Luke Babbitt's Confidence Improved in Return to Trail Blazers

Filed under: Trail Blazers, NBA D-League, Idaho Stampede

The Portland Trail Blazers injury woes helped Luke Babbitt get recalled from his four-game stint with the NBA D-League Saturday night. The 6-foot-9 rookie forward's time with the Idaho Stampede certainly seemed to have helped Babbitt's confidence in his return to the NBA.

"With Luke, he's a good team guy, he just wanted to fit in. At times, [Babbitt thought], 'Well I need to lay down for the vets. I need to just work the ball, I need to not go get my own shot, I need to just fit in. Be a part of the system and not break any of the plays or anything like that,'" Portland's assistant director of scouting Joe Cronin told Blazersedge's Ben Golliver when describing what the Blazers first round pick needed to improve upon during his time in the D-League. "I think he's learning at our level that this is what you do. We need you to go get your offense. We need you to be assertive and look for your shots."

Babbitt certainly looked for his shots in the D-League as the Stampede seemingly gave him the green light. The Nevada alum's 58 field goal attempts led the team during his four- game foray, despite the fact that the rest of the roster boasts noted chuckers -- and former NBA players -- Antoine Walker and Luke Jackson. While this was probably the plan when the Blazers sent him to their D-League affiliate, it was obvious that Babbitt was definitely looking for his shots without paying much attention to his shot-selection as he converted on just 41 percent of his attempts.

 

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Source: http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/12/19/luke-babbitt-confidence-growing-in-return-to-trail-blazers/

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