Andrew Bogut leads the league in defensive real plus-minus, a stat that reflects how well the Golden State Warriors do when he's on the floor.

I told him that, knowing he wouldn't care. It’s been like this for a couple years. I tell Bogut about some new statistic that finally conveys his importance on the floor, and he expresses little interest.

I love that stats are giving defensive players their due to the public, because their efforts have been shrouded in relative obscurity for too long. But this master of all the “little things” doesn't hate obscurity. He often expresses a wish to “do regular-people things,” which is tough for a 7-foot NBA player.

More to the point, stats just aren’t how Bogut measures himself. And no, it’s not because he prefers some other corny standard like "heart." Bogut likes instances of an opponent’s fear. His professional pride is measured in the moments when smaller men shrink even smaller, when they avoid the scary man in the paint like a child afraid of clowns. A block is good, but so is the panicked pump-fake.

Though he sat out Wednesday's win against the Houston Rockets, the Warriors' 14th victory in a row, to rest his knee, Bogut stands as the focal point of the league’s best defense. I sit beside him pregame and ask about life as a rim protector.

Q: So how do you judge yourself if you don't have stats?

I just know, you know, you get into a situation, I know when guys get into the paint and willingly drive into the paint all four quarters, I kind of know that I'm not doing my job. Try to set the tone early in the first quarter, block some shots, and you notice in the second, third, fourth quarter, guys start veering in and out along the baseline, coming out along the baseline. That's how I know I'm doing a good job.

Q: Is that the best feeling to you when you see the effect of that intimidation?

Yeah. It is. It just means I'm doing my job as a big fella. When guys come into the paint and get easy layups, they keep coming into the paint. There's a reason for that. They like what they see. I've had games like that, when I've come to help late. Then they get shots and they feel comfortable, and it's hard to stop NBA guys. I haven't really had many of those this year.

Q: I've noticed that you do something, it's almost like pulling the chair, where you'll seize up like you're going to block it and then you don't. When do you know when to do that?

With craftier guys, guys like Tyreke Evans, D-Wade, they're very smart with going up and under. So I try to fake a lot of times that I'm going to go for the first one, 'cause I know they're going to try and go up and under, go to the other side; they're very successful doing that. So every now and then sometimes I'll get the quick shot up. Just different things, you got to play with it a little. Guys in this league are so athletic and so skilled, you got to change things up every now and again.

Q: It's often said that offense is fun and defense isn't supposed to be. Is it fun to you, or is it just a matter of professional pride?

It's a bit of both. On this team, I know I'm not going to affect the game by trying to score 20. That's just not realistic with the scorers that we have. On Milwaukee, I was asked to do both. Here it's more so they want me to score more, they want me to be aggressive offensively, but where I affect the game is the little things. Especially defensively, blocking shots, being a good helpside guy, calling out the paint, setting good screens, just doing little things that a lot of times don't show up on the stat sheet. I think that's where my effect on the game is stuff fantasy players don't see.

Q: So I have a crazy theory, and you can tell me if I'm wrong. I think about how you and Andre [Iguodala] are focused on managing money. I have a theory that defensive guys think more about money than offensive guys because they don't have as many stats telling them how they're doing. Is that a crazy theory?

(Laughs) It's a crazy theory. Yeah, there's a lot of guys I played with -- Mike Dunleavy Jr., offensive guy, very smart with his money. It's a good story, though. You could sell some people with it, but I don't buy it. Because I was an offensive guy earlier in my career. I came out of college being a horrible defender.

Q: How'd you make that transition? Was it (former Bucks coach Scott) Skiles?

I don't think I was just bad. People said I was skinny, so I was getting pushed around a lot, definitely wasn't a horrible defender. But I learned NBA spacing, defensive three seconds, when to go, when not to. I just absorbed and learned from guys who were good defenders at the time. Skiles obviously brought a lot out of me in that sense.

Q: Your stance is crazy-wide on defense. Is that conscious or instinct?

Actually, one gripe on me is I play too upright sometimes on defense. I just try to take up as much space as I can. I try to do a better job of it this year as well. [Assistant coach] Ron Adams has been on me about showing my hands early, and just being a big target when guys come in the paint. Make a big presence that sometimes looks a bit more deceiving than it really is.

Q: What do you think the thing you yell most when you're communicating back there is?

Ball screens for sure. You hear me call "ICE" a lot, which is a side pick-and-roll, and a lot of "weak," try to send guys to the left hand, middle of the floor, so that's what you mainly hear me yelling out there. Big 5-men are usually involved in 30, 40 pick-and-rolls a game, so that's kind of my forte.

Q: Is there anything else Ron [Adams] has been working on with you this year?

His big thing is trying to play a bit lower and taking up more space. And jumping straight up. He's big on jumping with two hands in the air, and not giving the official a chance to blow a questionable foul on you if both your hands are showing. So I try to work on that a little more and it's worked a lot this season. I haven't got blocked shots for it, but I don't know what guys are shooting at the rim against me, but it's low.

Q: Have you always kept the ball in bounds on your blocks?

I always have. I've never been a guy that was trying to send it in the 10th row. It's pointless to me, because they're going to get an even better shot. The Spurs, those type of teams are so good with baseline out of bounds and sideline out of bounds. You're going to smack it out of bounds, pound your chest, and it's going to look great. But they're going to come back and run a play and hit a 3. It's pointless to me. So I try to keep it in bounds as much as I can and I try to get it late. I try to get it right as when they lose their hand at the rim. When I get it, it hits the backboard, gives us a chance to go back on offense.