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Utah has Olympic-sized hopes

Sporting News, The, Sept 20, 2004 by Mike DeCourcy

Of all the embarrassing moments experienced by the U.S. men's basketball team at the Athens Olympics, the one Utah fans will remember most fondly occurred as Australia challenged the Yanks in a preliminary game.

Aussie big man Andrew Bogut found himself with the ball on the right baseline, the great Tim Duncan directly on his hip. At that point, the typical reaction for a 19-year-old would be to throw the ball out to the perimeter before Duncan fed it to him like a stuffed grape leaf. Instead, Bogut tossed in a quick jump hook.

The funny thing about that memorable play is Bogut barely remembers it. That's his story. He scored many baskets at the Olympics, averaging 13.7 points and 9.0 rebounds and even connecting on four 3-pointers. What he remembers most about challenging the U.S. is his team lost.

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"My goal wasn't to score in his face," Bogut says. "I wasn't really thinking about, 'Wow, I scored on Tim Duncan.' We knew they were beatable."

Bogut, entering his sophomore year at Utah, was one of the youngest players in Olympic competition, but the only U.S. player who topped his scoring average was Allen Iverson.

"I wasn't really surprised the way I played," Bogut says. "I just went out and played and put up some numbers. But I don't think that really mattered because we didn't do well as a team."

His new coach at Utah, Ray Giacoletti, was most impressed with how Bogut competed. During Australia's opener against Greece, one of the Greek big men presented Bogut with an unofficial Olympics initiation: a nice, physical pop designed to induce surrender. Bogut gave it right back. "It was great for me to watch him play with such confidence and more than hold his own," Giacoletti says.

Although the Utes were involved in preseason conditioning when Bogut returned from Athens, Giacoletti decided Bogut should take the first two weeks off. With Australia, he practiced and played almost nonstop for two months. Bogut didn't get many opportunities to lift weights during all of that, so his Utah coaches consented to allow him to resume strength work immediately.

Less than a week after Bogut was back in the States, though, he was asking Giacoletti whether he could start working out with the team. The Utah coaches had to order him to rest.

"I think we need to be smart about it," Giacoletti says. "We need him at full strength in January and February--and it looked like he might have gotten burned out as the season went on last year."

Giacoletti has worked hard to create a relationship with Bogut, a mission that carried the coach to Australia and Greece. Initially, Giacoletti wanted Bogut to understand that even with Rick Majerus gone, Utah still had much to offer in his quest to become an NBA player. To remain with the Utes, Bogut turned down lucrative offers from European teams each of the past two summers.

But the relationship-building didn't end once Bogut announced he would stay. For him to get the most from this experience, and for Utah to get the most from Bogut, it'll help if coach and player understand each other.

Bogut might benefit from facing the goal more often. He has some terrific inside skills but can be dangerous when operating in the high post. He also needs the ball more often. Although he shot 57.7 percent for the Utes last season, Bogut tried 127 fewer ; shots than wing Nick Jacobson.

"He needs to touch the basketball every trip unless we've got numbers going to the basket," Giacoletti says. "Good things happen when he catches the ball."

Ask Tim Duncan. He might not agree.

SPEED READ

* The self-appointed Knight Commission on college athletics announced that pouring money into big-time sports does not lead to increased alumni donations and applicant pools. How amusing. Have these people heard of Duke or Wake Forest? Of course--primarily because of basketball. You know what's surely not worth its cost? Another round of blather from the Knight panel.

INSIDE DISH

Pittsburgh came away from its Labor Day trip to Toronto with no definitive answers about how to replace wings Jaron Brown and Julius Page, but the team now has a lot fewer questions. Freshmen Keith Benjamin and Ronald Ramon and JC recruit John DeGroat shot the ball well, suggesting the Panthers could be more fluid offensively than they were late last season. PG Carl Krauser is demonstrating added maturity and appears less consumed with showing how much he can do.... When Indiana recruit Robert Rothbart decided to sign with a pro club in France, new Hoosiers assistant Kerry Rupp brought in C Lucas Steijn (6-10, 230), a native of the Netherlands who played last season at Notre Dame Academy in Middleburg, Va. Steijn had his first workout with IU last week and showed nice footwork and agility.... New La Salle coach John Giannini says he is a believer in tailoring his system to the strengths of the available players, which should smooth the transition for the Explorers after former coach Billy Hahn's late-summer departure. F Steve Smith, who is promised plenty of scoring chances, could benefit the most from Giannini's approach.... The Coaches vs. Cancer Classic rescued its field by adding Mississippi State and Memphis when Kentucky and Duke dropped out. Mississippi State, Memphis, Syracuse and California will play host to four-team qualifying rounds November 11-12, with the four winners moving on to New York on November 18-19.... Cincinnati has been studying 2003-04 tapes of Oklahoma State, Georgia Tech and Saint Joseph's for clues on how to get by without height. The Bearcats' lineup will have 6-7 Jason Maxiell and 6-5 Eric Hicks inside.--M.D.

Utah has Olympic-sized hopes

Sporting News, The, Sept 20, 2004 by Mike DeCourcy

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