Chauncey Billups: Pistons would Still Be Elite Team if they Didn’t Trade Me

If you don’t remember, a few years ago the Pistons were on the short list year end and year out for the NBA title. They were an elite team, fielding a squad that was built around defense and balanced scoring. Two concepts that might seem a tad foreign in today’s NBA.

Chauncey Billups was the leader and floor general for those Pistons teams, leading them to a NBA title in 2004 and leading them to another Finals appearance and numerous Conference Finals appearances.

All that success was broken up though the day the Pistons traded Billups to Denver for Allen Iverson.

Billups is on the Clippers now, but reflected on the past as his team is in town to face the Pistons today.

Per The Detroit News: “Honestly in my heart, I still feel like if they didn’t make that move and move me, we’d still be an elite team in the league,” Billups said. “Of course you have to make some changes, (adding) the young guys.”
“I still had some great, great years left,” Billups said. “I never wanted to leave, even though I was home (Denver) and it was good to be home, I always wanted to be a Piston. I wanted to retire a Piston.”

It sounds like Billups still doesn’t understand why the trade happened, and even admitted so.

“I’m still … Even though I’m over it, I still don’t get it,” said Billups with a slight chuckle. “It wasn’t like I was 36 or 37 and I couldn’t rock anymore. I was still rocking. I was still in my prime.”

Heat have Clear Path in the East

Who is the best team in the western conference? The old man spurs? The new look Lakers? The up and coming Grizzlies? Blake and CP3? Oklahoma City?

The season is young and there is a long way to go, but it’s never too early to wonder. Playoffs are a different beast so we’ll focus on the “regular season crown” in other words, which team will earn the number one seed in their respective conferences.

Each of these teams could make a valid case that they will finish with the best record and claim the number one seed come playoffs. But if you ask who the team to beat in the East is, people may start to look at you funny.

Brooklyn Nets Return Home and Snap Skid; Beat Los Angeles Clippers 86-76

After losing two straight on their tour through California, the Brooklyn Nets returned home Friday night and beat the Los Angeles Clippers 86-76. It was their third win this season holding their opponent to under 80 points.

-Brook Lopez led all scores with 26 points and had three blocks on the night. Reggie Evans had 12 rebounds off the bench.

-Chris Paul and Blake Griffin each had 14 points for the Clippers, and Griffin add two blocked shots, while Paul led LA with nine assists. DeAndre Jordan had the only double- double on the night with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

-The Brooklyn Backcourt combined for 30 points on the night, and Deron Williams chipped in eight assists.

-The Nets return to action on Sunday, traveling to Portland for a matinee with the Trail Blazers, while the Clippers travel to New Orleans to play the Hornets on Monday.

Dan Benton

Be sure to check out other great articles at Sports Media 101.

Los Angeles Clippers 101, Chicago Bulls 80: Well, That Happened

Look, we knew this was a possibility. We knew full well that the Chicago Bulls were inferior to the Los Angeles Clippers. And that has less to do with the Bulls being terrible and more to do with the Clippers being really, really good.

There were a few reasons the Bulls lost. Their defense got shredded, the bench got severely outplayed, the offense was terrible and…that about covers it.

Anytime you shoot 33.8 percent from the field while allowing your opponent to shoot 49.4 percent, you're going to get destroyed. Furthermore, HoopData's wonderful box score tells us that the Bulls shot 13/31 at the rim and 5/13 from 3 to 9 feet. The Clippers, meanwhile, shot 15/20 at the rim and 11/17 from 3 to 9 feet. That's really all you need to know about last night.

However, because we're apparently masochists here, we're going to keep going.