Chauncey Billups the real NBA leader
April 18, 2009 by James Edwards
Filed under Chauncey Billups, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, NBA Basketball, NBA Playoffs
NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.
Chauncey Billups was traded to Denver for Allen Iverson.
For the Detroit Pistons it was an experiment to see if Allen could revive their stagnant offense and allow them to go to one more conference NBA final and maybe even have a shot at winning the NBA title. We all know now that Plan B was put into effect and Allen represents over 20 million bucks of salary cap that can be released.
For Denver it was a chance to go in another direction. Coach George Karl would finally get the point guard he coveted. Someone that would set up the other players and not have to have the ball to make an impact on the bottom line. That bottom line would be winning games.
Detroit fans still love Chauncey Billups
He brings All-Star talent to the floor, and is only four years removed from being an NBA Finals MVP. But maybe most significant, he provides the kind of leadership that has catapulted the Nuggets to the top of the Northwest division standings.
“A natural leader you do it the right way, everyday,” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “And you have a no-nonsense kind of role with people who don’t do it that way. That’s what Chauncey has brought to us.
“The leaders who try to talk their way and not show the way with their actions and attitude, will fail.”
Failure is something Billups has had little experience with in recent years.
In his six-plus seasons with Detroit, the Pistons won an NBA title in 2004, returned to the finals the following season and advanced to the Eastern Conference finals every year since.
J. R. Smith said that he used to just survive on talent and talent alone, but now playing next to Chauncey has him thinking basketball again. It has become a thinking man’s game for many of the Nuggets.
Chauncey has become the leader of the Nuggets and now they have the second best record in the West.
Photo source Newscom
As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.
More blogs about basketball.
