard's likely bored. But he'll see Bogut Tuesday and Yao Ming Sunday in Team USA's first Olympic game. Those two ought to wake him up and give him some company in the paint.

Howard's also not quite at full strength. He fractured his sternum against the Pistons in the playoffs and Tyson Chandler was named first Olympic alternate in case Howard couldn't go. But then Chandler missed time due to an inflamed big toe. Bogut has his "minor" ankle injury to deal with; and now Yao, recovering from a stress fracture in his left foot says he's only "60 to 70 percent", is out of shape and "feels weak."

Spain's Pau Gasol (Lakers) is still recovering from numerous injuries suffered against the Celtics in the NBA Finals, mostly relating to his pride. That leaves Germany's Chris Kaman (Clippers) as the only healthy "true" NBA center in the Olympics.

Bad hair notwithstanding.

Or doing the new 'do for Deutschland.