The Australians may be underdogs entering their Group A game against the United States on Wednesday at the Summer Games in Rio, but don’t tell that to Andrew Bogut.
The longtime NBA center refuses to be intimidated by Team USA even though the U.S. team is stacked with NBA stars. After Australia beat Serbia on Monday, Bogut talked about the Boomers’ attitude entering their game with the US.
Bogut: "Teams who ask the Americans to autograph their shoes are beaten before the game begins. But that's not us and we think we can win."
— dave smith (@davesportsgod) August 9, 2016
Bogut wanted to issue the autograph warning to his teammates because he’s seen such things happen before.
“(Facing the Americans is) the ultimate test. It’s the best team in the world, the best players in the world, so I think if we go out there with the right mind-set and compete with them, win or lose we’ll be happy with that,” Bogut told USA Today.
Bogut’s fear about having the proper attitude is legitimate. Back at the London Olympics, we saw an opponent ask Kobe Bryant for an autograph after losing to the US (video here).
How are you supposed to beat an opponent when you’re starstruck? The Australian team is full of NBA players like Patty Mills, Matthew Dellavedova and Aron Baynes in addition to Bogut, so maybe they’ll enter the contest with the attitude that they belong there.
