Long live King Bogut
Sydney has seen enough ... and wants more
THE Sydney Kings have expressed a desire to extend Andrew Bogut’s stay in the Harbour City as he continues his first NBL campaign at a record-breaking pace.
Bogut, 34, has been the catalyst behind the Kings’ push into third place on the ladder with seven wins from their opening 11 games.
Ahead of Friday’s clash with the Wildcats in Perth, where they will look to extend their three-game winning streak against their bitter rivals, Kings acting CEO Paul Kind said the franchise would happily extend Bogut’s two-year deal if the former NBA champion wanted to prolong his career.
Bogut is on track to become the first player in NBL history to average more than 11 rebounds, three assists and three blocks per game. “If Andrew wants to play longer at the Sydney Kings, he can play for as long as he felt he was able to play at the level he wants to play at,” Kind said.
“You take Andrew for his worth. I think he would be a very good judge of his ability to progress or call it quits.
“The only person’s advice I’d take on that is Andrew Bogut. But from our point of view, he’d be welcome to play for as long as he wanted to. We’d be more than happy to have him.”
Bogut’s record-setting stat line was not even achieved in the 48-minute NBL game era dating back 40 seasons. But Bogut has been a standout for Sydney this season, breaking several longstanding marks.
Against the New Zealand Breakers last Sunday he became the second player in NBL history to record 20 points, 15 rebounds, three assists and two blocks in less than 31 minutes on the court. That hadn’t been achieved since Geelong centre John Dorge had 21 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and four blocks against Newcastle in 1990.
Kings boss Jeff van Groningen has worked with some of Australia’s best big men, including four-time Olympian Ray Borner at Geelong and three-time NBL champion Mark Bradtke at the Melbourne Tigers and Brisbane Bullets. But he said Bogut stood at the top.
“I’ve seen three of the most dominant big men of their era but the things that Bogut is doing on the floor from a big man point of view, I’ve never seen before,” he said.