Breakers brace for Bogut but Kings run deep
The Breakers ain’t scared of the Bogeyman. Respectful, yes, but quaking in their boots over today’s visit by much-heralded Sydney Kings signing Andrew Bogut? Definitely not.
Nor should they be. Bogut has tremendous NBA pedigree (13 years all told, including a championship with Golden State), and the former No 1 draft pick, even at 33, is still a fabulous player. His addition to this league as its home-grown marquee player is another sign that the Australian NBL is heading in a very, very encouraging direction.
But even he can only do so much. And this league is now so good that a former NBA star can’t just waltz in and have his own way. Especially one with as limited an offensive arsenal as Bogut. He’s a great passer and excellent defender and shotblocker. But he’s not likely to put 40, or even 30, up on you.
The Kings were rolled 94-83 first-up at home by Adelaide. Bogut had 6 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks. He shot two of nine from the floor. He was good, but was outplayed by Adelaide’s Daniel Johnson, who finished with 26 points and 10 boards.
Bogut was better in Friday night’s rematch against the Sixers in Adelaide (16 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks), but the much-hyped Kings lost again (106-101) to drop to 0-2 for the new season.
The game is so global now, and standard so good across the board, that a glittering NBA pedigree like Bogut’s is only worth so much. Besides, the Breakers have a pretty decent big man of their own to match up against him in former Philadelphia 76er Shawn Long.
The Breakers are actually more worried about Sydney’s collective response to their early defeats than they are anything unstoppable coming from the 2.13m Kings centre.
‘‘They’re like us. They lost their first game, but give them time,’’ said Breakers coach Kevin Braswell. ‘‘They’ve got Jerome Randle, an MVP in Kevin Lisch, Brad Newley, [Daniel] Kickert, all round the whole board there are threats. You can’t get caught up on one or two guys. We’ve got to make sure our guys understand about all of them.
‘‘Bogut is great on the defensive end, and he’s a phenomenal passer, and Jerome can kill you in a variety of ways. We’ve just got to make sure we give the effort we gave [last] Sunday [in Melbourne].’’
Braswell liked the response after last Thursday’s limp 86-73 defeat at home against Brisbane. The defence was excellent (spearheaded by guard Shea Ili’s lockdown on Casper Ware) and the pace better. And he was encouraged by a victory achieved even without star shooter Corey Webster finding his best stuff.
Captain Tom Abercrombie is also hoping to stay in attack mode after his early aggression off the dribble in Melbourne helped net a vital 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
‘‘I’m still building myself up and getting that confidence back. I had a very disrupted pre-season with injury and haven’t had the luxury of those games which I really needed.’’
The Breakers will be desperate to reward their fans with a victory.