It’s about time!

[Bart]

Andrew Bogut has been playing well for the Bucks, has shown great court sense for a rookie and has been more than happy to sacrifice stats to make the team better. Recently he's been getting some criticism for passing up shots and being too willing to take the back seat while others get the glory.


For whatever reasons, the last three games he has been looking to shoot more. Instead of taking a sporadic shot now and then, he is finding a rhythm. He is 26-34 from the field. Smokin! Tonight against Atlanta he outplayed the second-pick in the draft-Marvin Williams- and also Zaza Pachulia who was traded from the Bucks to make room for Bogut. He was 10-13 from the floor, had 12 boards, 24 pts. and 7assists. I hope he keeps up the pace. He turned 21 last fall and has lots of upside.

 

[ocaamikedm11]

Wow, what a great game for Bogut. On a bottom feeder team he might be a 15-20 pt a game type player.. but it's nice to see him on a team that is actually competing...

 

[Southern Knight]

Bogut is progressing just as most big men tend to do -- SLOOOOOOOOOWLY but surely. His game is coming around; big men tend to "arrive" around age 24 or 25.

There is always an adjustment period as the male body matures -- coordination is an issue -- but it is exponentially more difficult when the body in question is 7 feet tall. And remember that Whites mature physically about 3 years after blacks, so Bogut at 21 is equivalent to a black high school senior, in terms of body development.

 

[whiteCB]

Where the heck does it say whites mature three years after blacks? What a croc of sh*t, southern knight.

 

[Bart]

Where the heck does it say whites mature three years after blacks? What a croc of sh*t, southern knight.

White CB, I believe research has shown there is some truth to what Southern Knight said. We've discussed this in previous posts somewhere. They do reach sexual and physical maturity sooner than whites.

 

[KG2422]

Blacks do go through puberty earlier. Black women menstruate earlier. Their pregnancies aren't quite as long either. They're really quite different than we are.

 

[Southern Knight]

Open a book, whiteCB (I'm assuming that you know what one looks like). You shouldn't be so emphatic with your criticism without doing a wee bit of investigation first.

 

[GreatLakeState]

He is from Ohio ...

 

[Kaptain]

maturity rate debate: Blacks hit puberty sooner than whites.

link

 

[whiteCB]

Just because you reach puberty faster doesn't neceearily make you as better athlete. That's all I'm trying to say.

 

[Southern Knight]

whiteCB, I didn't mean to offend but I never said that maturing earlier makes one a better athlete overall. I simply meant to say that Bogut, at age 21, should be coming into his own in the next year or two.

However, in keeping with this spirit, I have long believed that the different maturation points for Whites and blacks has a profound effect on our sporting culture.

Anyone who is around high school athletics knows that blacks, at age 17, look like hardened thugs -- complete with full musculature and good coordination. White 17-year-olds, on the other hand, look like young boys (which is what they are). The White kids won't mature physically for another couple of years but, by that time, they will have been overlooked by colleges, and consequently, they will miss any reasonable chance at playing at the professional level.

BYU sends a LOT of players to the NFL. Why do you think this is? Is it because they are exceptionally skilled at developing talent? No, it is simply because their players are, on average, 3 years older than the players at other schools. In fact, BYU is the only college that doesn't publish the ages of its athletes, lending some creedence to Fisher DeBerry's quip that the typical BYU player is a 400-pound 30-year-old! SImply put, their players have caught-up to their opponents, in terms of physical structure.

I have pondered long and hard about how to increase the numbers of White athletes in pro sports, especially football and basketball, and I truly believe that Whites would benefit from taking 2 years off before attending college. And then would they be competing on even par with their black opponents.

 

[white tornado]

A good example of what Southern Knight is talking about is a team mate of mine who was black. He was a four year varsity starter in high school. When we were both freshmen he was 6' 260 and I was 5'8 170. Now six years later I've caught up with him and we are the same size. Because he was a four year starter and I only played one year he went to better college than me.

 

[whiteCB]

Good points guys I guess I just matured early so I'm not used to being smaller than alot of people my own age. Also I didn't go to a black school at all(10% black student population tops) and they were all bad athletes too for the most part so I have always competed with guys who look like me you could say. Although I've noticed your one point Southern Knight about how a 17 year old black kid looks older than a 17 year old white kid most of the time.