warriors title contenders? (Photo: LetsGoWarriors.com Instagram account)
WARRIORS PRACTICE FACILITY, OAKLAND, CA — Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut can be blunt and a little sarcastic at times, but he gets to the point and keeps it real, all the while remaining introspective (and keeping a straight face).
After all, he did describe his contract negotiations earlier this summer, as we reported, as follows:
“There’s no forgiveness in this league,” Bogut said in Shanghai, “People don’t take that into account, so I’ve got to bring it every night, no one’s gonna feel sorry for me or take it easy on me.”
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He said back on Media Day that the contract extension (or free agency) “will take care of itself with time.
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“I’ve never been a guy that would go into a front office, slam my fist on the table, and say, ‘I want this, I want that’, or vice-versa, I mean, I respect the organization and what they’re doing, I believe they respect me and how I’ve handled the injury and everything.”
Yesterday after practice was no different during media availability. After an embarrassing loss to the Charlotte Bobcats, yet another disappointing performance in what has become a rollercoaster ride of a season, he was tasked with explaining the state of the team once more.
“It’s one game,” Bogut said, “It’s, what, 75 points. We scored almost a hundred in Utah and a hundred-whatever against the Clippers. Like I said, there’s no panic buttons.”
Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group covered some of his other reactions, as well as those of Mark Jackson and Jermaine O’Neal:
“We’re not going to miss layups and 2-foot shots every game, so I think we’ll be fine,” Bogut said. “There’s no need to push the panic button. There’s no need to change our offensive sets.
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“It’s disappointing when you have to come in here and talk about not executing properly, not having energy, not coming out with the right intensity. They’re not things you can drill. You can’t come to practice and have a drill to work on energy. That’s the mind-boggling thing.”
“I think we gotta bring more toughness in general,” Bogut added, “At times we don’t stick to what we’re drilling at here in practice defensively and offensively and I think sometimes we get caught in playing one-one-one with our man, both offenisvely and defensively.”
Being only 14-9 this season and losers of five of their last seven at #Roaracle has been just as mind-boggling.
“I said from the start of this homestand that you gotta be careful you don’t get too comfortable at home,” Bogut said, “There’s a different focus on the road. Sometimes it’s more of a business trip. You’re not a your home, you don’t have the distractions you usually have. You have to bring that same mindset that we have on our road games for our home games.”
Jackson has alluded to the Warriors being a young team and struggling with the characteristics of inexperience, such as against the Bobcats when the Warriors let their offensive woes affect themselves mentally.
“We’re still inexperienced compared to teams like OKC and so on,” Bogut continued yesterday after practice, “We have some veterans and we added some pieces, but our starting five still is relatively inexperienced as far as second-round playoff games and Conference Finals and NBA Finals. We still haven’t done anything. We get to the second round of the playoffs. Great, everyone wants to throw a party.”
That doesn’t mean the quest for the O’Brien trophy is over, though.
“All of a sudden people are writing and fans talking about a championship this year. Yeah, it’s possible, but we still gotta do the right things and the right process to get there.
You look at OKC and the trials and tribulations they went through for the last five or six years. I think their first playoff series they got swept by the Lakers, I think it was, and they worked at it every season and they still haven’t won a championship,” Bogut said, “It doesn’t happen overnight as much as fans and people in the organization want it to. It’s a long process and there’s thirty teams in this league that can beat you any given night.”
OKC actually took the Lakers to six games, but the point was well-taken. That was back in 2010 when the Lakers eventually won the NBA Finals against the Celtics in seven games, a series that seems like forever-and-a-half ago.
Bogut remains committed to the process.
“Consistency is probably the bigger word for us. Just bring a consistent mindset, stick to our principles, and if we lose playing to our principles both offensively and defensively, so be it, take that loss,” Bogut said, “The direction of the franchise is definitely headed in the right direction and our team, but these days are gonna happen like last night. We just gotta be professional and bounce back the next night.”
As O’Neal said after Tuesday night’s loss, “I don’t think we’ve quite grasped the concept of (playing at a championship level)…hopefully these 30-some-odd games (remaining in the schedule), we do that.”
“That’s the tough thing in the NBA,” Bogut added, “We’re at the fiftieth game now. Everyone’s banged up, everyone’s sore, everyone’s moody at times. That’s part of the NBA experience. That’s why it’s such a bitch of a season being a pro athlete, so we gotta keep pushing through it and we’ll be okay.”
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