Top pick Bogut adjusting to NBA life

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Andrew Bogut felt like he had just been run over by a truck.

David Harrison, the 280-pound Indiana Pacers center, lowered his shoulder and buried the NBA's No. 1 draft pick, then softly laid in a bucket.

Welcome to the NBA, Mr. Bogut.

"He was grinding me out down there," Bogut said. "Definitely a guy I can learn off. He definitely took me to school."

The Milwaukee Bucks center was ejected from that game Monday at the Minnesota summer league for tussling with center John Edwards. But he bounced back on Tuesday, capping the five-day event with 16 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks in a 98-91 loss to New York.

It was an interesting few days for the Australian in his NBA debut. One day, he scores 21 points and grabs 13 rebounds in a game against the Rockets. The next, he is thoroughly dominated by Harrison before being thrown out by the officials.

It's all part of the process, Bogut says.

"It was more of a learning experience than anything," he said. "I didn't come in and say I want to average 20 and 10. I wasn't worried about numbers."

In five games, Bogut averaged 13.2 points and 10 rebounds, numbers that were slightly skewed thanks to a surprisingly quick trigger by the officials in the Indiana game. He finished with just 6 points on 1-of-7 shooting in 26 minutes in that game.

He still managed to lead the summer league in rebounds and learned what life in the NBA is like as a 7-foot-1, 255-pound target.

"Definitely," Bogut said. "That's how it is. A big white guy, the No. 1 pick, nobody likes that."

Many of the rookies and unproven veteran centers at the league saw Bogut as a way to get noticed, perhaps none more than Harrison.

The second-year player went right at Bogut early and often in their matchup, hitting turnaround jumpers and dunking over the exasperated rookie.