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Bogut a center of attention
By Gery Woelfel
If you walk into the weight room at the University of Utah, you can't help but notice photos of athletes on the wall.
The pictures were put up as a tribute to the university's athletes who have demonstrated a special commitment to making themselves the most physically fit performers they can be. One of those photos is Andrew Bogut, the starting center on Utah's men's basketball team the last two years.
"The pictures aren't for the strongest lifters; they are for the hardest lifters,'' said Trevor Jameson, the Utah men's basketball team's trainer. "It's for their intensity and work ethic in the weight room.
"Andrew is just really a hard worker.'' The extensive time and energy Bogut has invested in the weight room at Utah and the countless hours he has devoted toward becoming a blue-chip basketball player has paid off. Barring something unforeseen, the 7-foot, 254-pound Bogut is expected to be the Milwaukee Bucks' choice as the first player selected in Tuesday night's NBA Draft.
Just like he didn't need much prodding to hit the weight room, Bogut knew the importance of practice as well, Jameson said.
"He came to practice every single day,'' Jameson said. "It was important to him to get better as a player. He took basketball very seriously.
He's trained religiously in Washington, D.C., for the last couple of months in preparation for his workout with the Bucks and the Atlanta Hawks, who have the second pick in the draft.
"He's worked out almost every single day,'' said David Bauman, Bogut's agent from SFX. "The only day he took off on was on Sunday. He's a warrior.'' Bogut's preparation was apparent during his workout for the Bucks. With Bucks coaches and trainers pushing him almost non-stop for nearly an hour at the team's training facility in St. Francis, Bogut held up nicely. While understandably fatigued at the end of the workout, he took only one short break.
While NBA officials are enamored with Bogut's dogged determination to succeed, they claim he has another invaluable asset: an ability to make players around him better. As exhibit A, they offer last season's Utah team, which was hardly talent-laden. Bogut almost single-handedly carried the Utes to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Division I tournament.
Bogut was especially effective down the stretch. In the Utes' last nine games, Bogut averaged nearly 14 rebounds, and in four of those games, he scored at least 25 points.
In the eyes of Bucks player personnel director Dave Babcock, Bogut is simply a winner.
"Larry Bird took Indiana State to the Final Four,'' Babcock said. "If he's not on that team, they're not even a Division II team.
"Bogut took Utah to the Sweet 16. If he's not on that team, they're not an NCAA Tournament team. He'll do whatever it takes for his team to win.'' Bogut proved that last season while being the consensus college Player of the Year. He also exhibited his ability to lead while a member of the Australian Junior National Team in the 2003 FIBA World Championships in Greece.
Bogut led the Aussies to the championship and, in the process, was selected the tournament's most valuable player after averaging 26.3 points and 17 rebounds.
Bogut insists putting up impressive numbers like he did at the World Championships or at Utah aren't his primary objective as a player.
"If I get 10 points and seven boards and seven assists, I'd be happy with that as long as at the end of the day we still won,'' Bogut said.
What didn't make Bogut happy was a recent Web site report that claims Bogut has an eye disease. The report quoted Rick Majerus, Bogut's coach in his freshman season at Utah, as saying Bogut had macular degeneration, which could lead to blindness.
Majerus' alleged comment baffled Utah officials and angered those in the Bogut camp.
"He's 20-40 without contact lenses; he's 20/15 with contact lenses,'' said David Bauman, Bogut's agent. "There's absolutely no issue there. It's just preposterous.'' That has been the only red flag that has been raised about Bogut since NBA officials began investigating Bogut's background on and off the court. Scouts said Bogut doesn't have any character issues and Ray Giacoletti, his coach last season at Utah, speaks about him in almost reverential tones.
Giacoletti likes to tell the story about how after the 2004 Olympics, Bogut, who played for Australia, came back to school and asked him if he knew of any jobs where he could earn some extra income.
Giacoletti got him a job at a local restaurant as a busboy and Bogut was elated, especially since Bogut got the opportunity to take home some food after work.
"He is a throwback,'' Giacoletti said. "He's a guy his mom and dad did a great job of bringing up. It's hard to put into words how good of a person and how hard of a worker Andrew is.
"As good of a player he is, he's a better person. He's just a special guy.'' And he has a chance to be a special player. He seemingly doesn't have any glaring weakness. He is proficient around the basket and, amazingly, may be even better with his left hand, his off hand, than his dominant right hand.
He also has a nice mid-range jumper, can put the ball on the floor as well as any center and he's an adept passer. Some NBA people contend Bogut is the best passing big man since Vlade Divac.
"I like him very much,'' said Scott Layden, now an analyst for NBA-TV who, as the Utah Jazz's chief scout, was instrumental in the Jazz selecting Karl Malone and John Stockton. "He was fortunate to have Rick Majerus as his coach his first year. I'm sure he learned a lot from Rick.
"I think Andrew has a lot of great qualities, and not just his scoring. He's a very good rebounder; he just rebounds with ease. He has an instinct for rebounding that a lot of players don't have."
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