Logue Down: Andrew Bogut would listen if approached about board role with Basketball Australia
Andrew Bogut says it’s time to shake-up Basketball Australia and he’s interested in being a part of it — on one condition. Latest hoops news
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NBA and Boomers champion Andrew Bogut says he would always listen if a role on the Basketball Australia board was offered, but only if the governing body tweaks its over-bureaucratic ways.
Bogut’s stance follows a host of controversial decisions made by BA via the sport’s independent panel.
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First, there was Liz Cambage’s light sentence for her physical and verbal actions in a pre-Olympic warm-up game against Nigeria last year.
Bogut also points out the recent Canberra Capitals video cheating saga, where disqualification of the match in question wasn‘t deemed appropriate despite Capitals coach Paul Goriss being found guilty of engaging in prohibited conduct under Basketball Australia’s National Framework.
Both hearings highlight that there are serious question marks facing basketball’s leaders.
Bogut stressed he doesn’t want to take anyone’s job and he has basketball’s best interests at heart, both domestically and internationally.
“I just think I could really help, as far as my connections, my network and with the way that I see things basketball wise,” Bogut said.
“I’m willing to listen to anyone – whether that be the NBL, Basketball Australia or a business – I always listen and make a decision accordingly.
“I’ve had people flag it (a board role) to me in the past, but I’m a call it as I see it type of guy which doesn’t fit well with bureaucrats.
“There are a lot more things that need to change and there needs to be an accountable board, but if it was right, it fitted well and I feel like I could create change and positively impact basketball in Australia, I’d consider it.”
Bogut also wants to make change on the international front for the players.
He has personal experience where management could have been better during major tournaments like the World Cup or Olympics.
“I know about things that irked players that weren’t financial – they were just poor management, professionalism and organisational things that could be fixed tomorrow and the players would have a smile on their face,” he said.
“They are the kinds of things they (BA) don’t realise. They look at things as business and zeros on paper.
“There are so many things we can do and the excuse that we don’t have money to fix that just doesn’t fly.
“These results from hearings – it is just Groundhog Day with how they handle stuff.”
Bogut says the Basketball Australia board needs a better mix of businesspeople and respected former players, who have experienced the professional stage and understand the players’ needs.
“In the past BA has made mistakes by hiring past players just because they are ex-players, and they had no business acumen,” he said.
“Whereas it seems like they’ve gone in the complete opposite direction where it looks like they don’t want any basketball people involved, which is wrong too.
“You need to have a good mix.
“Without being too hard on who is there, I think the BA board needs a complete refresh.
“Heads need to roll in my opinion. The board has made mistake after mistake from the Cambage situation to the Canberra Capitals cheating debacle.”
**AN EVENING WITH JOSH GIDDEY**
— Chris Anstey (@ChrisAnstey13) January 30, 2022
Very excited to announce that we have secured @joshgiddey’s only two speaking engagements in Aust following his NBA season.
Details will be announced soon, but we will be hosting one event in Melbourne and one event in Sydney in late April. pic.twitter.com/1WkuAQdN2J
Chance to rub shoulders with Giddey
Aussie NBA rookie sensation Josh Giddey is coming home post the NBA season – and he has two meet-and-greets organised in Sydney and Melbourne.
The Logue Down podcast’s very own Chris Anstey has been blessed with the privilege of hosting the two events in July this year.
Giddey will be on hand to speak about his stellar rookie NBA season with the Oklahoma City Thunder, which has included three Western Conference Player of the Month awards and a stat-sheet stuffed performance every time he takes the court.
Hodgson perspective
Perth Wildcats big man Matt Hodgson deserves at least a three-game ban for repeatedly striking out at Sydney Kings guard Dejan Vasiljevic, but there is always two sides to every story.
Hodgson’s behaviour was out of line, but he is also dealing with a lot off the court, according to NBL legend Chris Anstey.
“Matty is a first-time parent, he has got a young family and he has been away from Western Australia for a long time now,” Anstey said.
“His young baby is only months old, and he hasn’t there. He hasn’t told me this, but that has got to add pressure and stress and it has to have contributed.
“I love Hodgy- I’ve worked with him for years and I’ve never seen that in him.
“I flicked him a message to ask if he was all right because his actions seemed to be out of character.
