Dailytelegraph Australia:"Our man Bogut to tackle Wall of China"

Our man Bogut to tackle Wall of China

By TIM MORRISSEY

June 24, 2005

A NEW four-nations basketball tournament to be co-hosted by Australia and China has brought the tantalising prospect of seeing Andrew Bogut versus Yao Ming in front of a sell-out crowd in Sydney a step closer.

Boomers coach Brian Goorjian believes the dream match-up between China's first NBA superstar and the Houston Rockets' Australian ace would reignite interest in the local basketball scene.

Bogut is widely tipped to go No.1 in next week's NBA draft.

Basketball has been in decline since its heyday in the early 1990s with not even the Sydney Kings' NBL three-peat able to reverse falling attendances in Australia's biggest city.

However, the clash between Bogut, who is expected to begin a bright NBA career with the Milwaukee Bucks, and Houston's 229cm "Wall of China", has the potential to change all that.

"It would be great to see Bogut and Ming go at it," Goorjian said.

"It would bring in the people and we really haven't had a chance in Australia to see Bogut in action.

"The sooner we get him here the better.

"If you look at all the players who could potentially be playing in this tournament the two biggest names would be Andrew Bogut and Yao Ming.

"They both play the same position [centre] and it's between one of the NBA's best big men in the game now and one of the big men of the future.

"If that could take place it would be a huge promotion for the game. Basketball took a real jump in Australia when we hosted that great series between the Boomers and the old Soviet Union leading up to the 1988 Seoul Olympics."

However, for Bogut v Yao to become a reality at the inaugural four nations tournament announced by Basketball Australia yesterday, several things need to fall into place.

With the 2005-06 NBA season tipping off in September, Bogut's agent at SFX and his new NBA club will both have to agree to let their 20-year-old Aussie star play.

BA chief executive Scott Derwin is currently in the US to attend the NBA draft to negotiate with Bogut and his agent. But it's still a big ask considering Bogut will be preparing for his rookie season.

"Andrew is going to have a lot on his plate after the draft," Goorjian said.

There is a better chance that Yao, the No.1 pick overall in the 2002 NBA draft, will play because he has an agreement with the Chinese government to play for his national team every year.

However, Yao's appearance at the four nations event being held in both Perth and Sydney hinges on the 24-year-old overcoming recent minor ankle surgery in time.

But there is a stronger likelihood of a Bogut-Yao showdown outside the NBA in the future after Australia and China signed a four-year agreement to take the annual four nations tournament right up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The 2005 tournament, which also includes world power Lithuania and New Zealand, starts on August 9-10 at the Challenge Stadium in Perth and concludes at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on August 12-14.

The annual event between the Boomers, China and two other invited nations will be hosted by both Australia and China alternately.

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