Chauncey Billups 02 (photo by Eric Drost, via flickr).
Several of the Portland Trail Blazers‘ top scorers, including CJ McCollum, were sent to other teams at the NBA trade deadline. In return, Portland received bench players, draft picks, and eventual cap space.
Four games later, and what was supposed to be a team tanking for lottery picks now looks like a team that has turned their season around. Here are three observations that have stuck out to me since the trade deadline about how coach Chauncy Billups is putting his stamp on this team.
All the offseason talk about improving the Blazers’ defense is finally showing up on the court. There were hints of it throughout January before Nassir Little‘s injury. However, if you take out the Denver loss where they gave up 140 points, in the other 11 games, Portland gave up 107 points per game. The Trail Blazers went 7-4 in those 11 games with a defense that would have put them 11th in the league.
In the last four games, that defense, with the new players and minus Little, give up an average of 106 points per game. That would put Portland at 8th in the league defensively. Swapping out CJ Elleby in the starting lineup for Little, could this be a potential top-five defense?
During Chauncey Billups’s run as the starting point guard, the Detroit Pistons prided themselves on their defense. They won a championship in 2004 and made the Eastern Conference Finals in six consecutive years.
Those Pistons teams were essentially the Eastern Conferences’ version of the San Antonio Spurs. But, of course, we all know how successful the Spurs were for nearly two decades. This is exactly the defensive intensity that Billups wanted to bring when he took over as the Portland Trail Blazers head coach.
Before these last four games, the Portland Trail Blazers averaged 21.5 assists per game. Over the previous four games, that number increased to 27 assists per game. So when thinking about ball movement, look at the Greg Popovich and Steve Kerr-coached teams. The Spurs in their heyday and current Warriors get everyone on the court involved, much like those Billups-led Pistons teams did back in the day.
Getting away from the isolation-oriented offense is what I’ve thought this Portland needed to do for years. Increased ball movement has led to higher percentage shots at the rim and more open looks on the perimeter. In short, higher efficiency basketball.
The Blazers are also finally utilizing Jusuf Nurkic’s ability to pass and score in the paint, which has opened up more potential scoring opportunities. New additions Justise Winslow and Josh Hart have only added to the team’s unselfish, high-energy play.
It will be exciting to see how Damian Lillard looks when he gets back from his core muscle injury. He’s never been on such an unselfish team before, and it will only make him that much harder to defend. But, on the other hand, not needing Dame to play iso-hero ball will help to keep his energy high and not be as gassed at the end of games.
I keep coming back to the Pistons teams that Billups played on. Those teams were greater than the sum of all their parts. They were like a well-oiled machine that could beat any team on any given night. The 2004 NBA Finals showed how a Pistons team playing the right way and playing in unity could beat a Lakers team full of superstars.
It may still be in its larval form, but the Portland Trail Blazers are showing team unity right now. Justise Winslow and Josh Hart look like the power forward and shooting guard versions of Nassir Little. High energy players who play with heart and leave it all on the court.
The bench has also shown that same energy and unity. Trendon Watford looks like he’s trending to be a solid NBA player. Greg Brown is right behind him, along with Elleby. Ben Mclemore has been an utmost professional, a solid veteran for this team throughout the up and down season. They are gradually showing the same Billups mindset that the starters are showing.
Whatever happens, moving forward, Chauncey Billups finally has everyone’s ear. This team has his fingerprints all over it. Of course, they are still missing Damian Lillard and Nassir Little, and we will likely see some summer additions through the draft or free agency.
But one thing is for sure, at worst, Portland finally has its coach and has finally found players that have bought into what he is saying.
What do you think about the Portland Trail Blazers playing Billups-ball? Let us know in the comments section below.