Denver adds fear factor with Billups
Mike Monroe
The Spurs may look back on Thursday's road victory over the Nuggets as one of the most important of the season because it renewed their commitment to “Spurs basketball,” but it was the nature of the opponent that gave the victory real weight.
Since trading Allen Iverson for Chauncey Billups, the Nuggets had been as good as any team in the Western Conference that doesn't wear purple and gold.
Just two days before the Spurs humbled them, the Nuggets had so embarrassed the Raptors that nobody at the Pepsi Center would have been shocked had Bryan Colangelo fired Sam Mitc at halftime.
Back in his hometown, Billups didn't need an introductory period before putting his imprint on a team that had underachieved since the 2006 deal that brought Iverson to town.
Carmelo Anthony always will be the Nuggets' leading scorer. But Billups became their most valuable player the day he walked back in the Denver locker room.
Nuggets fans departed the Pepsi Center on Thursday grousing that Manu Ginobili had burned their favorites just as he had on so many other occasions. What they should have rued was Tony Parker's ability to stay in front of Billups in transition, frustrating his ability to get his team into early offense.
One early December game notwithstanding, Denver has become a team to fear, and Billups is the reason why. A committed defender, he has turned one of Denver's biggest deficiencies into a strength. With the ball in his hands, he has eliminated teammates' burden of creating good shots.
Anthony once wondered how loud he had to scream to get crunch-time touches. Now, he understands he only has to move without the ball to get layups. One of the league's happiest smiles is back on his face.
“I've had a lot of fun in my five years in the NBA,” Anthony said before the Spurs removed the merriment for a while, “but right now I'm having the most fun I've had. I'm at a comfortable state right now, where I can just relax out there, not have to try to do too much if we're going to have a chance of winning the basketball game.
“Now, every time we step on the court, from the jump we're telling ourselves we've got a chance to win, that we're going to go win.”
The real measure of Billups' impact in Denver: George Karl enjoys coaching for the first time in a long time.
Karl went into the season knowing his team's record in 82 games would not save his job if the Nuggets lost again in the first round of the playoffs. Now, he really believes they can get to the conference semifinals, maybe further.
“The trade has been a magnifier of what we changed in training camp,” Karl said. “We went back to simple beliefs that defense is first, shot selection is second, and transition defense, if you're not going to do it, you're not going to play.
“We make the trade, and we get a guy who believes in those three things more than I believe in them. I've had to go to Chauncey and say, ‘Chauncey, you know a quick 3-pointer every once in a while is OK. I believe in you. Don't be afraid to shoot it.'”
Billups is no “fraidy-cat,” even if he couldn't get a good look in transition against the Spurs because a Frenchman was in his way.
One Western Conference playoff team will be afraid to be in Denver.
Karl is going to kick himself for that at some point.Although, the rest of the Nuggets sometimes have such bad shot selection, it's not going to matter.
That being said, I love CB, and am so happy to see him doing well. With Ben his suckiness made me secretly happy (and sad). I was generally confused.
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