Andrew Bogut’s New Role With the Warriors
By Marc Grandi
Ever since the Golden State Warriors acquired Andrew Bogut from the Milwaukee Bucks for fan-favorite Monta Ellis, Golden State has been one of the league’s better teams. Because of Bogut’s injury problems at the time — and his history of gruesome falls — fans were understandably upset.
The fans supported the franchise through decades of embarrassment (most recently the Chris Cohan era), but trading Ellis was the last straw for many fans.
They showed their discontent with the trade by booing new owner Joe Lacob (who, by the way, was the best thing to happen to the Warriors since the trade that brought Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington to Golden State in the unforgettable “We Believe” year in 2007) during Chris Mullin‘s jersey retirement.
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Thunderous Intentions
Even Hall of Famers Mullin and Rick Barry couldn’t quiet the crowd’s boos despite doing everything in their power to voice their support of Lacob. It seemed as if the Warriors were doomed for failure once again.
However, since that miserable 2011-2012 season ended, the Warriors have made the playoffs in the tough Western Conference in back-to-back seasons for the first time in over 20 years. It seems as if the turnaround of the Warriors’ franchise directly correlates to the acquisition of Bogut, but when healthy — which hasn’t been too often — he has struggled offensively.
The turnaround was more because Stephen Curry was given enough room to grow into the superstar he is today, but acquiring Bogut certainly set the table.
Under Mark Jackson‘s command, Bogut struggled to impact the game on both sides of the floor. He — along with Andre Iguodala — transformed the Warriors’ defense from respectable to elite.
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But that was expected. Bogut has always been an anchor defensively. With his size, strength, and shocking athleticism (think back to him dunking on JaVale McGee in the 2013 NBA Playoffs), it’d be worrisome if he struggled defensively.
During his tenure with the Bucks, he also proved his worth on the offensive side of the court. In the 2009-2010 season, Bogut averaged 15.9 points per game while shooting 52 percent from the field.
In his first year with Golden State (in which he only played 32 games) he struggled to find a rhythm scoring only 5.8 points per game on 45 percent shooting. Of course, it’d be foolish to expect him to score at the same clip as he did in Milwaukee because he was the first option there, but it wouldn’t be too optimistic to assume he’d shoot a similar percentage.
Last season, he picked up the slack. He scored a respectable 7.3 points per game and shot a career-high 62.7 percent from the field. However, when things go well for Bogut, he gets injured. That was the case last year as he suffered a rib fracture in a late season matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Subsequently, he missed the entire postseason and one could easily see the Warriors advancing past the Los Angeles Clippers if only Bogut didn’t get hurt.
However, that high shooting percentage is relatively misleading. Most of Bogut’s shots were uncontested lay-ups and dunks and when he was aggressive — which wasn’t often because of the system (or perhaps lack thereof) coach Jackson implemented — he struggled to convert shots that he made with consistency in the past.
Bottom line: Bogut can perform better. We know, he knows it, the coaches know it.
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With the hiring of Steve Kerr, Bogut should get the ball not only more often, but also in situations in which he can exploit his defender. Last season, Bogut only touched the ball on 12.5 percent of Golden State’s possessions. That is unacceptable, especially when considering Bogut’s passing ability.
Although the Warriors most likely will not need to experiment with Bogut initiating the offense from the top of the key thanks to the signing of Shaun Livingston, it was certainly an option last year. The entire season was marred by a search for a ball-handling backup for Curry.
Kerr most likely knows this and if anything happens to a number of Golden State’s ball-handlers, perhaps they’ll feed the ball to Bogut for him to find open shooters.
If — and it’s a big if — Bogut can stay healthy for an entire season, expect him to have a career year. He won’t record a career-high in points per game, but he sure will affect the game more than he has done ever before.
Big things are coming from Bogut.