Utah Jazz: Bogut has strong homecoming

Andrew Bogut, one game after what he called his "worst game of the season," put up some huge numbers on Wednesday night in his return to his college hometown. The Milwaukee Bucks' center pulled down 20 rebounds and scored 16 points.

But that's not what mattered to Bogut. He was disappointed that his team blew a 10-point, second-half lead to fall to the Jazz, 105-94, at EnergySolutions Arena.

"We didn't win," said Bogut, the former University of Utah star. "That's the most important thing. Individual stats go out the window and don't matter if you don't win the game."

Bogut's numbers were much better than Tuesday night in the Bucks' loss at Denver, when he got into early foul trouble and finished with just two points and three rebounds in 16 minutes of action.

His coach acknowledged that his 7-foot Australian big man was much improved on Wednesday night in his only visit of the season to Utah.

"(Bogut) was good," said new Bucks' coach Scott Skiles. "He rebounded the ball well. He made some good decisions again in the post, but then he ran out of gas."

Bogut, despite his big night, had his worst quarter in the fourth. He came out of the game with 2:34 to play and didn't return even though the fact the Bucks were within striking distance. He admitted that he was tired at the end after playing more than 40 minutes at Salt Lake City's high elevation.

"There is no excuse, but it's tough to play out here," Bogut said. "The altitude is higher than what we've been training at. It's a great home-court advantage. When I played here at the University of Utah, it was great. You had teams like Louisiana State coming here and they were sucking air. That's human nature."

Bogut, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft, had his best season as a pro a year ago. He averaged 14.3 points and 9.8 rebounds. This season, however, under his third head coach in the past three years with the Bucks, Bogut's numbers are off a bit. He entered the game averaging four fewer points than a year ago. Part of his offensive problems have been from the free-throw line, where he's made only 45.9 percent of his shots.

But Bogut, who signed a five-year contract extension with the Bucks in July, has a good feeling about the direction Milwaukee is headed under Skiles.

"We're so close, but yet so far," said Bogut after the Bucks fell to 5-8 on the year. "Simple mistakes are costing us ball games. ... We're getting there. We have a new system and we have a coach who is a stickler to detail in coach Skiles. That makes for an adjustment for some of the guys, but we are getting better."

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E-mail: lojo@desnews.com