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Friday, March 3, 2006 - 1:10 p.m.
Hello everyone! It’s nice to be blogging again …

As many of you know, I took part in the Rookie/Sophomore game during All-Star weekend. It was a good, fun weekend. It was a little too crazy for me … a little too much attention. I had a friend from Australia, who goes to school in Memphis, fly into Houston, so I spent a lot of time with him. The game itself was fun. It was nice to just play pressure-free basketball for fun. T.J. Ford was on the other team, which was different.

The game was on Friday and afterwards I headed to Utah on Saturday to have my jersey retired at my old school. It was a great honor and something very special to me. I had a relaxing weekend there. It’s a smaller city and I don’t get too much attention there, which I like. It was great to catch up with a lot of people. We went out and just had a good time.

On the court, we had a rough start after the All-Star break. But we won some big games recently on the road, including a huge win in Denver. That was a big game for us. We beat a team that’s going to make the playoffs, and we beat them by a good amount. We realized that we can play against the big guys of the league. We struggled against Phoenix, but they’re such a tough team – a tough match-up. Looking ahead, we need to make the push now. We have some teams with weaker records coming in. We need to beat those guys. We definitely want to get the 6th spot or higher.

Lately it’s been tough because we haven’t been home much. It’ll be nice to be home for a while, just to get organized. I’m still keeping tabs on my family – both my parents and my sister. My apartment is still great. I’m watching a lot of movies and playing a lot of PSP on the road. I’m all caught up with the Sopranos and I’m looking forward to watching the new season, which I think starts in a couple of weeks. I’m watching a lot of Seinfeld, too. That’s a great show.

Alright. Thanks for reading. Until next time …

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Tuesday, January 24, 2006 - 1:50 p.m.
Sorry about the lack of updates over the past month. I haven’t had a whole lot of spare time, especially this month on the road. 17 games in one month is tough on all of us. We’re just trying to look after our bodies.

We’ve hit a bit of a wall this month. It started off poorly and we’ve been trying to shape it up. We’ve had some tough injuries we’ve had to deal with. Charlie (Bell) and Joe (Smith) are still out. T.J. (Ford) and Mo (Williams) have missed a couple of games. And Bobby’s (Simmons) a little banged up. We’re just trying to get back on our feet together as a team. We think if we can do that, we can make a strong run. We have had one of the toughest schedules in the NBA. If we can just push for the rest of this month and have a winning last two weeks, I think it’ll really help us.

We’ve definitely lacked some vibe in the past couple of games. Fans have seen that and haven’t appreciated it. But we notice it, too. But when we get a lot of people to our games, we play better. It’s a much better atmosphere. Games like the one we had against the Spurs are great. The fans are definitely going to be a big part of us getting over the line and getting through this crucial part of the year. We don’t want the play-off atmosphere in the last five games of the year when we’re trying to clinch the eighth spot. We’d rather have it now when we’re trying to lock up a 6 or 5 seed.

Since the last time I updated the journal, I got rid of the mask. It’s been nice not having any constraints on my breathing or on my vision. It’s very cool to have if off, just for the simple fact that you don’t have to wear one. It makes you appreciate not having to wear one. And I think the plan is to auction off the masks and raise some money through my foundation for basketball camps. There are actually a couple (masks) that I’ve worn.

The cities we've traveled to have been fun. I really liked Miami because it was so warm. It’s a little too crazy for me, but I liked it. Charlotte was a warm city, too. But nothing beats Australia for me. And speaking of Australia, I still talk to family everyday and continue to get a lot of support from people back home. A lot of my jerseys are selling there, which is something very special for me to see – kids wearing my jersey.

By the way, it's still really cold in Milwaukee. From what I’ve heard, it’s 40 degrees (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in Australia.

Thanks for reading ... I hope to see you out at a game soon. We need your support!

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Wednesday, December 21, 2005 - 12:45 p.m.
I’m still busy getting ready for Christmas off of the court. I’m getting stuff for family and still talking to a lot of people all over the world, especially Australia and Croatia. I’m still getting a lot of media requests, especially some from Croatia and Australia, so I’m doing a lot of those and staying busy off the court.

On the court, it’s been a busy couple of weeks. We got some key wins against some good teams, but we also struggled against some lower-ranked teams. We need to beat up on them when they come into our house.

Last night I had a pretty big shot against the Spurs. We were tied with 0.7 seconds to go on the clock. We ran a play from the sideline to try and get a shot off. Toni (Kukoc) made a great pass and I was able to get the shot off. For the play itself, Kukoc told me to just hold my defender and wait until the ball got over my head, or until at least there was some contact, and then go get it. It was a big blur because it was so quick. I remember turning and catching it and, thankfully, it went in. It was a great win for us and for the fans.

