The Curious Case of Andrew Bogut

There could be something wrong in his personal life which is why he seems to lose concentration during games.  Bogut took a leave of absence earlier this year and traveled back to Australia. No one outside of the Bucks organization knows why he did this but it certainly could have an effect on him.

The following are Bogut's statistics from 11 games this season compared to his career numbers.

  MPG FGM-FGA FG% FT% RPG APG BPG PPG 2011-12 Reg. Season 32.2 5.5-12.0 0.455 0.619 8.7 2.8 1.9 12.1 Career 32.8 5.5-10.4 0.523 0.574 9.4 2.3 1.6 12.7

It's not like Bogut is having a terrible season. The only number that is drastically down is his field goal percentage. Unfortunately, most NBA teams can't afford centers not making their shots and the Bucks are definitely one of them.

There is no doubt Milwaukee plays a lot better when Bogut is playing well compared to when he isn't. The Bucks are 6-3 this season when Bogut scores 10 points or more and 0-7 when he either scores less than 10 points or does not play in the game. Brandon Jennings has made a good case that he is now the face of the franchise but that doesn't mean the Bucks can survive without Bogut.

Two seasons ago, Jennings' rookie year, the Bucks made a lot of noise in the NBA as they stormed their way into the playoffs. As good as Milwaukee was converting outside shots, it was clearly the play from their center that made the team beam with confidence. Bogut averaged a career-high 15.9 points, 10.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 2.5 blocks per game while hitting 52.0% of his shots and 62.9% of his free throws. The Bucks were primed to make a deep playoff run before Bogut had a horrific injury towards the end of the regular season that resulted in a dislocated right elbow, broken right hand, and a wrist sprain. Two years later some say he never truly recovered from those injuries which is why he doesn't play with the same intensity.

Once again the Bucks have a very talented team, but with seven new players they are still trying to figure each other out. Jennings is off to the best start of his career and Bogut shows signs of his former self but they need more than that to succeed. The team is starting to find its identity, which is a hardnosed aggressive defense, but now the players must find their own identity within the scheme.

When I think of Bogut I think of a good defensive player who is a tremendous shot blocker and fights for rebounds. If he is struggling with his offensive game there is no reason why he can't be Milwaukee's version of Dennis Rodman. The Bucks have great outside shooters and players who can drive in the paint so they really only need Bogut to convert enough shots under the basket to make teams honest.

The pieces are falling into place, now each player must figure out what they must do individually to help the team win.