Chalmers Report, Vol. 3

An interesting Chalmers Report tonight. Thursday's action featured a pretty exciting matchup between Super Mario and Russell Westbrook, who has been terrific (other than a 2-for-13 outing yesterday) in Orlando as well. The outcome was a bit of a mixed bag.

On the one hand, Chalmers played fewer minutes than in any other contest (due to the fact that the game became a blowout), but still finished with 11-4-4 on his best shooting performance to date. And the Heat destroyed the, um, No Names from OKC 101-71.

On the other hand, Westbrook really gave Chalmers trouble with his size and strength and reiterated what I've long assumed - that Mario is going to be much more effective on smaller, quicker players, where his effort and speed allows him to stay in front, while his length and quick hands force the turnovers. Like Rondo, Chalmers will probably have a hard time against the Westbrooks. But hey, that's what D Wade is for.

Besides, there is no need to dwell on the 19 points that Westbrook tallied when more praise for Chalmers was pouring in.

Lawrence Frank called him one of the three best players (if not the best) in the Orlando Summer League. Larry Bird said that he was the steal of the draft. Miami GM Randy Pfund proudly stated that they gave up a lot to get Chalmers. And Vinny Del Negro acknowledged that summer league results are hard to rely on but that Mario is one of those guys that "stick out."

As Adam Sandler once said on one of his comedy CD's, "Looking good out there. We're all looking good."

Grade: A-