Andrew Bogut the key to Golden State Warriors?
After reaching the second round of the playoffs in 2013, the Golden State Warriors took a bit of a step back last season, losing to the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round. One of the reasons they didn’t advance further was the absence of center Andrew Bogut, who missed 15 games in the regular season and all of the postseason.
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Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders thinks Bogut’s defense could be key to the Warriors’ success.
"Bogut is said to be healthy heading into training camp and the start of this season, which means the Warriors will be looking to improve on last season’s 51-31 record. While Bogut contributed largely to the Warriors locking in the sixth seed last year, he missed the entire seven-game series against the Los Angeles Clippers and his absence was huge. Without Bogut, the Warriors leaned on David Lee and Jermaine O’Neal to guard DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin, which was a less-than-ideal matchup. Bogut is a guy that the Warriors can count on to provide great interior defense and he has shown the ability to score when necessary. Last season Bogut averaged 1.8 blocks, which is far lower than what he’s capable of as he blocked 2.6 shots per game back in 2011, but he still remains a threat in the post on defense."
Bogut is certainly one of the league’s best interior defenders when healthy and if he and Andre Iguodala remain healthy, the Warriors will once again be among the league’s best defensive teams (they finished third in defensive rating last season).
Bogut averaged 7.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 1.7 assists per game while shooting 62.7% from the floor and 34.4% from the free throw line. Bogut, who was the number-one overall selection of the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2005 NBA Draft, has put up 11.6 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 52.8% from the floor and 56.2% from the foul line in his nine-year NBA career.
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