UA’s Budinger shows versatility

By Jesse Temple     Nov 26, 2007

He glides effortlessly into the lane with the basketball, looking to dish to an open man.

His quick release allows him to pull up for 3 over anybody on the fast break.

And teammates and opposing players constantly must be aware of his movements as he curls around screens at a dizzying pace to get open.

Sound like the play of an active, fleet-footed guard or a big, 6-foot-7, 200-pound forward?

For University of Arizona sophomore Chase Budinger, it’s both.

During the Wildcats’ 76-72 overtime loss Sunday night against No. 4 Kansas University, Budinger – as he has been all season – was called upon to make something happen in several areas. His 27 points led all scorers, and he also snagged six rebounds, swiped two steals and even defended 6-foot-1 KU guard Mario Chalmers for a time.

“It’s something that I work on every year. I try to be an all-around player,” Budinger said. “I just try not to be one-dimensional.”

It was clear how much Budinger meant to the Wildcats (3-2) based on his limited time on the bench. In the seven minutes he wasn’t on the court, Arizona made just three field goals, and the offense looked stagnant and out of sync without its go-to player. With NBA scouts in attendance – no doubt in part to see Budinger – he nailed six 3-pointers and 10 of 23 shots from the floor.

“He’s huge for us because he’s such a good shooter, and he can get a shot over people,” center Kirk Walters said. “Regardless of who’s guarding him, he’s athletic enough, he can get the shot up in transition. It’s a big part of our team to have someone who can run up and down the floor, be athletic and make shots.”

Budinger received perhaps the ultimate compliment from the Allen Fieldhouse crowd Sunday – he made the fans squirm and groan every time he touched the ball within shooting distance in the second half as he piled up the points.

KU tried Brandon Rush on him. Then Rodrick Stewart. Then Russell Robinson. But the blonde-haired, NBA prospect had an answer for almost everything.

Almost.

With the score tied at 62, Arizona interim coach Kevin O’Neill drew up a play to get Budinger the ball for the final play of regulation. It never materialized. Budinger was double-teamed and didn’t touch the ball as the Wildcats failed to score.

“We knew what we wanted to have happen, and it didn’t happen, unfortunately,” O’Neill said.

Said Budinger, “I had a motion in my head pre-planned, and the ball never got swung back. I really didn’t see that. It was kind of my fault. I tried coming to the ball, but it was too late.”

In the overtime session, Budinger nailed a 3 to tie the game at 65, but those would be his final points. When he fouled out with 28.6 seconds left in overtime and Arizona down by three, it was all but over.

O’Neill, who coached in the NBA for seven years, said he sees nothing but upside in the 19-year-old.

“He has NBA-level skill,” O’Neill said. “He played hard tonight and played well. We went to him a lot, put him in situations where he needed to come up big, and he did.”

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