An excited Andrew Bogut is confident his enforced lay-off from basketball has not been time wasted as he prepares to return to a rescheduled NBA.
The Milwaukee Bucks and Australian centre is set for a Christmas Day start to the new season - delayed and now shortened because of a stand-off between the league's owners and the players' union.
Both parties came to a handshake agreement this week to end the lockout of the world's best basketball competition, with players - including Bogut - now voting on a deal expected to be accepted.
Bogut is adamant he is in good enough shape to tackle a 66-game regular season - 16 shorter than normal - which will be shoehorned into a tighter timeframe.
"I'm about 85 per cent (fit)," he said.
"I don't want to be at 100 right now because if I'm peaking right now, I'm going to get through training camp and I'm going to be burned out.
"I'm pretty comfortable with where I'm at.
"I've been shooting ever since the lockout started, and lifting weights. So I'll ramp up my conditioning a little bit this week and I'll be fine.
"It's good to be out of the unemployment line and back to what I do best."
But Bogut believes the tougher, tighter schedule will mean casualties from those who haven't put in the work during their time away from the court.
"If I was a punter, I'd guess there'll be a fair few injuries early on," he said.
"Hopefully most of the blokes will come back in shape, but a fair few who won't will find themselves in a bit of trouble because it's such a brutal schedule."
The 27-year-old's five months in playing limbo - not helped by a massive insurance premium dangling over his head preventing him from taking the court - has allowed him to work on several off-court projects in Australia.
The most ambitious is his move into athlete management - Bogut and his agent Bruce Kaider teaming up as partners in a consulting venture.
With one eye on his own future after his NBA career, Bogut will now help manage the affairs of other athletes.
Heading the stable of athletes are fellow Australian basketball stars Patty Mills and Lauren Jackson, Western Bulldogs' AFL player Shaun Higgins and US-based Major League baseballer Peter Moylan.
Bogut is scheduled to return to Milwaukee on Tuesday, ahead of club training camps scheduled to start on December 9.
AAP
Tags: basketball, sport, united-states, australia First posted November 30, 2011 21:35:40
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