Houston Rockets forward Chase Budinger playing Beach Volleyball during the Lockout – NBA Update
With the lockout in effect, while some players are looking for opportunities to play in foreign leagues, others are staying put and trying their luck at other sports and recreational activities. Chase Budinger of the Houston Rockets
belongs to the latter category.
The Rockets small forward has entered himself in a volleyball tournament scheduled to be held over the coming weekend. The event is known as the Corona Light Wide Open Beach, to be held at Hermosa Beach in California.
Budinger is going to partner the UC Santa Barbara all-star Dane Jensen. The Rockets star is no stranger to the sport as he actively played the game at college level. In fact, he was named the Mizuno Volleyball National Player of
the Year in 2006. He also earned the McDonald’s All American award in the sport of basketball the same year.
Budinger explained that Volleyball has always had a special place in his life and constitutes an important part of who he is. "Volleyball has always been a passion of mine, and it has been great to get back out on the beach and
train," Budinger stated.
He also went on to say that he wanted to test his ability against the crème de la crème of the sport. "I'm really excited about this opportunity and I'm looking forward to seeing how my skills match up against some of the top players."
Steve VanderWerp and Kevin Wong are rated as the number one seed in the tournament. Although they are favourites to take home the title, Budinger and his all star partner Jensen are sure to put a worthy display.
The number two seed Sean Scott and John Hyden have not lost a single match the entire season. In fact, they have only lost one game on their journey to victory at the Corona Light Wide Open titles at Siesta Key, Fla.; Seaside Heights,
N.J.; and Chicago.
They will be looking to dominate the upcoming tournament as well and will be aiming a clean sweep of all four Coronoa Light Wide Events this summer.
The total money in the tournament bank is $75,000 of which $11,250 will be awarded to both the winners in both the men’s and women’s categories. Amongst the women, Jenny Kropp and Whitney Pavlik hold the number one seed coming
into the tournament.
Budinger’s older brother, Duncan, also plans to compete in the championship with Mike Placek, who won the 2010 Corona Light Wide Open stop in Huntington Beach with his partner Matt Motter. Duncan Budinger is all too familiar with
beach volleyball as he was the finalist at the Wide Open event held in Santa Cruz last year.
Chase Budinger has spent two seasons in the NBA so far and has averaged 9.4 points, 1.4 assists and 3.3 rebounds; per game.
Tags: