Chauncey Billups
Chauncey Billups
Chauncey Ray Billupsis an American retired professional basketball player who played 17 seasons in the National Basketball Association. A star at the University of Colorado, he was selected third overall in the 1997 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics. A five-time NBA All-Star and a three-time All-NBA selection, Billups played for the Celtics, Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, and Los Angeles Clippers during his NBA career. He won the NBA Finals MVP in 2004...
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth25 September 1976
CityDenver, CO
We talked about it in the locker room before the game, that this was the game we needed. We felt they hadn't been tested in this postseason, they hadn't played against a team like us that plays defense, believes in itself and tries to control the tempo of the game. Yesterday was a good game to show them that.
We just wanted to go out there and protect our home court. We knew they played a tough game last night, so we wanted to jump on them early and take care of business.
I thought he played good. He was active. ... He had blocks. He played physical defensively and picked up a few fouls.
We're not into it. Because we know once we do get into it, it's a long grind. We've played until June the last two years, and that's long. That's three months. When it's time, we'll be ready.
We got longer, younger and more athletic. This year we played a little more up-tempo than we did last year.
We wanted to get back to playing Pistons basketball. We got caught up in the wrong tempo in Dallas, but tonight we played our game.
We wanted to get back to playing Pistons basketball, ... We got caught up in the wrong tempo in Dallas, but tonight we played our game.
The bench was big, no doubt about it. All those guys played great tonight. We're going to need that from them in the playoffs.
It took us a while, but we got it going. It's tough when you haven't played in a week.
That is something that you play for, to be recognized as one of the best. I've felt like I've played like that for a couple of years now and it's nice to finally get that validation.
We really executed. We got some easy baskets. We played with high energy. Our defense was great and our offense was better.
We're healthy. A couple of our guys sat out, a couple of our young boys got an opportunity to play. They all played well, so we're fine.
We had a nice little streak, but it's not that we lost it, it's the way we lost it. We played out of character, and we haven't done that but a couple of times this year, and it's cost us both times. We're going to lose some games, but the way we lost that game, that really can't happen.
They're a good team, a lot better than the way they played this year. Of course they beat us already. I think they match up pretty good with us. They have a good mix. They're definitely a team we might have to see down the road some time.