Michael Beasley stood in the doorway to the gym an hour before gametime, iPod in his left hand, head bobbing slightly as he chatted with new Miami Heat teammate Mario Chalmers.
He was the picture of cool.
And on the court, his demeanor didn't change much.
If Beasley was the tiniest bit anxious about his first pro outing — one that came against the Chicago Bulls and Derrick Rose, the only player selected before him in last month's NBA draft — he hid the nerves perfectly. Beasley scored 28 points in 23 minutes, lifting Miami past Chicago 94-70 on Monday in the Orlando summer league opener for both teams.
It was the ninth-highest scoring performance in Orlando summer league history, and true to his form, Beasley wasn't the least bit impressed.
"Could have played better,"
he said. "Could have got a couple more assists, made a couple extra passes, got a couple more rebounds, could have got a couple stops early on."
He was 9-for-21 from the field, with nine rebounds and 19 points in the second half — matching the total that Bulls forwards Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas, both second-year NBA players, managed in the entire game. The Bulls started with Thomas guarding Beasley, switched to put Noah on him midway through the first quarter, and neither had much of an answer.
"He's a great player on the pick-and-roll, and he's going to be someone who'll be very tough to guard,"
Noah said. "I was very impressed. He was very comfortable in everything that he wanted to do, and he did a great job."
Meanwhile, Rose had some moments, but simply never took over the game offensively the way Beasley did.
The guard who spearheaded Memphis' run to the NCAA title game this past season finished with 10 points on 3-for-8 shooting, with four assists and five turnovers — mostly while being guarded by Chalmers, who hit the big shot as Kansas beat Rose's Tigers in overtime in that national championship game.
"We didn't win,"
Rose said, "so I think I played horrible. But tomorrow's a new day."
Kasib Powell had 15 points and Chalmers added 11 points and six assists for Miami. Demetris Nichols and Keith Langford both had 13 points for Chicago.
Each team plays five games in the six-team, weeklong summer league, which also features entries from Indiana, Orlando, New Jersey and Oklahoma City.
