Through five games this season, the Warriors have three wins, two losses and two players injured and out for significant time. That is 0.4 players injured per game -- not a good start to the season, by any means.
Brandon Rush tore his ACL vs. the Grizzlies in Game 2 of the 2012-13 NBA season and will be out for the season, and Bogut's injured ankle acted up again so he will be out for awhile to heal.
However, we can safely presume that Bogut will be out for more than the optimistically announced 7-10 days. While the Warriors are not calling this a "setback" for Bogut, it sure feels like one.
Bogut and the Warriors both conceded that he was rushed back onto the court a little too fast after barely having a training camp, but how fast is fast? Bogut has not played over 18 minutes in any of the four games he has played so far. The worst thing about the situation is that it only took that limited amount of playing time to injure that ankle once again.
Judging by Bogut's somber and dejected mood during the interview Thursday afternoon, we can safely assume that he will be out for closer to a month than 7-10 days.
It appeared Jackson had the same feeling on Thursday, too, a reported by the San Jose Mercury News' Marcus Thompson II.
"I would hope that's it," Jackson said. "But like everything else, it's going to be wait and see. This is a process. Ultimately we're going to stay true to the process, listening to his body and make decisions based on that.
"He doesn't feel like he's 100 percent. He's clearly not. He's going to experience some pain as part of the process, and he's not going to be the Andrew Bogut we know and appreciate right away. And it's frustrating at times."The odd thing here is that Bogut looked completely fine in his 18 minutes per game. He was contributing to the team and changing the pace of the game when he was on the floor. Evidently, Bogut feels like he has more to give, and that can be good or bad news depending on how the fan interprets that.
"I feel like I'm a liability out there," said Bogut, who initially broke his left ankle in January while playing for the Milwaukee Bucks. "I can't rebound, I can't move the way I like to move."Replacing Bogut is where it gets tricky, as the Warriors were going to need every bit of health they could muster from their roster to have a playoff-worthy season. Already, they have the first player off the bench, Brandon Rush, out for the season and Bogut is looking more and more likely he will be playing closer to 40 games than 60 this year.
Enter Festus Ezeli, who has been extremely productive in place of Bogut's limited time on the floor this season.
However, Ezeli is not the problem, the new back-up center is -- Andris Biedrins.
Biedrins has a total of six minutes and 31 seconds on the floor this season, and for good reason -- Jackson and the Warriors have literally shunned him and his $9 million a year from the team.
We can fully expect the Warriors to continue shunning him, as David Lee and Carl Landry will most likely make up the frontcourt for Golden State in Bogut's absence.
But here we are again, back at the old Warriors' way of doing things.
They rushed Bogut back, lost Rush for the season and gave Stephen Curry and his bum ankles the team fortune.
The mistakes will cost the Warriors, and they will hope to play well enough during these next 7-10 days (more like a month) in order to remain in contention much further than December.
While the players and concept appear in place in Oakland, the logic still remains stuck in losing mode.
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