Photo: AP/Ben Margot
Andrew Bogut takes the main headlines this week, as he played an integral part in Golden State going 3-0 over the past week. After losing back-to-back games, the Warriors got back to their unselfish passing ways. In a 107-99 win over Brooklyn, they had 30 assists on 41 shots made. Bogut had five of them, including another double double. It was a fantastic night for him in having 11 points, 14 rebounds, and four blocks. On one sequence, Andrew came from behind to swat a Brook Lopez layup away. Then followed up with an outlet pass to Stephen Curry for the fast-break basket. Bogut’s presence on the interior was felt throughout the night, as Miles Plumlee was blocked from behind as well. It was arguably Bogut’s best game of the season.
Bogut put up good numbers against Brooklyn
The convincing wins continued, as Golden State annihilated Charlotte 112-87. The game was at 39-31 at one point in the second quarter. By near the end of the quarter, Golden State was up 61-39 from an incredible 22-8 run. Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry got into the lane repeatedly, which led to several easy buckets for Bogut. It did benefit him going against one of the worst defensive centers in the league in Al Jefferson. Curry was able to feed him multiple ally-oops during the game. Bogut finished with 13 points and nine rebounds in just 22 minutes of action. Jefferson’s inability to rotate defensively was being exposed handily. With Curry and Thompson combining to shoot 7 for 12 from three-point range, the rout was on.
The hot shooting didn’t stop, as the Lakers were the next victim. Kobe Bryant did his best to keep the Lakers on pace with 44 points, but they had no answer for Golden State. The Warriors had 32 assists and shot 50 percent from three-point range. Steve Kerr’s system of constant ball movement and not over-relying on the stellar backcourt has paid dividends for them. Bogut had 15 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists in just 21 minutes. Foul trouble did plague him, but he was able to find open lanes frequently when cutting to the basket. He had a pretty finish on one occasion, where he was going up with his right hand switched to his left hand to complete the layup in mid air. That included being fouled in the process, which got the Warriors bench out of their seats. Golden State won handily 136-115 to finish the week at 7-2.
Golden State has a relatively easy week coming up. They have a break until Friday, where they’ll host Utah. That should be an emotional game for Bogut going up against fellow Australians’ Dante Exum and Joe Ingles. On Sunday, a four game road trip starts in Oklahoma City to face a depleted Thunder team. The final game of the week will be on Tuesday at Miami.
Photo: Warriors
After a promising 4-2 start to the season, Bojan Bogdanović and the Brooklyn Nets have crashed back to mediocrity. They are currently on a four game skid following their road trip to the west coast. Brooklyn managed to blow a 19-point lead in losing 112-104 to Phoenix. The explosive duo off Phoenix’s bench in Isaiah Thomas and Gerald Green combined for 49 points. The former Real Madrid forward played 33 minutes, but only shot four of ten for 14 points. Bojan had some promising moments, including a three-pointer at the buzzer in the third quarter. It became apparent that Bojan began to fade down the stretch in a fast-pace game. The overall team faded in the fourth quarter and weren’t able to slow down Phoenix’s fast paced offense.
Bogdanović highlights against the Suns
The struggles continued in Golden State, where we saw Bojan match up with fellow Croatian Andrew Bogut for the first time. There seemed to be a different alignment in Brooklyn’s lineup. Despite Joe Johnson being listed as a small forward, it’s becoming apparent that he defends opposing shooting guards. Bogdanović’s lack of speed makes him a better option in guarding small forwards. In 37 minutes, his stat line was nine points on four of eight shooting and three rebounds. It was a lackluster game for him, as he seemed to struggle to get involved consistently. For him to play against athletic specimens like Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala is a tough adjustment for him on both sides of the court. We’ve seen that Bogdanović simply isn’t very athletic. His quick shot release and craftiness are his main strengths. That’s why we’ve seen him score from his teammates passing rather than any isolation play. It showed in the 107-99 loss.
When it couldn’t get worse for him, it did in a scoreless performance against Portland. Bojan’s minutes slightly declined to 28 minutes from the poor shooting. A zero for five performance, including four of those from three-point range will surely cause a decline in minutes. It was even more disappointing that Brooklyn couldn’t capitalize on LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicholas Batum being injured. They managed to shoot 1 for 19 from three-point range against a team without their best perimeter defender in Batum. A disappointing 97-87 loss against a team without two of their three best players is unacceptable.
