"A toolbelt with a thousand tools..."

Every fall/winter, the leaves change colors, winter coats come out and the swallows leave Capistrano. It's also the time of year when professional beach volleyball players reassess their seasons and partners are shuffled like a deck of cards, often times not sure which hand will land where.

Which brings us to Casey "Boom" Patterson, one of the AVP's biggest personalities and a 2016 Olympian in Brazil with then partner Jake Gibb. His new partner is Chase Budinger, who spent 7 years in the NBA before committing his hand at his newest passion: beach volleyball.

On this hot April morning at the Grand Canyon sand courts, Casey and Chase are working with coach Ryan Mariano on how to take better advantage of Chase's verticality, to better handle wide serves and being more efficient in out of system situations.

They are a new team but there's chemistry already. Patterson is the affable showman, Budinger the consummate and guarded former NBAer and together, they make it work.

They were gracious enough to take 30 minutes post practice to talk to us about the coaching legends they both had in their first year of college and the transition to new coaches. Chase talks about the reality check of being in the NBA and now running his own career. 

They chat about the most influential coaches in their lives, how their coaching has changed over the years, how they can be the best partner for the other and which NBA players Chase would NOT want to see on the other side of the net.

Check out this 25 minutes with Casey and Chase and enjoy their insights. 

Casey and Chase Interview