Bogut rehab continues, Ilyasova suffers nose injury, Delfino on a roll

USA Today: Bogut shrugs at injury and focuses on new season
It seems like stories on Andrew Bogut's elbow took on a life of their own last week, with follow-up stories in the US media suggesting that Bogut could miss the first month of the season. He didn't exactly say that, but I suppose if you want to read between the lines hard enough you can interpret it any way you want. The bottom line is that Bogut's not a doctor and he just seems frustrated that he's still not back to 100%. Fortunately he still has time to get his arm back in order, and hopefully he'll get there by the season opener on October 27.      

"My goal is making it to training camp. I'm still working out now. I'm in shape," Bogut said. "I'm just trying to get the last couple degrees in my elbow (to straighten it). It's getting better every day, but sometimes, no matter how much you rehab it, it goes on its own."

Long story short: until we hear otherwise, I'll just be thinking happy thoughts. Fingers crossed, knock on wood, etc.

FIBA: Ilyasova scores 19 against Lebanon
Host Turkey kicked off action in the four-team Efes Pilsen World Cup on Saturday, defeating Lebanon behind 19 points, four boards and two assists from Ersan Ilyasova. The Turks then breezed by Canada 84-53 on Sunday, though Ilyasova didn't play thanks to a blow to the face he suffered against Lebanon. Per my trusty Google Chrome translation, Ersan's nose was checked out and he's being held out of the final two games of the tournament as a precaution (h/t Palomba).  You might recall Ersan wearing a mask early last season, so we might see him in a mask during the World Championships. If it were anything serious, expect the usual chorus of "we shouldn't let our guys play for their countries" comments, though I'm not sure how this could end up being too big of a deal.  

Before his big outing on Friday, Ilyasova had been struggling somewhat to find a role ahead of the World Championships (h/t Speedy), so missing time just a week before the tournament probably doesn't help. Turkey finishes the tournament on Monday against Carlos Delfino's Argentinian squad.

FIBA: Delfino leads Argentina past Brazil, Canada and Lebanon
Speaking of Delfino, his 23 points led Argentina past arch-rivals Brazil 77-73 last Tuesday before heading to Turkey this past weekend, where he kept it going with 26 points and seven boards in a 79-64 win over Canada on Saturday. Argentina won again on Sunday, though Delfino had a relatively quiet night with 9/7/2 in an 89-82 win over Lebanon.  As usual, Palomba and the gang is tracking the action over in the FanPosts.

JS: Boykins likes young Bucks
Earl Boykins is happy to be here, which is about what you'd expect to hear from a 34-year-old guy latching on as a third-string PG.

"From playing against them, I knew even if they lost a game, they were playing hard enough to win. And I wanted to be part of a team with a legitimate chance to make a deep run in the playoffs."

BDL: Bucks backcourt middle-of-the-pack
If you missed Kelly Dwyer's series on positional rankings, hit 'em up.  Thus far he's got Brandon Jennings 15th among PGs, John Salmons 15th among SGs, and Carlo Delfino 28th among SFs.