Why Andrew Bogut is awesome

Andrew Bogut is a basketballer. And he wanted to hear some noisy fans at his home games. So he did something about it.

He bought 100 lower-level seats for every home game and gave them to fans who he was certain would raise the decibel level at the Bradley Centre. The result was Squad 6, a wild cluster of standing and screaming fans decked out in wigs and sombreros, and even a man brandishing a wrestling-style championship belt.
''I thought it would be better just to get an atmosphere created in there,'' Bogut said. ''It's only 100 people, but the noise they make sounds like 1000. It gives us some energy to feed off.''

That's awesome! I love this bit:

Asked if the cheers coming from Squad 6 ever made him laugh on the court, Bogut laughed and said, ''All the time.'' His personal favourite? ''When Joakim Noah was at the free-throw line and they were all singing Dude Looks Like a Lady,'' Bogut said.

For the record, here's Noah:

Anyway, Bogut has done heaps more biz this season for the Bucks. He just pumped in a career-high 31 points and 18 rebounds as the Bucks beat Indiana 84-81. He's doing what a number one pick should do, and I'm glad. I would love it if he went on to become one of the more dominant and creative big men in the NBA. He's got time on his side. When he came in I think he was tipped to be a solid big man, maybe 15 points, 10 rebounds and 1 block a night - those kind of stats. But I think he can be more than that. I think he's got the skills, the first step and the athleticism to average more than 20ppg. That would make him a key player and one that would be in demand come contract time.

And because Laura wants me to talk about college ball rather than the NBA, here are my thoughts on John Wall. Yes, he may go number one in the draft. But I've got to say I think he really needs to work on his shot selection and accuracy. Because in the game I saw him play he was putting up shots that would get a beat down in the big league. Whether that means another year of college with Kentucky, or just some intense summer workouts, who knows. He's got speed to burn, and ability to create his own shot, which is very useful. But I think he's getting away with shots right now that he would not get away with in professional basketball. There's a difference between a 6'9 college 'centre' and Yao Ming, Dwight Howard or even Andrew Bogut standing the in lane.
Also, I saw UCLA vs Notre Dame this morning, and 8 of the starting 10 players were white. It was unexpected.