Is the quote really that out of place? From what I saw of Bogut playing for the Boomers, he was aggressive and didn't lose his confidence no matter the scenario. Would you say the same about Axel Dench or Andrew Rice in the NBL?

Besides Bradtke in the NBL, the dominant, offensive big men are imports (Burgess, Horvath). I wouldn't consider Wheeler or Burston as stand-out aggressive players.

What a wanker !! ... i think the Australian "kids" he is referring to wont want to play with Sydney anymore ! That town is on a high and trying to get more support for the sport and then he comes out and says that ! .. Clown!!

He is in charge of developing our national team ... fostering the talents of the Schenschers and Bogut's ... and other youngsters.. im sure they'll be happy with his comments.

His P.R man needs a good kick in the ass too ..

You all know where i stand ... lets hear some of you defend this one !

I'll happily defend Goorj! He's right on the money. It's like the famous saying, most players would rather look pretty and lose rather than look bad and win! Billy Hoyle, 1992.
There's not a lot of hard hat, blue collar workers these days in the game and it's the flashy players from the NBA who are the people the new generation look at when trying to base there game on someone.
How many kids out there are saying, "I wanna be Tim Duncan..", not many!
Isaac was right when he said look at Dench or Rice, or Anstey, Dwight or Rogers, these guys are soft and show very little heart.
What Brian's trying to say is if Bogut can get an inch, he'll try to take a foot. He's not giving up his position on the floor to easily, he's not going to be pushed around. I couldn't say that about many big men in the NBL, let alone the local leagues!

Another famous quote...""Because we know that when we add up all those inches it's going to make the *beep* difference between winning and losing [roars of approval]. Between living and DYING!!!!!" Tony D'Amato (aka Al Pacino) 1999.

Also, when was the last time Australia had a big-man with Shane Heal's cockiness? That's the first thing that struck me about Bogut at the Olympics -- he was very confident. Longley played with Jordan and won the rings, but he never seemed to be like that.

Despite that, going by his media presence and diary quotes, etc, Bogut still seems like a good-natured guy. I think he's going to be a great asset for Australian basketball too.

for once I agree with Goorjian.

I still think it was an indictment on the "heart" of young players coming through the ABA.. NBL ..

I dont think Goorj is that philosophical ... Hater i will remain!

He's right. Just think about most Australian big men. Even Longley was incredibly weak compared to Bogut.

I heard you were pretty weak yourself Frank...

Has anyone stopped to think that maybe Bogut has this attitude because he has never played in australia? I think american college coaches are good at installing the never say die attitude. The australian basketball public and media is very quick to shoot down a player when they have a bad run of games, and we are always very critical of big/centre players, that has to be hard on their confidence. Does anyone remember Rogers when he first started playing, he was the ugliest, skinniest, most uncoordinated player going, everyone questioned why he was training with the sixers (well atleast i did), yet a couple of years away, several kilos in muscle, one good nbl season and he was the hottest, most wanted player around.....a bad run of injuries and games and nobody wanted to know him.

Everyone has their opinion...
Brian is the Boomers coach for a reason! I mean he coached the Sydney Kings to three consecutive championships how many other teams have done that in not only the NBL but in any sporting code in Australia (not many!) And that was after the Kings not making the playoffs!!He has the ability to make whatever he has work! I mean at the beginning of the season so called 'experts' were convinced we wouldnt be able to make historical 3peat BUT look at the Kings now! He deserves the job at the Booers cos if he cant do it nobody can!
Bottomline is u all just want Phil Smyth bak in the top job...well he did coach the 1st australian team 2 loss against NZ in the world championships! HAHA loser

Jase's Girl ...

(expletive!!)

You are ignorant if you call Smyth a LOSER !

We'll see you next season ... be sure to drop in .. smug cow!

"SK", I don't know where you get your information from but Bogut has played his whole basketball career here in Australia except for the last two years! You would think his mindset and attitude would have come from his junior days, not just his last two years of playing!!! He was tough at the Institute and that was before he left for the US.
Bit of a no brainer on that comment...

My apologies for my lack of background info on Bogut, "Panther", my point being until the olympics he had not been subjected to the "tall poppy syndrome" aussies and aussie media is famous for.