Looking for ways to pass the time as the regular season winds down? Well the folks over at Milwaukee Bucks Diary are. While searching for signs of stardom amidst Andrew Bogut’s rookie campaign, they put together a brief but interesting comparison of his freshman NBA stats against those of Mr. Rasheed Wallace, during his rookie campaign with the Bullets. While their conclusion — that Bogut’s rookie campaign has met or exceeded Sheed’s in most stat categories — is supported by the numbers they’ve chosen to highlight, I think the comparison ends there. In my opinion, Bogut is much closer now to his talent ceiling than the extremely raw Rasheed was with Washington. And I’ve never seen Bogut as being on the same athletic plane as Sheed, though I’ll have to admit to some ignorance as to the nuances of Big Australia’s game.
Regardless, Bogut’s potential will face off against Sheed’s production as the the Bucks creep into the crosshairs tonight at the Palace. The Bucks, coming off a big win over Phoenix on Tuesday, are scoring an average of 111.6 over their past five games and leading the league in assists over that period. They also feature former Michigan State Spartan Charlie Bell, filling in for T.J. Ford at the point. Bell, who had bounced around the foreign leagues for the past 3+ years, seems to have finally secured a permanent spot in the NBA, even racking up his first career triple-double in the win over the Suns. Though it’s tough to admit for a Michigan Wolverine, it is good to see the former “Flintstone” done good.
In short folks, while this game may not have been circled in red on your schedule, it should be a fun one nonetheless.
Bogut’s rookie season compared to Rasheed Wallace’s [Milwaukee Bucks Diary]
Preview: Bucks at Pistons [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
My two cents, as posted on that site: “Something to consider: Bogut hasn’t attempted a single three point shot this year. If you take away Wallace’s 82 rookie attempts, he shot 51%, pretty much the same as Bogut this year.
Plus Wallace was playing with Chris Webber (at least for a little bit) and Juwon Howard in his prime, not to mention Gheorge Muresan, who averaged 14.5 points and 9.6 boards that year.
No one Bogut is playing with has put up nearly the same stats as Washington’s other big men from that year, aside from Magliore on the boards. Plus, I think Bogut was drafted so high because it was thought he’d stick at center. He’s just not nearly as valuable or unique as a power forward. Just my two cents.
(As a Pistons fan, I’m admittedly a fan of Wallace, but I don’t think I have any hidden biases for/against Bogut.)”