The Bogometer has been a little behind lately, and indeed I haven’t spoken much of Mr. Bogut since I lamented his inability to string four good games together. Well, Drew must have read my post because since I wrote it he has enjoyed his most consistent patch of the season: 5 double-doubles out of 7 games, scoring double figures every time, shooting 60% from the field and averaging an impressive 3.4 blocks per game. The Bucks went 3-4 during that stretch which doesn’t sound great, but they were competitive in every single one of those games (and don’t forget they lost Michael Redd for good along the way). What’s more, Bogut didn’t have one mediocre game in that stretch. Not one. Every single thing I said about him not being able to smash that three-game barrier goes out the window. Really, he must have read it.

As far as his All-Star chances go, they’re looking slim. On Marc Steins list of All-Star snubs there’s not one mention of Bogut, although he pulls a shifty trick by putting Bosh as his reserve center. I could see the coaches doing a similar thing (it’s not based on position after all), and it’s hard to argue against Josh Smith and Gerald Wallace as legitimate candidates this season. David Lee has continued to dominate (averaging 23-14-6, and I can’t believe those are his numbers) over his last five games, and as consistent as Bogut has been lately, he just hasn’t put up those sort of eye-popping stat lines. It was always going to be tough for AB when the Bucks started to slide (they’re now 18-24) – it’s hard enough getting the spotlight on Milwaukee when the team is playing well, let alone when they’re struggling.

In case you haven’t been following the D-League, Patty Mills has been ripping it up. Now five games into his Idaho Stampede career, Patty is averaging 25.6 points, 5.4 assists and 1.6 steals, to go with 50% shooting from three-point range.  It was with great surprise then that I saw him on the Portland Trailblazers bench in today’s game at Detroit. I only caught the last quarter of that game (lets not talk about the result ok?) and I saw a glimpse of Patty in the final seconds, arms locked with his teammates as they watched Aldridge sink the game-winning free throw. “That’s Patty Mills!” I shouted. I’ve never been so excited about seeing any player sitting on the bench.

Over in Houston, it’s been a solid couple of weeks for David Andersen. His best game came in a 115-106 loss to Miami on January 15th where Andersen notched 12-5-3 on 4-6 shooting. He also contributed 15 quality minutes in the Rockets huge upset win at the Spurs – seriously, every time I seem to write about these guys they have a ridiculous against-the-odds win. How do you beat the San Antonio Spurs when Kyle Lowry and Aaron Brooks are your joint top-scorers? (and when Ariza only scores 13 points?). Tell me how!

In Minnesota, the month of January has seen Jawai play the least minutes of any other month this season. He did play 21 minutes in a blow-out loss to Memphis, but he still only managed 5 points and 6 rebounds. What’s even more concerning is that Jawai hasn’t registered any minutes the past two games, breaking a streak of 10 games where Jawai stepped on the floor. I was very surprised big Nate didn’t get any burn today considering they were blown out by the Bucks by 30+ points. If you’re not getting minutes in a game like that as a bench warmer, when will you? (UPDATE: Thanks to marriard for pointing out that Jawai is actually on the inactive list, hence not playing the last two games. Fair enough, Brian Cardinal is pretty good)

On a final note, we’re obviously only two days away from Australia Day. I say “obviously” because if you’re an Aussie you’re no doubt aware of this and in the middle of enjoying an extra long weekend. If you’re not an Aussie, I strongly suggest you consider cracking open a Fosters in two days time to pay tribute to this great country. Take a minute to appreciate all the incredible basketball players we’ve produced (and really this should only take a minute). Throw a shrimp on the barbie or go to Outback Steakhouse or whatever it is you do in the US to celebrate in Aussie style. Just know that Fosters is shit and hugely inferior to everything us real Aussies will be drinking 10,000 miles away.

Have a good one.

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