The "Chase Budinger is Dirk Nowitski's Illegitimate Younger Brother" Theory

So I told JT about this pet theory I've developed over the last couple years and he told me to post it here for the viewing world to see. Its name is the title of this post, and you may think I am certifiably insane. But. I will prove to you beyond a doubt that Chase Budinger, University of Arizona star forward, is genetically related to F Dirk Nowitski of Dallas Mavericks fame.

First - the obvious. I give you Dirk Nowitski, older brother.

Note the fact that he resembles one of those cavemen from the GEICO commercials.

Now, his younger sibling, Chase:

I'm telling you. It's uncanny. And I didn't even look that hard for good pictures. Add that long goofy wig they use for the commercials and you'll see the same Neanderthal look.

So, superficial appearances aside (not to mention they have identical shooting form), they are both awkward-looking tall white dudes with a whack shot that always seems to go in. Budinger was a freshman phenom last year who carried his team. Dirk is a German phenom who carries his team every year. They both have a knack for dropping large numbers of points on random nights.

But, ladies and gentlemen, here is the kicker: they both evaporate in the clutch. Poof. Gone. This is why Dallas made a run to the NBA Finals a few years ago, then lost after Dirk went 0-for-brick or something ridiculous like that. In fact, Dirk has garnered quite a reputation for being the anti-clutch. Just the other night he missed a 3-pointer to win at the buzzer after singlehandedly clawing the Mavericks back into a game.
Budinger, on the other hand... well, there is no other hand. It's the same hand. He is exactly the same way, hence the theory. He scores lots of points when it doesn't matter, then turns into a bricklayer when it does. Case in point: Budinger drops 29 points on USC at the end of January to cap a 4-game win streak, during which Budinger scored more than 20 points in each game. The key: it was January. Toward the end of the season, as Arizona slipped on and off the bubble, good ol' Chase averaged 15 ppg, including a 7-point doozy against USC (yes, that same USC). I wish I had the stats to back this up, but I can recall numerous games where Chase missed - bricked, rather - important baskets down the stretch. This is a trend, folks.

However. The Theory dictates that Budinger will excel when the games are relatively unimportant. This is a major reason why I have Arizona, in a couple brackets, knocking off WVU, Duke, and Xavier to advance to the Elite 8. Why the Elite 8? Everyone sees the Elite 8 games, which means we can expect a whole lot of this out of Budinger:

P.S. Also, watch them play. They both kick back their legs sometimes when they shoot, like little girls do when they jump rope.