http://s****tsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/basketball/nba/07/03/bc.bkp.lgns.bogut
warofwords.r/index.html
MELBOURNE, Australia (Ticker) - Chris Anstey has fired back at fellow
Australian 7-footer Andrew Bogut.
Anstey, a former NBA center, put a formal challenge to Bogut, his teammate
on the national squad and the top overall pick in last week's NBA draft
who
belittled the performance of some of his compatriots.
Speaking on Australian national television, the 30-year-old Anstey
challenged the 20-year-old Bogut to a 1-on-1 showdown "anywhere, anytime,
and I would beat him."
Anstey said he had been upset by Bogut's comments before the draft about
the
showing in the NBA of Aussies such as himself, center Luc Longley and
guards
Andrew Gaze and Shane Heal.
"I would like to think there are three or four Aussies better than him
[Bogut] right now," said Anstey, a former first-round pick who never
averaged more than six points per game in the NBA.
Bogut, who has signed a multi-million dollar contract with the Milwaukee
Bucks, was particularly harsh on Longley, a fellow 7-footer with perhaps
the
best credentials of an Australian NBA player.
Another former first-round pick, Longley won three champion****ps and had
his
best seasons from 1996-98 as the starting center alongside Michael Jordan
and Scottie Pippen on the Chicago Bulls. That did not impress Bogut, who
did
not like being compared to Longley.
"I've had a better collegiate career than anyone else from Australia that
came over here," Bogut said last week. "I'm not as slow as Luc Longley,
I'm
more athletic, I can shoot better, I am more competitive. So I think it's
not even fair to bring that name up."
A clearly wounded Longley said Bogut's comments showed a lack of respect
for
himself and the other Aussies who had played in the NBA, including Gaze,
who
unlike Bogut played in the NCAA Tournament title game with Seton Hall.
"I'm disappointed for him that he has made such a clumsy start," Longley
told the West Australian newspaper. "He's inexperienced and got caught
out.
I'd like to see him do well and if he's as good as he says he is -- and
I'm
expecting genius -- he should make it. But the signs are not good so far."
Anstey chimed in Sunday, saying Bogut had plenty to learn.
"If he reaches the potential that Luc did, with three rings, then he will
have done well," Anstey said. "But it will take him [Bogut] a while to get
going. He needs a lot of court time, which is something Aussies have
struggled to get."
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