LAS VEGAS -- Chase Budinger had a nice game for the Rockets, finishing with 11 points and five rebounds in 20 minutes in Houston's 73-69 win. When asked if he saw Budinger as a rotation player for Houston next season, assistant coach T.R. Dunn wouldn't go that far but said it's a possibility ...What stuck out most about Sacramento rookie Tyreke Evans was that he's on a different athleticism scale than everyone else. And that's where Stephen Curry comes in. Curry is crafty and clever but comes up a little short in that area ...
It seems apparent the league is looking for the next Violet Palmer. There were women officials in each of the first three games: Metta Roberts, Ashley Gilpin and Kim Hobbs ...
There's something funny about watching Sacramento Kings assistant coach Pete Carril, the long-time Princeton head coach, working with the ultra-athletic Evans. Carril never saw a player like Evans come down the pike at Princeton. When asked about Evans, Carril said: "He's going to be all right ... once he gets his skill level up." By the way, Carril turned 79 on Friday ...
Ronny Turiaf was in the house at Cox Pavilion "seeing his boys" as he put it. His boys: Austin Daye and Anthony Randolph. Turiaf and Daye both went to Gonzaga, and Randolph is a teammate of Turiaf's at Golden State ...
A Smush Parker sighting: He's playing for the Toronto Raptors squad, although not starting ...
In the house: free-agent guard Rashad McCants, Clippers forward Marcus Camby ...
The PA announcer is butchering the name of Lakers guard Taylor Rochestie, pronounced "Rock-chesty." He said "Roshay" and "Rochie" ...
During a dead ball, when the crowd was silent, a fan yelled to Milwaukee coach Kelvin Sampson sarcastically, "Thanks for ruining the Hoosier program!" Sampson resigned at Indiana because of NCAA sanctions regarding phone calls and text messages to recruits and the program was essentially gutted. Indiana won one Big Ten game under Tom Crean last season.
