Man, the Milwaukee Bucks are glad to have Andrew Bogut back and his return couldn’t have come at a better time.
Before Tuesday nights 106-103 win over the San Antonio Spurs, Milwaukee had been beaten down in the thick of a 0-5 road trip out west, and with Bogut missing four of those games due to personal reasons the Bucks’ center took charge of things.
He powered down the lane for a dunk in the third quarter, and with 35.3 seconds left in the game drew a charging foul from Tim Duncan to put Milwaukee in the clear for the win after Richard Jefferson missed a three-pointer later in the game.
On the night, Bogut finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds playing 35 minutes.
All this after Bogut returned to the team from his native Australia on Monday night and no doubt played with a heavy heart involving some family issues.
“It’s a personal issue with family,” Bogut told the Milwaukee Journal on Tuesday. “It’s something that doesn’t happen to most regular people. When it does, you have to address it. Hopefully everyone will get well from it.
“It’s a bit of everything right now. That (illness) was the main reason, yeah. There was a family emergency involving a hospital, and I’ll just leave it at that. It opened up a whole lot of other issues. It’s been addressed.”
Bogut went on to say that he would regroup from the situation in the coming weeks or a month, and most likely returning to basketball is a welcomed distraction for Bogut who has had his share of injuries and setbacks throughout his six-year career. After late season elbow surgery last year, the Bucks’ 7-foot center is averaging 14.2 points and 10.2 rebounds for Milwaukee this season.
That’s identical to the numbers he put up against San Antonio.
That’s what head coach Scott Skiles knows to expect from Bogut as he moves forward keeping his family matters in mind back in Australia.
“My temple is kind of the basketball court,” Bogut said.
“The good thing is the NBA season is a busy season, and you really have no choice but to focus on things at hand.”
