Sydney Morning Herald: The BUCK stops here
Wondering how Andrew Bogut is doing? We discussed this the other day in the comments (see Dave, somebody was listening), and thankfully the Sydney Morning Herald went straight to the source. (h/t Bucksketball)
He has just returned to the practice court this week and still can't tell if his arm will withstand the rigours of an NBA season.''It's OK so far,'' Bogut said. ''But it's still hard to tell. I'm starting with a lighter load than usual because the next season is so far away. I will build it up from here.
''The real questions will be answered after I've been through four or five weeks of training.''
It's not bad news, which in the context of Bogut's arm is probably good news.
Yahoo/DX: Vesely slips to ten
The June 2 mock over at DX still has Bismack Biyombo dropping to number ten, but Jonathan Givony's newer mock at Yahoo has another athletic, European-based talent going to the Bucks at ten: Czech combo forward Jan Vesely. Givony writes:
This is surely the lowest Vesely, considered a top-five or six talent in this draft, would slide. His toughness and intensity-level would be welcomed by fiery head coach Scott Skiles, even if his offensive limitations don't make him a great fit on this roster.
I've been trying to wrap my mind around Vesely since first hearing about him a year ago, and I still can't figure out what I think of him. He's long, athletic, always looks like he just rolled out of bed, and tries to tear the rim off everytime he drives to the hoop--a trait that has always been near and dear to my heart. CUE THE MISLEADING HIGHLIGHT REEL!
OK, so that's the fun stuff, but his game isn't just dunking on dudes with Eastern European hip-hop blaring (if only...). David Locke from Jazz.com has a more pragmatic breakdown which is more representative of what he is and isn't, so that's a good place to start. On the downside, he's a 6'11" guy who's probably best suited to small forward and doesn't seem to rebound or block shots at a rate commensurate with his physical talents. Skill-wise? There's a lot of work that needs to be done. Though he's electrifying in the open court, he doesn't shoot particularly well from deep, was horrifying from the line this season, and at 21 he's not as young as many of the other guys in the lottery.
Still, I was impressed by his willingness to post up smaller guys in the two games I saw him play last year, and overall he's shown he can be a real contributor while playing major minutes in the EuroLeague. So while he looks like a guy who needs to play in an up-tempo game to reach his full potential, he's shown he can fit into a half-court system as well. My guess is he's not going to bust, but he doesn't really fit the profile of stardom either. One more fun fact: he played in two preseason games against NBA teams back in '09.
ESPN Milwaukee: Jon McGlocklin on the D-List
Jonny Mac was on discussing Monday's 35th annual MACC Fund golf outing and why he's not rooting for LeBron. No Bucks or draft talk in case you were wondering.
Detroit Free Press: Pistons getting look at Bismack Biyombo, Alec Burks
Alec Burks missed his Sunday workout in Charlotte (pick #9) because of a shoulder injury suffered Saturday in Milwaukee, but it doesn't appear serious and he's expected to workout Wednesday with Kemba Walker in Detroit (#8). Chad Ford tweets the injury was just a bruise, not the dislocation as initially reported.
John Hammond, Jeff Weltman, and Billy McKinney will be in Treviso, Italy for the adidas EuroCamp June 11-13, and it sounds like they'll get a good look at Congolese mystery man Bismack Biyombo while they're at it. Vince Ellis writes that Biyombo is expected to take part in workouts as well as physical testing in Treviso, though it's not clear to me if that means playing against actual humans or just some folding chairs. If you're interested in seeing more of Biyombo, you can see comprehensive highlights from his Hoops Summit triple-double below or a bunch of game footage from his Spanish league season here.