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.
Tags: Andrew Bogut, Australia Day, Australian NBA players, David Andersen, Nathan Jawai, Patrick Mills
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12 Comments until now.
Jawai is on the inactive list so isn’t eligible to play at the moment. Apparently he can’t beat our Brian Cardinal (who has no knees) for a spot on the bench. Seriously, Jawai needs to head on down to the D-League and get some playing time.
SLAM online also picked Al Horford over Bogut as an all-star, but that’s from the same site/writer who picked Horford over Durant for ROY.
RE: Patty Mills
…was activated for tonight’s game and coach Nate McMillan said there was more than a chance he would play. The Blazers have nine healthy players for tonight’s game.
“We don’t have much of a choice, he’s got to play,’’ McMillan said.
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2010/01/blazers_patty_mills_gets_the_c.html
Gees hes gettin stuffed around…
guess the dude has to go wherever they want him – they are playing him like 500k or whatever a year at the moment. he would’ve been a bit disappointed to end up sitting on the bench though when he could’ve been getting 35 mins for Idaho. apparently Bayless is out for another 3 games so perhaps he’ll see a few mins, just needs to show them what he’s about and his value as a Brooks/Barea-type player.
I just dont get it… just chuck him on for at least 2 minute spurts to run em ragged…. but hey, may be thats why im here and nates there…
Portland play New Orleans tonight – Chris Paul is just the sort of player you think you might need Mills to play against since Blake and Andre Miller can’t stay with him.
May depend on whether Bayless plays – though Bayless is so poor on defense I am told he lost his own shadow on defense in a pick up game last week and it scored 10 points on him.
Watching the Portland broadcast – their coaches before the game just started talking about what a match up problem Chris Paul is for the Blazers.
Oh and Nicholas Batum is back for the Blazers. Bayless is dressed so Mills is still probably not getting a shot unless something happens.
i really don’t know why they rate Bayless. every time I’ve seen him he makes stupid decisions and plays poorly.
i agree with Justo. at least give him 3-4 minutes to show you what he can do. a player like Patty is PERFECTLY suited to coming off the bench for a 5 minute spark because he’s so quick. kinda like Earl Boykins was for the Nuggets a few years back.
wise up folks! I’m as big a fan of patty as anyone and i’m all for him getting a run out-but as I see it the blazers are doing all they can to bring him to the point were he’s ready for big big big time ballin. Gently gently works 9 times out of ten.
yeah BC, or at least ready to compete properly at the NBA level. NBA basketball is so different from all other leagues – the athleticism, the skill sets, the individual play. Patty’s game still has a lot of developing to do to be an NBA guard and they don’t see him as ready to compete just yet. what they do need to find out though is we all already know – that the dude is a baller and a big time competitor on the court and he’s not afraid to take shots try to make plays to win. and he can do that right now.
BIG game for Drew today but the Bucks came up short. New career high 32 points on 13-14 from the floor.
He needs some help on that team. I wonder. If sticking Jennings on the bench for a few games and running Ridnour at the point might snap Jennings back into a decent player. The Bucks are getting nothing from anyone bar Bogut and Delfino at the moment.
http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/steve_aschburner/01/27/bogut/index.html
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