Bravo, Yaorule actually providing facts to support his position

Bravo, Yaorule actually providing facts to support his position---

a stark contrast from his blind hero-worshiping of another baller
who shoots 11% when away from the basket,

Rockets 99, Spurs 85: Rockets roll; Air Bud sizzles
Remember the day. Remember where you were. And know that you were there at the dawn of the Air Bud era of Rockets basketball.

OK, so maybe not. But in the search for something to take from Rockets 99, Spurs 85 Tuesday in San Antonio, more evidence of Chase Budinger's offensive potential was eye-catching and undeniable.

Sure, the Spurs had Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Antonio McDyess, Michael Finley and Theo Ratliff sitting out. They treated the second half as an Austin Toros practice. Gregg Popovich's decision to not play Parker or anyone older than 32 makes sense for a team that plans to play into June, but made it difficult to know what to take from the Rockets' first preseason game.

There were plenty of signs of how the Rockets want to play, starting with those 15 first-quarter fast break points. The point guards and power forwards look like the strength of the team, which is not much of a surprise when there aren't any shooting guards and centers (well, almost) on the team.

More than all that, though, Chase Budinger just kept doing what he has been doing, holding his own in the battle of the "how did he get into the second round" draft picks.

That was not easy to do. DeJuan Blair came off the Spurs bench to grab 19 rebounds, eight on the offensive boards, and score 16 points in 22 minutes.

Budinger, however, made 7 of his 10 shots, seeming completely at ease and under control in the offense. He took turns early in the game against Richard Jefferson and Manu Ginobili and neither toasted him. Mostly, after hitting 72 percent of his 3s in the summer league, rolling through the summer workouts and turning heads in seven days of training camp practices, he appeared ready to play significant NBA minutes.

His success will not be entirely dependent on his shooting touch. He does run the floor well and his athletic ability helps him get shots off. He is already much better at running an offense than his sweet-shooting Rockets predecessor, Steve Novak. But much of Budinger's success will be in his teammates' hands.

When the Rockets ran their offense consistently, moving quickly without the ball and delivering sharp passes, they got good open looks, many by Budinger. When they went one-on-one, they bogged down. He will need offense brought to him and that will be much tougher when the Rockets play more Spurs than Toros.

Budinger is not going to continue to make 70 percent of his shots, or do the things the Rockets still need from Tracy McGrady. But while the Spurs were buzzing about Blair, the Rockets keep seeing this from Budinger and are starting to believe it can last.

Come to think of it, as I recall, no one thought Wally Pipp wasn't going to get his job back, either.

Chase Budinger for ROY!!!