First of all, it's GAD-zur-EECH.

"It's a Yugoslavian name, and all of the Yugoslavian players in the NBA have their names pronounced correctly. I thought why not my name, too," explained Dan Gadzuric, the UCLA big man formerly known as GAD-zur-ICK.

	Dan Gadzuric has stood tall in the middle for Milwaukee so far.

"Plus it's a new season, new league … new name."

Perhaps we never really knew the real Dan Gadzuric back when. Because the enigmatic, unpredictable center who epitomized the highs and lows of the Bruins program in his four years in Westwood looks somewhat comfortable manning the post in the NBA as a rookie for the Milwaukee Bucks.

There's no denying the athleticism of the 6-foot-11, 240-pounder. Unlike Earvin Johnson, the 10-year veteran he beat out for the Bucks' starting center job, Gadzuric can make plays on both ends of the floor with his quickness and agility.

"My role is simply to run the floor, rebound and play intensely on defense," said Gadzuric, who's among the league leaders in blocked shots at 1.89 a game. "Everything else will come into place. But that's my role and that's what I've got to stick to."

Gadzuric showed why George Karl -- who's not known to be kind to rookies, much less play them -- has him in the lineup in Milwaukee's first win of the season, a 97-88 victory on The Night The Knicks' Sellout Streak Ended. He posted personal bests with a team-high 10 rebounds and eight points, which included a flying follow slam that momentarily woke up the slumbering Madison Square Garden crowd.

"He's given us a lot of energy, a lot of hustle points, you know, getting some offensive rebounds and some blocked shots," Bucks guard Ray Allen said. "He's given us a presence down on the block.

"As he grows and learns a lot more, it's going to be his middle."

Well, nothing is set in stone. The starting center spot doesn't belong to Gadzuric, who knows he could be relegated to being a backup should he regress. For now, though, the Bucks' second-round pick (34th overall) is making a name for himself as a bona fide big man in the center-challenged Eastern Conference.

	“	I've been working hard. All I've got to do is keep working hard and everything will pay off. ”
		— Dan Gadzuric

"After the game I said, 'I wished I had enough courage to play you down the stretch,' because he played well enough to play down the stretch," Karl said after the Knicks game. "But I didn't think that would be a good experiment right now. I think I'll save that for another day."

An NBA career was an eventuality, not an uncertainty, when Gadzuric arrived in Westwood. Featured in Sports Illustrated as one of the nation's impact freshmen, Gadzuric came to embody all that was right and wrong with UCLA's program. He stops short of criticizing Bruins coach Steve Lavin and his staff for his Jekyll-and-Hyde play in powder blue.

"There were lots of ups and downs," Gadzuric said. "We didn't get into much of a flow … but I don't blame anybody."

At the rate Gadzuric is going, he'll likely earn an invite to All-Star Saturday in Atlanta for the Rookie Challenge. He ranks fourth in rookie rebounding at 6.1 per game and is averaging a modest 5.3 points and 19.6 minutes. But the realist in Gadzuric won't allow him to get caught up in statistics. Numbers won't determine whether he stays in the starting five anyway.

"I've been working hard," Gadzuric said. "All I've got to do is keep working hard and everything will pay off."

By February, maybe people might know how to pronounce his name properly. But it's still OK to call Gadzuric by that other name.

"I'm so used to it, I even say it myself sometimes," he said.

Joe Lago is the NBA editor for ESPN.com.