Andrew Bogut: “I Think I Can Do a Little More Offensively”

In his time with the Golden State Warriors, Andrew Bogut has solidified himself as the defensive stalwart that this team has desperately needed at the center position. Bogut led the Warriors this past season with 10 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game, and he finished 10th in the voting for the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year Award. Bogut is the Warriors’ defensive anchor, and he sets the tone defensively with his dominating presence and his ability to set hard screens.

As important as Bogut is on defense, he hasn’t been utilized nearly as much on offense as he used to be when he was on the Milwaukee Bucks. In his best offensive year with the Bucks in 2009-2010, Bogut averaged 15.9 points and 13.2 field goal attempts per game on 52 percent shooting.

This past season with the Warriors, Bogut averaged 7.3 points on just 5.6 field goal attempts per game. The Warriors don’t need Bogut to be a huge offensive force when they have stronger offensive weapons such as Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, David Lee, etc.

However, many Warriors fans and analysts have suggested that the Warriors should try to utilize Bogut more offensively. Bogut acknowledged this opinion recently in an interview with Believe the Hype. Bogut said in the interview that he needs to become more confident on offense.

"“I’ve kind of taken a backseat offensively the last couple years, and that’s not a bad thing because we do have two of the best shooters in the league that are great scorers,” Bogut said, “So I’d like to get that back. I think I can do a little more offensively, but if my team needs me to play D and rebound, I’ll do that.”"

Integrating Bogut more on the offensive end would give the Warriors’ offense another element and make them harder to guard. It also would give Curry and Thompson more space to spread the floor and knock down threes.

The Warriors’ offense was often criticized last season, rightfully so, because of their inability to score at times, given their strong offensive weapons. Mark Jackson often ran too many isolation plays, which slowed down the pace of the game, not in the Warriors’ favor.

It’s unclear what offensive philosophies Steve Kerr will bring to the Warriors next season. Bogut believes Kerr will be a great fit for the Warriors though. Bogut said he spoke to Kerr over the phone and that Kerr might fly out to Australia at some point this offseason to meet him in person.

Bogut discussed the hiring of Kerr in that same interview with Believe the Hype:

"“That’s always a good sign,” Bogut said. “He seems like a very knowledgeable guy. Obviously, he’s a very, very good commentator. You can tell he’s got a high IQ just by listening to his games. But obviously the question that everyone’s asking is the coaching experience thing.“But I don’t see him as having a huge ego or anything like that, so I think he’ll probably hire some assistants that can definitely help him carry the load in his first year as a coach, and I think he’ll be great for us.”"

It’ll be interesting to see if Kerr decides to integrate Bogut into the offense more this upcoming season, because it could greatly benefit this team.