Chauncey Billups, originally uploaded by Tahitian Noni International.
I’m convinced, I’m drinking the kool-aid. Or, um, Tahitian Noni juice? This is really a bit of a concession that I was wrong for calling Chauncey Billups extremely overrated when really he was only a little overrated. Chances are he’ll be off this list next year. Denver plateaus this season, right? Or have they already? It's not important. What is important is the impact Billups had when he got to Denver last season. I had Billups ranked as the 31st most important player in the league on my last list. From the looks of things, that was a mite low. Projection for this season? Eighteenth might be a bit high. However, I can't feasibly rank him below any of the other guys so far slotted onto this year's list. He's just proved me wrong too many times at this point, and he's too often a game changer.
Stats? They're not mind blowing. Y'know. Less than 18 points per game, 6.4 assists, 3 rebounds. How does Billups get four spots up on Nash, who swung for only two points less and 3.3 assists more? Right off the bat, Billups looks a bit more durable. Two years younger and no history of back problems. That's right, Nash is 35. Right around the age Bird's back went. Okay, more numbers. Sorry if it's not what you're here for. I'm kind of on a kick. Billups and Nash both shoot a stellar percentage from the stripe. Billups, though, gets to the line more than twice as often, which translates to more high percentage possessions for his team. Billups also turns the ball over quite sparingly. Two point two times per game. Translated for pace, that's a little worse than Tony Parker, a little better than Chris Paul, and much better than Nash. Turnover percentage, which measures how often a player would cough it up over 100 possessions, shows that Billups turns the ball over about seven times less than Nash over 100 possessions. That counts.
Chauncey Billups Bobble Head, originally uploaded by s*dub.
