Boomer Bogut's Dad inspired greatness - 2005 Draft

Australian Boomer Andrew Bogut has named his father Michael as a major factor in driving his career to greatness on the eve of the 2005 NBA Draft in which he is strongly tipped to be picked number one by the Milwaukee Bucks.

He said his father, who owned a carburettor store in Melbourne for 20 years, had been a major factor in driving his career.

“He's worked hard all his life,” Bogut told the Daily Telegraph, and keenly remembers being strongly competitive with his old man.

“When I was 11, I would play pool against my father for ages. And I would get so (angry) if I lost I wouldn’t talk to him and he would understand. That’s my competitive nature. Whenever I would play anything I would get so mad.”

It is reported that Bogut hopes to bring his parents Anne and Michael to the US permanently, telling the Daily Telegraph he has spoken to them about it.

“It would be great to have them here, but it’s up to them if they want to,” he said. “We're still talking about that.”

Bogut is now less than 24 hours away from being a multi-millionaire. If he goes number 1 he will pocket $14.2 million on his Rookie contract and top that up with several million in endorsements, including a deal with Nike announced over the weekend.

“I will be set up for the rest of my life,” Bogut, who can’t wait for his name to be called by NBA Commissioner David Stern, said. “I've been waiting for the day – waiting to get it done.”

Bogut, who has not been shying away from comments about being cut from junior teams in Victoria when he was 14 and 15, regrouped and worked harder after those knock backs and was invited to attend the Australian Institute of Sport and the Australian junior men’s team in 2003.

“It really made me work hard to be better than everybody else. I worked harder than any young basketballer in Australia.”

He proved himself at that level, helping Australia to a gold medal at the 2003 Junior World Championships in Greece and being selected to attend Utah University, where he swept every college basketball award in 2005 before declaring himself for the Draft. He also rocked the international stage at a senior level with the Boomers at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, starting for the team and being one of the major contributors throughout the tournament.

Bogut will be the first Australian to be drafted number 1 should it happen tomorrow morning. Luc Longley was picked by Minnesota at number seven in 1991 and went on to a solid NBA career as part of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls empire. China’s Yao Ming is the only international player to go number one and Bogut would love to be number two in what may be the start of an international invasion into the league.

Australian centre Luke Schenscher, who has reportedly gained 40 pounds (18 kgs), is also in this year's Draft and could be taken in the second round after finishing his senior year at Georgia Tech. Sydney’s Steven Markovic, who was last week named in the Australian Crocs team for the 2005 World Championships in August, withdrew from the Draft last week after declaring himself available last month.

When World’s Collide - Bogut’s Boomers will be back playing in Australia in August when China, New Zealand and Lithuania travel to Perth and Sydney for a 4-nations clash against the Aussies announced last week. Tournament organisers are hopeful Bogut will be available for the tournament which will be played from August 9-14. Chinese officials also have an agreement with Bogut’s NBA counterpart Yao Ming that he will play for the Chinese team when not busy with the Housten Rockets. Ming, who had minor ankle surgey last week, is hoped to be fully recovered in time for the Australian tournament. Tickets for the 4-nations clash are on sale tomorrow through TicketMaster7.

China's team was beaten by a visiting US team in game three of a series of friendly matches over the weekend. It was the first loss for China under the management of Jonas Kazlauskas, who filled in the vacancy left by the ex-coach Del Harris in April.

The Chinese team led eight points during the third quarter. However, they failed to keep the lead in the last time and were beaten 49-53. Game four will be held in Jiyuan, Henan Province tomorrow.

The NBA draft will be televised live on ESPN from 9am (AEST) tomorrow.