Aussie basketball legends Luc Longley and Mark Bradtke on how to stop Andrew Bogut
IF finding a weakness in Andrew Bogut’s game is hard then stopping the dominant Sydney King might be impossible. Aussie basketball legends Luc Longley and Mark Bradtke on Melbourne United’s tough ask.
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IF finding a weakness in Andrew Bogut’s game is hard then stopping the dominant Sydney Kings marquee might be just about impossible.
Fouls appear the only way to blunt the 2015 NBA champion, that has barely broken a sweat in five games to lead the league in rebounds and blocks, while also giving the Kings an offensive edge as both a scorer and passer.
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But Australian basketball legend Luc Longley has warned NBL champions Melbourne United against attacking Bogut in the hope of drawing fouls in tonight’s blockbuster.
Bogut was fouled out in a fiery pre-season loss to United but the former NBA no.1 draft pick — not unlike the Kings — presents a bigger challenge with competition points at stake.
“It would be well and truly outside the seven-footer’s code of conduct to assist lesser mortals in beating another seven-footer, especially an Australian seven-footer,” three-time NBA champion Longley told the Herald Sun.
“We have enough disadvantages as it is, we can’t drive Ferraris, there’s all kinds of problems being seven foot, we don’t need to be dobbing each other in.
“But with any dominant player, especially one as good as Andrew, you’re never going to stop them.
“What you’ll try to do is minimise them, so you’ll find what Melbourne will do is find what he’s worst at — I’m not going to say what that is — and they’ll force him to it.
“That’s what you do with any dominant player, that’s what people used to try to do with Michael Jordan.
“They’ll present a puzzle for him to solve … it’s no secret that he doesn’t shoot foul shots well, so I’m sure they won’t let him have anything close to the basket easy.
“They’ll probably try to get to his body and draw fouls on him … which I think is fraught with danger but that’s the roll of the dice they’ll probably do early in the game.”
Bogut is coming into Melbourne hot, having piled on a game-high 21 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and three blocks in last Friday night’s win over Illawarra.
United will rely on athletic import and reigning NBL rebound king Josh Boone to test Bogut’s tank, with seven-footer Alex Pledger to soften him up in the paint.
Three-time NBL champion Mark Bradkte said United must work over Bogut physically.
“Boone likes to get out and run the floor, can Bogut stay with him? I think no,” Melbourne Tigers icon Bradkte said.
“Boone has got the edge there, but Bogut will have the edge inside.
“The two-headed centres of Melbourne can really have a big influence … up and down (the court) as much as you can, stretch the floor, then make it a grind and hopefully your fitness outlasts theirs.”
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