Baptism by Fire.. He has to do it eventually. Why not immediately? If he going to play that position he will have to guard it too. This is going to make him better.
That was a great, quick set. Good passing. Nice ball reversal. Quick move to the rim and through the lane. Pretty finish. I definitely liked what I saw there.
First time we really seen his athleticism in action. Next up, I want to see him give someone a nasty facial.
i can't believe that a rookie has the best handles of any wing not named McGrady on the Rockets. Battier and Ariza have been playing for years, but i don't think i'll ever see anything like that from those two.
If you aren't a decent ball handler by the time you entered the NBA, chances are you never will be. You can learn better ball control and how to be safer but you can't teach handles over night.
You have a level of athleticism to be a decent ball handler. Ariza and Shane are not particularly athletic, Chase is.
late in the 4th, the blazers would clear out and let roy take budinger one on one at the the top of the key. budinger gave roy a cushion to prevent the drive, and roy would take a couple of dribbles and stop and pop. he's limited by his defensive capabilities, but he'll only improve with time. it was just frustrating, even though expected, watching roy have his way with the rook. would've liked to have seen battier or ariza locked down on #7 in a single digit game late in the 4th. i know it's early, but outlaw's going to be a serious contender for most improved player, or possibly 6th man (webster got the start tonight if i recall correctly).
Chase closed out on his shots pretty well. But like I said, you can only do so much against an All-Star player like that. The fact that he was still able to prevent further dribble penetration is pretty decent.
I liked how Chase played Roy. he did not let him drive, just made him take jumpers which I can live with. At least he did not gamble a bunch and lose every time like Ariza.
he did travel. but lebron does it all the time and they jsut changed the rules or something like that. so yes, you can get away with traveling. ray allen traveled blatanly earlier in the cavs game and no call.
Bwahahahaha! On topic: nice dunk by Chase. He looked like hot garbage in the first few minutes. Then he started making plays in the 4th, being a big part of our rally. Overall a nice debut for the rookie. Too bad Roy went off on him, though.
