I thought his defense has been pretty good relative to the players he's guarding. He's already improved dramatically on D, and he's only going to continue to improve.
What I like best about Budinger is that he doesn't look lost at all. Andersen looks lost. Wafer looked last last season. Cook has always looked lost. Brooks used to look lost. Budinger does not look lost on offense or defense. He is still making some defensive mistakes, but he looks like he'll fix it. I'm really excited to see what he'll grow into the next few years.
Reminds us of Luther Head's rookie season? Nah, Budinger is definitely better than Head. So no, I'm not that sad.
44th pick with this type of potential is a steal. I think wat Aldeman is saying is that his defense is passable for right now as a rookie but if he wants to improve himself as a player improving his defense is the key. Maybe we should call him "Pasty"
At the 44th pick, it's undoubtedly a worthwhile risk. Blair would've been also (knees and all). Players with that much natural talent but with question marks are great picks in the 2nd round because their contracts are non-guaranteed. If they don't show the drive necessary to compete, there's little risk in cutting them. Jermain Taylor fits this mold also, as he has an obvious scoring talent, but not against top flight talent. As soon as he figures out what weapon in his arsenal translates to the L, he may thrive, as well. How I wish he would study tapes of Cat Mobley or Sam I Am. Those guys weren't highly touted coming out of college either, yet carved a very nice niche in the NBA by honing the translatable skills they did possess.