Bojan was on fire against the Miami Heat on Monday
Another loss to a injury-plagued team occurred against Miami at home on Monday night. Despite Dwayne Wade and Luol Deng sitting out with injures, Brooklyn failed to capitalize in a 95-83 defeat. The star trio of Joe Johnson, Deron Williams, and Brook Lopez shot for a combined eight for 30 from the field. It was Bogdanović’s stellar game that kept them in the game. Williams deserves major credit for finding him on several clever passes. Bojan is learning how to make smart cuts to the hoop, along with having such a quick shot release. Udonis Haslem and Mario Chalmers were caught out of position in rotating to defend him by the three-point line. His quick release has become an issue for defenders, who are trying to stop Williams from penetrating to the basket to rotating back to disrupt the outside shooter. Bogdanović was eight for eleven from the field scoring 22 points, which included going four for five from three-point range. Lionel Hollins recognized the hot hand and proceeded to play him for a season high of 41 minutes. That will be a major confidence booster following his two lackluster performances.
Brooklyn will look to get a much-needed win tonight against Milwaukee. It will be the return of Jason Kidd, who should get a “lovely” ovation from the Brooklyn crowd. Then a road trip begins in Oklahoma City on Friday. It was only a few weeks ago, when both teams played and Bogdanović had one of his better games. The week ends early, as they take on the reigning champion San Antonio Spurs on Saturday. Bojan will continue to search for a true identity in Brooklyn’s offense. Lionel Hollins will hope that he can improve on his 31 percent shooting from three-point range as well. Anything less than a 2-1 record during this span would be a disappointment.
Photo: AP/Lynne Sladky
It was a rather surprising week for Damjan Rudež and the Indiana Pacers. Many people including myself saw them likely losing all three games. Miami and Chicago are among the top teams in the East, while Denver has a plethora of talented players despite getting off to a slow start. Instead they went 2-1 and it started off by getting “revenge” in an 81-75 win over Miami. Rudež, 28, didn’t contribute much, as he had two points in 14 minutes of action. Once again, the struggles continued from three-point range in missing both of his attempts.
While his minutes did increase from 14 to 27, it was largely contributed to Denver blowing Indiana out by 21 points. The Zagreb born forward responded by scoring 7 points off three of seven shooting, including three assists, but finished without a rebound. It’s frustrating to see him not active on the boards for a player of his size. Eventually he’ll need to do that since he isn’t necessarily contributing in other departments.
In arguably their best performance of the year, Indiana finished off the week with a 99-90 upset in Chicago. Although it did help that Derrick Rose wasn’t able to play, Chicago is accustomed to playing without him at this point. Indiana went in there and outrebounded them by twelve. Rudež contributed with three of them, although he only went one for five from the field. That included missing all four of his attempts from three-point range. Damjan is shooting just 28 percent from three-point range this season. That simply won’t cut it, as David West, George Hill, and Rodney Stuckey will get healthy shortly. Unless he becomes a reliable shooter off the bench, it’s hard to see him receive 20 minutes or more in the next few weeks.
Indiana is at 4-7, which is better than what I expected from them early on. They have a two game home stretch starting tonight against Charlotte, followed by a matchup against Phoenix on Saturday. Stay tuned to see how Rudez fares in the rotation, as the key players begin to recover from their respective injuries.
~Written by Allen Strk
Twitter: @Allen_Strk
Ivica is spot on for the most part. I think Parker will eventually get his stats up, due to Milwaukee not having many true scorers. At least Minnesota has a good group of talent like Pekovic, Martin, Young, etc.
Still Bojan has adjusted well. I’d like to see him more aggressive, but there are only so many shots he can take. Johnson, Williams, and Lopez are going to get their fair share of shots up.
Congrats to Porcelain Doll Bogut for staying healthy.
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There’s no chance he wins rookie of the year, on account of his age alone. He would have to be light years ahead of the next best rookie to have a chance of winning it.
I remember there was a year when center Marc Jackson (who was several years older than all the rookies at age 26) was the leading scorer and rebounder among rookies (in a poor draft year). They still ended up giving the award to Mike Miller who was averaging like 11ppg (and not even playing that well).
Bogdanović will probably finish top 3 in scoring, as I expect Wiggins and Parker to get better as the season progresses, and also, be given free-reign to take any shot they want in those last couple of months in the season.
I knew Bojan’s game would translate well, but I didn’t expect him to play like this right out of the gate. He looks like a veteran already. He could have himself a decent career and make some retarded money for himself on his next contract, especially since the cap is expected to inflate drastically from the new TV deal the NBA has.
yea there is actually an outside chance that bogdanovic wins rookie of the year. that would be pretty crazy considering that this was one of the most hyped draft classes ever.
bb doens’t seem like he’ll ever be a star, but he looks like he can contribute in the nba for sure. and so far, his transition has been solid. even good players in europe like mirotic and teletovic have had a slower adjustment process
This site should be called croatiandumdums.com, or croatiandummies.com, something like that.
Bogdanović (albeit being 5 years older than the other rookies) will probably finish as top rookie scorer.
Not bad for a second round pick, who’s ceiling was expected to be a role player off the bench.
He’s looking like a starter in this league.
Nicely written Allen. I think Bogdanovic will get it all together and will be a much better overall player soon.
Thank you Allen.