Andrew Bogut might return to the starting lineup. Or not. He’s cool either way.
Andrew Bogut missed six Golden State Warrior games in the 13 days that followed the concussion he suffered in the defending champions’ opening night win over New Orleans. Bogut returned to find the Warrior team he left still undefeated, with center Festus Ezeli doing fantastic work as the team’s replacement pivotman.
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Bogut has played expertly in the four games since, topping things off with a masterful 10-point, 18-rebound, four-assist, two-steal and three-block performance in a win over Brooklyn on Saturday night. With the defending champs afforded a rare two-day practice respite in the wake of its 11-0 start, head coach Luke Walton floated the idea that Bogut could return to the starting lineup as the team prepares to host the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday.
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The idea, apparently, was news to Bogut. From Diamond Leung at San Jose Mercury News:
“Bogut was great last game, and he obviously is showing he’s back in starter shape, and he’s playing great, so we’ll continue to talk as a staff,” Walton said Monday. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if Bogut is starting again pretty soon.”
Told Walton said he could start against the Raptors, Bogut asked, “Really?”
Bogut and Ezeli’s per game stats are modest, around nine points and six boards for Festus and seven points with nine boards for Bogut. Combined, however, they average 16.1 points, 14.7 boards and 3.1 blocks in 41 minutes a night, with four assists. That’s fantastic production for two players who are mainly asked to roam defensively, set screens, and play away from the ball. They are two of the biggest reasons Golden State has started 11-0.
Of course, Bogut has a past with these sorts of things. Famously, he was pulled from the starting lineup during last June’s NBA Finals in favor of a smaller setup that featured eventual Finals MVP Andre Iguodala. He made no fuss over the move then, and hasn’t made a professional peep this time around.
“Oh, hell, yeah,” Bogut replied when asked if he would have handled the uncertainty differently earlier in his career. “You’re trying to get paid early in your career. That’s the genuine good thing about being on this team. Everyone is kind of in their second, third, four year or second or third contract. When you’re a young fellow, being drafted and going to a team, you obviously want to play minutes. You want to play 30 minutes, you want to start and you want to establish what you can do.”
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“Eight, nine, 10 years in the league, that ego, that stubbornness should go away from the sake of the team, for the sake of a championship,” Bogut said. “I always struggle seeing a guy who in Year 10, 11 or 12 of their career, and it’s a little bit past them, maybe, they still want to play 45 minutes a game and it’s not good for the team. You’ve got a better chance of winning games by limiting how many shots you take or whatever it is — giving up something for the greater good of the team. The Warriors are a prime example of that with the guys we have coming off the bench and mix of guys we have.”
Bogut isn’t wrong, but the fact remains that had he been oddly pulled out of any Milwaukee Bucks lineup earlier in his career – prior to signing a five-year, $72 million extension in 2007, and a three-year $36 million extension in 2013 – he would have had all the reason in the world to take issue.
It wouldn’t be about putting the minutes in to earn contracts, either. Bogut was a linchpin for those Bucks teams on both ends of the ball, and any demotion (for, say, Dan Gadzuric or Jake Voskuhl) would have been an outrage.
Bogut is no less a linchpin in Golden State, but because these Warriors are so damn good the team doesn’t rely on his mix of skills as much. He remains a looming and game-shifting defensive presence, and his ability to screen cleanly and pass the ball opens up so, so much for the league’s top-ranked offense. It speaks to Golden State’s depth and ability that they remained the league’s top-ranked offense with Bogut either out or on the bench, and a top five defense with him playing just the ninth-most minutes of any Warrior thus far.
It also speaks to the brilliance of this Warrior team that someone like Andrew Bogut (or Festus Ezeli, working with a 19 Player Efficiency Rating in addition to being a fabulous person) can almost act as a borderline superfluous presence. Bogut (as was the case with David Lee last season) isn’t a millstone, he can play fantastic basketball and dominate entire quarters and yet he can also take days off or even start off the game on the bench.
Such is the swimming life for Golden State these days.
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops
