Andrew Bogut perplexes me. He has the look at times of what he is – a number one overall pick. Other times, though, he can look like the most common, uninspiring player on the planet. The reason I thought of this today was I caught part of Milwaukee’s game against the Celtics. Boston won fairly easily to drop Milwaukee for the eighth time in their last nine game.Bogut, though, was prett y special. He had 25 points and 14 boards, and he shot the lights out. In short, he played pretty much entirely up to his potential. He did that the othernight , too – on November 30the against the Bulls he had 22 and 15. The problem, though, is that sandwiched between those two all-star caliber performances were three absolutely stinky duds. He had a total of just 23 points and 20 rebounds combined in those three games, and he shot .323 from the field. I could understand this kind of maddening inconsistency if the guy was a rookie or even a sophomore, but given that he’s in his fifth year it’s frustrating, and it’s one of several reasons why the Bucks are a hard team to handicap these days.

Tyreke Evans is unquestionably a stud. In his last four games he is averaging 25.5 points, 6.5 assists, and five rebounds. Unbelievable. I watched him play quite a bit in Memphis last year, and I knew he was good. Really good. I certainly didn’t think that he was going to hit the ground running like he has, though. The guy is just 20 years old, and yet he is running the point like a pro and averaging 20 points a game. He could wind up as the steal of the draft for the Kings.

I was critical of Louisville a couple of days ago when it sounded like they were seriously considering Phil Fulmer as their next coach, so it is only fair that I give them the credit they deserve now that they have made an inspired choice. The program needs a total overhaul, and Charlie Strong is a perfect choice to do so. He has been thedefensive coordinator for Florida since 2002. That means that he has won two national championships and has had all sorts of success with his unit. Instant credibility. He’s also obviously a pretty solid recruiter, because the Florida D is an NFL factory. Strong instantly restores the tarnished reputation at Louisville, he’ll be able to bring in better talent right away, and his stout defense will give Louisville a good advantage in a conference that isn’t typically known for stellar defense. As long as Strong brings in someone strong to run the offense – and he’ll have no problem attracting good candidates given his recent past – then this is a team brimming with potential. Itwasn’t that long ago that Louisville was relevant nationally, and I don’t think it will be too long until they are again. I love this hire.