"I don't think you can have a guy with you for just a week and play two (pre-Olympic exhibition) games and come into this tournament and then have the whole country go, 'Hey, this boy is supposed to carry us,"' he said. "He's a 23-year-old guy who's growing with the team, and I think that he has gotten better in each game."

Added Australian forward Matt Nielsen: "We're just 12 guys, and he (Bogut) is no different than the rest of us. It's tough when he's the only name on our team."

Of course, expectations back home Down Under may be a little high, given that Australia has never finished higher than fourth in the Summer Games.

And Bogut probably didn't do himself or his Aussie teammates any favors in the days leading up to competition.

"Some countries laugh at us before we play them," he said in a pre-Games press conference in Beijing. "So it is good fun to go in there and knock them off and see their faces at the end of the game. We like to be the underdogs and keep levelheaded, and that is the way Australia performs best — when no one gives us a chance."

And with two checks already in the loss column and defending European Championships champ Russia up next, Bogut has a chance to back up his word.

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E-mail: taylor@desnews.com