Bogut back in town

Andrew Bogut has returned to his college hometown on the heels of his best-ever NBA game. The third-year Milwaukee Bucks center scored a career-high 29 points on 14-of-16 shooting from the field Saturday night in a 122-114 loss at Phoenix. He also added 11 rebounds.

But for Bogut, his career night could have been better.

"It would have been sweeter if we would have gotten the win," said Bogut on Sunday. "Anytime you have a career game, you hope you win the game. I'd rather not get a career high and win than get the career high and lose."

Still, Bogut's play was enough to earn the praise of Suns All-Star center Amare Stoudemire. "(Bogut's) a big guy," Stoudemire told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "He's huge down there in the paint as a 7-footer. He was able to get a couple of easy baskets here. I played solid defense on him for the most part, he just made some tough shots and he's pretty good with that left hand."

Tonight Bogut will try to have both a good individual game while helping earn a win for the Bucks during his once-per-year, regular-season visit to Salt Lake City to play the Utah Jazz.

"The Jazz are a tough team," said Bogut. "They are a well-coached team. They play hard, they cut hard, they rebound hard. For us to have a chance we need to get effort points — getting loose balls, offensive rebounds and those things and we'll have a chance to get a win. If they out-hustle us, we'll be in big trouble."

Bucks are just 15-22, but that leaves them right in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race.

"We are just outside of having a playoff position," said Bogut. "Four or five wins in a row could get us as high as sixth or seventh in our conference, so we know we are just a few wins away from being where we want to be."

Bogut was the No. 1 overall selection in the 2005 NBA draft after his successful two-year stint with the University of Utah. The 7-foot Australian averaged 20.4 points and 12.2 rebounds per game in his final season at the U., leading the Utes to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament and earning him the Wooden and Naismith awards as the nation's top collegiate player in the process.

Those kinds of college credentials and being the No. 1 overall pick in the draft have put pressure on Bogut from Bucks fans to perform at a high level.

So far, he's become a solid, if unspectacular, NBA center. He's averaging 12.7 points and 8.9 rebounds — just slightly better than last year's averages of 12.3 points and 8.8 boards.

But, judging by Saturday night's outburst and recent comments by his coach, Bogut figures to become a bigger part of the Bucks' offense.