Andrew Bogut Gets Revenge On Amar'e Stoudemire

 Andrew Bogut suffered one of the most horrific injuries in NBA history last year when he dislocated his right elbow, broke his right hand and sprained his right wrist after crashing to the floor on a dunk. Amar'e Stoudemire, then with the Phoenix Suns, nudged Bogut while he was in the air, leading to the disastrous fall of the Milwaukee Bucks' center.

 "He completely dismantled his elbow and wrist," said NBA announcer Mike Breen. "He will not get full range of motion back. It'll never go back to 100%."

 Bogut's injury is arguably the hardest video to watch in sports. Right up there with Joe Theismann's leg and LeBron James' "The Decision". Yet the Australian center has no problem watching his own agonizing fall. According to Breen, Bogut's approach is, "I don't care. I want to see what happened."

 Tuesday night, Bogut faced Stoudemire for the first time since suffering his injury. The two players met at midcourt for the pre-game Captain's meeting. Stoudemire asked Bogut if he was doing OK as they shook hands. Bogut briefly responded in the affirmative and the two returned to their warmup rituals. 

 

 The Bucks jumped out to a big early lead and outplayed the Knicks throughout the game. After being elbowed by Bogut while fighting for a rebound during the third quarter, Stoudemire lashed out at him and the Bucks' bench, drawing a technical foul. 

 "It was intentional," Stoudemire said of Bogut's flying elbows. "I think they might have amped him up to play very physical out there. That might have been the way he reacted on the court."

 Either that or Bogut remembers being pushed by the same Amar'e Stoudemire, leaving his arm in multiple fragments of agony.

 Bogut capped off a late third quarter, ten point Bucks run by blocking Stoudemire's and running the floor for an Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oye Oye Oye, outback mega dunk.

 A shattered elbow paid back with a tech inducing elbow. A broken hand repaid with a block and a monster slam. Missed playoffs avenged by serving Stoudemire his most lopsided defeat with the Knicks, 107-80. Bogut shot 5-5. The avenging dunk was his final bucket of the night. 

    

5 NBA Stars On The Rebound In 2010-11

 Andrew Bogut shows us that his right arm is doing fine as he heads back into action in training camp with the Milwaukee Bucks. After his horrific injury, it'll be great to see him on the court again. He reports only occasional pain in his elbow and is set for a full training camp and season. Hopefully he'll pick up where he left off as one of the best centers in the NBA.

 Blake Griffin's knees must be feeling good since he was jumping around for photos on media day. He's recovered from a broken left knee cap and is ready to taste his first regular season NBA action. May the basketball gods ease up on the Clipper curse so Griffin can elevate to his potential.

 Gilbert Arenas is back and Agent Zero is dead. I'm not sure if David Stern killed Agent Zero or if Gilbert did it himself. Either way, Arenas is wearing number 9, sporting a beard and smiling for no one. Agent 9 averaged 22.6 ppg with 7.2 apg and was having his best season in three years when he was suspended last year. He hadn't missed any of 32 games after only playing fifteen total games in the two previous years. If Ron Artest could bounce back to a championship, maybe Agent Zero can find similar success.

 George Karl returns to lead the Denver Nuggets after a bout with neck and throat cancer cut his season short last year. He's in good health and expects to be able to fully resume all coaching duties. "I told the team that I probably can't yell at them for more than three or four minutes at a time," he said. "So they're probably excited about it." Karl is now challenged with trying to keep Carmelo Anthony focused on his immediate future in Denver. It's good to see Coach Karl back even if his team may finish this upcoming season in rebuild mode.

 Mo Williams begged the Cavs not to trade him on June 23 when he tweeted "Pls don't trade me, I'm not ready to go. I'm begging. My work ain't done yet. I'm on both knees....pls. I'm serious." 

 Two weeks later, LeBron decided that his own work with the Cavs was done & left Williams as empty as the rest of Cleveland. 

 "This summer was very, very stressful for me," Williams said. "I really lost a lot of love for the game this summer." 

 Instead of embracing his new role as the main cog in the Cavs' offense, Williams feared playing on a team that won't win as much. 

 "We were winning basketball games," he said. I was coming home every night a winner. Who can't love that? That is what playing a role on a team is all about." 

 Now that LeBron has taken over the Mo role for the Heat, Williams can take over where James left off in Cleveland. His future has never been brighter and if he opens his eyes, he'll see it.

    

The Bucks Start Here

 The Milwaukee Bucks are the hottest team in the East having won 4 games in a row and 9 of their last 10. They currently sit 5th in the conference with a 1.5 game lead over the Raptors. 

  Few expected them to be so dangerous & they could be destined to give a tough round 1 playoff fight to either Atlanta or Boston, who they beat 86-84 Tuesday night. What makes Milwaukee so good?

  Andrew Bogut is one of the top 5 centers in the NBA. He's 9th in the league in rebounds with10.4/gm and 2nd in blocks with 2.47/gm. He's also the team's 2nd leading scorer with 16.2 ppg in 32 minutes & gives opponents fits with his versatility in the paint. Most recently, he put 25 & 17 on the Celtics & Kendrick Perkins. He's arguably the most dangerous center not named Dwight Howard.

 New addition guard John Salmons has been very strong since his arrival at the trade deadline. In Milwaukee, he's putting up the best numbers of his career with a team leading 18.9 ppg.

 Brandon Jennings is in the running for rookie of the year with 15.8 ppg and 6.1 apg. He scored 55 points on Golden St, the highest total by a rookie in 42 years. And he's tough. The 6'1" 20-year-old stood his ground in a confrontation after 295 pound Celtic Big Baby Davis gave him a hard foul.

 The Bucks also have one of the top up & coming defensive specialists in Cameroon born forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. He said, "The fun part of the game to me is when you can go against a LeBron or Kobe or Carmelo and try to frustrate them. If they're not making shots or they're out of rhythm, I enjoy that. Every time I'm out there, that's my goal."

  Argentian forward Carlos Delfino is having a career year in nearly every statistical category. The Bucks also are getting solid production off the bench from Ersan Ilyasova & Luke Ridnour. 

  Vets like Kurt Thomas and Jerry Stackhouse will be of great help to February's coach of the month Scott Skiles as they teach this cast of young players how to adjust to the more physical nature of playoff basketball.

  Four of the Bucks' remaining 19 games are against the Hawks & Celtics (2 each). They will likely meet one of these two teams in first round of the playoffs. Neither team will find an easy series with the Bucks.