The road is getting much better. I have a DVD player now. I’m watching The Sopranos at the moment – I’m up to Season Five. I’ve gone from Season One to Season Five on road trips this season. So I’m up to the last season. I can’t wait for Season Six to come out. I doubt I’ll watch it on TV when it comes out, just because I’ll still be so busy, but hopefully they’ll get the DVDs out as quick as they did last time. I just bought a PSP, so I’m trying to figure out how use that thing. So I have little things like that to keep me amused and keep me sane when I’m on the airplane for so long.

And winning definitely makes the road easier. We’ve won four straight on the road and seven on the season. Any league you play in, winning makes traveling easier … I can remember driving home with my parents from a venue an hour away and, if I lost, I wasn’t too happy on the way back. But if you win, it’s definitely different. Winning lifts your spirits and guys will smile more. But it is the NBA, so you don’t take it as hard since you usually have a game the next day. But the plane rides are definitely better when it’s after a win.

I’ve noticed some Croatian flags and Australian flags at the Bradley Center lately. That’s good to see. There’s going to be an Australian night coming up, although I’m not sure what game it is. Some fans in Chicago want to do some stuff, too, which I think is great.

That’s pretty much it. Talk to you soon!

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Friday, December 9, 2005 - 1:30 p.m.
Hello everyone. First off, a lot of people are probably wondering about my mask. I broke my nose a couple of weeks ago (November 23 against Philadelphia) and things were pretty hectic after that. The morning after it happened I had to have surgery, then we had to worry about finding a mask fitter … we were looking for mask fitters in Milwaukee … then we flew to Minnesota and looked for mask fitters there. The mask itself is very irritating to wear. It’s just not normal. Suddenly you have to wear something you haven’t worn all of your life. I don’t like it. I have to wear if for about six more weeks and then I plan on lighting it on fire.

On the court, I’m playing pretty consistent. I had a pretty big block against Dallas on the 29th and then had a pretty big tip-in against Philadelphia the other night. I’m just trying to do the little things. Scoring isn’t going to be my role too much this year, so I’m just trying to get the rebounds, steals, blocks and assists, just like I did in our last game against Philly. I was pretty happy with the way I played, even though I didn’t score too many points. We’ve been playing well as a team and we’re just trying to find that consistency. We want to win more than three in a row.

Other than that, things have been good. Christmas is coming up so I’m talking to the family a lot. I’m talking to a lot of people back home that I know have been following us. I had some coaches in town a couple of times that I visited with, some that coached me when I was a junior. I’m just going to relax this Christmas. Get some rest. The day before Christmas, I’m going to be going to a hospital to hand out some gifts to some kids. I’m doing that with my foundation. We have to leave for Orlando on Christmas Day, which is too bad. So I’m just going to spend it getting some rest in.

I’m not sure when I’ll blog next, but just in case it’s not for a while, Merry Christmas everyone and Happy Holidays.

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Monday, November 28, 2005 - 2:00 p.m.
G’day. This is Andrew Bogut. Hello to all of the fans out there that have been following me this year. I’ve decided to keep a journal here on Bucks.com to give everyone a look into my first season with the Bucks.

It’s been tough adjusting to the NBA lifestyle, especially off of the court with so much travel. From day one of the season, it was a big shock. Getting into cities at 3:00 a.m. and playing games the same day is tough. Just trying to find out when you can get your next nap in and your next meal in become a priority. You have to be really organized. I’ve also learned that it helps to just pack light and travel light. It helps.

On the court, I’ve learned to just bring it every day and every game. Otherwise, it’ll catch up to you and you’ll start losing some games. It’s been an enjoyable ride. We have some great guys on the team. We have some great characters that make traveling much more fun. I’ve been hanging out with guys like Toni (Kukoc) and Jiri (Welsch) on the road. That’s been my group of guys that I get together with and have lunch and dinner with before games. They’re a lot of fun.

Our record is not what we expect. We’re 6-6 and obviously want to be better. We’d be lying if we said we didn’t. Hopefully we can get a win against Dallas and close out the month with a winning record. We just want to keep winning basketball games and get to the playoffs.

Today is my birthday. I’m not really into birthdays or holidays. So it’s not a big deal to me. My teammates did have a cake for me, so that was cool.

I got an apartment downtown and finally just got settled in about two weeks ago. I had my mom up here for two weeks to help me move in because there just wasn’t enough time. I moved in the fifth day of training camp. It was kind of a pain to get all of the furniture in. And then I had to have people there so they could let other people in, like the cable guy. But I like the place.

My parents are in the middle of moving houses, too. They’re a little stressed with things, so it’s a little hard to catch up with them from time to time. They’re always packing or moving stuff.

Other than that, it’s just another day in the life of the NBA. Thanks for taking the time to read about what’s been going on. I’ll be sure to keep everyone updated from time to time.

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