Chicago Two out of two lottery picks agree.Andrew Bogut should go ahead of
Marvin Williams in theNBAdraft as the first overall choice of Milwaukee tonight.
Just ask Bogut.
“I think I know I’m the better pick. If they want potential in three or four
years, you probably go with Marvin Williams. If they want someone to help
them to the playoffs immediately, I think I’m the guy.”
To which Williams responded: “You tell me why I should be the
No. 1 pick. I never said I should be.”
It’s as if Bogut skipped his basketball career
at Utah and went straight to a sports
radio commentary job, while Williams
just arrived from a 1950s
charm school. The Bucks have
to decide which personality,
and which game, they will bank
their future on.
The choice is stark.
Polished centers such as Bogut come along as often
as eclipses, but the NBA consensus is Williams, a forward
who turned 19 this month, could be more spectacular
in the long run. A key figure on North Carolina’sNCAAchampionship
team, Williams never started
a college game but did enough in spot duty to have
NBA general managers salivating.
“If he played anywhere else in the country he would
have started,” BucksGMLarry Harris said at predraft
workouts in Chicago. “The thing with Andrew is if
he’d have played on the East Coast, I think people
would have known more about him. You reverse
roles you put Marvin in Utah and he starts and has
a big year and North Carolina wins a title with Bogut.”
Bogut’s story is unusual, like his point of view.Anative
Australian born to Croatian immigrants, he ascended
from being a kid who struggled making a regional
youth team to becoming the consensus national
college player of the year at Utah as a sophomore
this past season.
Because his two coaches at Utah, Rick Majerus and
Ray Giacoletti, used him so differently, he has displayed
a diverse and polished game for a 20-year-old.
Bogut said Majerus asked him to work the perimeter
and slash to the basket, while Giacoletti parked him
down low.
Despite his star player’s 20.4-point, 12.2-rebound averages,
Giacoletti suggested that Bogut could have
been even more dominant with better perimeter help.
“You have only so many opportunities at the col-lege level, less in the NBA, to
get a true low-post player that
can play 13 or 14 years in the
NBA,” the coach said. “Andrew
is that.”
Not lacking for words
Asked to point out a comparable
player, Bogut said a young
Arvydas Sabonis.
When it was mentioned he
might play like Vlade Divac, he
replied, “There’s no chance I’m
as slow as Vlade Divac.”
During the draft build-up,
Bogut answered a question on
how he will overcome the stereotype
of the “white stiff” by
calling other former top picks,
such as Kwame Brown and
Michael Olowokandi, “black
stiffs” in an interview with draftexpress.
com. He even criticized
the Los Angeles Lakers’
Kobe Bryant and didn’t back
down once the quote circulated.
“I still think he’s one of the
best players in the NBA,” Bogut
said. “But his attitude needs to
change. I’ve got nothing against
him. I’m going to say what I feel.
It may get me in trouble sometimes,
but that’s the way it is.
I’m not going to lie.”
Though clearly annoyed by
statements from Majerus that
he might have a degenerative
eye condition, Bogut also said
he maintains a “fine” albeit distant
relationship with his old
coach.
Bogut said his sister has an
eye condition and he wears contact
lenses, but he suggested the
Atlanta Hawks would love to
hear more rumors in order to
get him at No. 2.
“They’re rolling around on
the floor laughing about it because
they’d be getting me
there at No. 2,” he said.
Bogut may find himself with a
few angry veterans to deal with
in his first spin around the
league, but Giacoletti said he admires
Bogut’s frankness.
“He’s not trying to be disrespectful
with anybody, but he’s
usually on the numbers with an
old-school point of view,” the
coach said.
Low-key Williams
And then there’s Williams,
who didn’t criticize anyone at
the predraft camp, unless it was
himself.
“I’m boring,” he observed. “I
don’t do anything. I stay out of
trouble, do what I’m supposed
to do and that’s it. I can play basketball.
I’m very fortunate, but
I’m not too exciting.”
Williams easily could have
been a first-rounder out of
Bremerton (Wash.) High
School last June. Instead, he
went to North Carolina and
played behind two players who
will be chosen well behind him
tonight, Sean May and Jawad
Williams.
“It was different for me at
first,” Williams said. “It wasn’t
necessarily tough. It was good
for our team. I just wanted to
win.”
Williams agrees with those
who say he needs to mature. He
leaves the hype about his multidimensional
game to others.
May raves about his teammate,
calling him a tough rebounder
who can shoot better
than most realize, a small forward
who will grow into a power
forward.
“The kid’s unbelievable,”
May said. “He does stuff in practice
that I’ll be talking about for
the next 10 years.”
All this about a forward who
averaged 11.3 points. With Williams,
it’s the moments, not the
statistics, that show how good
he might become, like his
game-winning tip-in against Illinois
in the NCAA title game.
Scouts also see enormous potential
in a 6-9 frame that has
plenty of room for more muscle.
Asked where he wants to improve,
Williams answered, “Everywhere.
I can get bigger, faster,
stronger. I can shoot it better.
I can handle better. I can defend
better. I have to do everything
better.”
Their styles couldn’t be more
different, but Harris said his
team will end up with a player
of “impeccable character”
whether they choose Bogut, or
Williams.
“I don’t think you can go
wrong in either direction,” he
said.
Staff writer Adam Thompson
can be reached at 303-820-5447
or athompson@denverpost.com.