“One thing I do know about the mental side of sport is that when you see moments like that, it is generally not just related to the basketball.
“From experience, it can be because they’ve also got something going on off the court and it can boil over.”
Creek’s shooting rise
Mitch Creek freely admits he couldn’t hit the side of the barn with his shonky shooting stroke as a younger player in the NBL.
Now he is one of the league’s most consistent shooters, and a legitimate MVP candidate.
Chris Anstey remembers coaching against Creek and yelling at his Melbourne Tigers players to let the then Adelaide 36ers forward shoot because he didn’t rate his stroke.
Anstey would dare the rising 36er to shoot in a bid to put him even further off his game.
It’s a ploy that prompted Creek to seek professional help.
“I appreciate you bringing back those daunting memories that I had a psychologist hammer out of my brain for the last 8 to 10 years,” Creek joked when reminded about his past shooting struggles.
“I had used a sports psychologist and that was a big part of the growth for me, understanding myself and being OK with who I was as a person on and off the court.
“But back then, I couldn’t fall out of a boat and hit water – that is how bad it was.
“Players just stood off me. I found ways to be aggressive and attack and be useful at both ends, but it was tough.”
Don’t doubt LJ’s greatness
Lauren Jackson has confirmed her comeback to the court via the Albury Bandits in the NBL1 competition, and hasn’t ruled out a stunning return for the Opals at this year’s World Cup in Sydney.
Jackson’s bold move has been doubted in some circles, but Chris Anstey has full faith in the Australian basketball GOAT.
“I’ve heard a little bit of commentary saying you can’t go from the NBL1 to the Opals – but Lauren Jackson can,” Anstey said.
“Lauren isn’t an NBL1 player. She is using that like I would use a Monday night domestic game to get fit.
“In my opinion, Lauren is the greatest female player of all-time, so I don’t care how she gets fit, who she plays for getting fit, if she is fit and she wants to do it and she earns her spot on its merits, which I believe she would, what a great story.”
LIKE
It is awesome to see the NBL and Aussie connection in this year’s NBA All-Star Weekend.
Former NBL Next Stars/Rookie of the Year winners Josh Giddey and LaMelo Ball and ex-Sydney Kings star/All-NBL First Team member Jae’Sean Tate are bound for All Star weekend in Cleveland as part of the Rising Stars Challenge. Add in G League Ignite’s Bendigo-born shooting guard Dyson Daniels, and the Rising Stars Challenge will be must-watch television.
NBL âž¡ï¸ #NBAAllStar
— The NBL (@NBL) February 2, 2022
Former NBL Next Stars/Rookie of the Year winners Josh Giddey and LaMelo Ball + former @SydneyKings star/All-NBL First Team member Jae'Sean Tate are bound for All Star weekend in Cleveland as part of the Rising Stars Challenge 🙌#NBLxNBApic.twitter.com/ovn6CsZJ4R
DISLIKE
Basketball Australia needs to fix its processes when it comes to dealing with governance issues like the Liz Cambage situation and the Canberra Capitals video cheating saga.
BA is adamant that independent panels are “appropriate” because “the person involved will say, you are judging me, and you are the policeman”, but the process isn’t working.
This was on show through the recent Canberra Capitals video cheating saga.
The disqualification of the match in question against the Sydney Flames wasn‘t deemed appropriate despite Capitals coach Paul Goriss being found guilty of engaging in prohibited conduct under Basketball Australia’s National Framework.
The Flames have called on Basketball Australia, the governing body of the WNBL, to overhaul its tribunal process following the result of an appeals tribunal.
“The coach and referee were found guilty, and these are the facts,” Flames chairman and owner Paul Smith said.
“The impact on the result was clear for anyone to see and the basketball community has rallied around us in support of that.
“We accept the tribunal’s decision, as we should, but we disagree vehemently with the finding.
“We thank Basketball Australia for appealing the original findings and we respectfully call on Basketball Australia to overhaul the tribunal process it currently operates under.”
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“It will be the greatest comeback in the history of Australian sport.”
— Andrew Gaze when asked if Lauren Jackson makes a return to the Opals for this year’s World Cup in Sydney.
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Originally published as Logue Down: Andrew Bogut would listen if approached about board role with Basketball Australia
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