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After days of rumors, the Portland Trail Blazers have made it official: Chauncey Billups is now Damian Lillard's new head coach. Some fans are already celebrating, especially those familiar with Billups as a player and as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers. However, this hiring did not just push through without a slew of controversies.
In particular, a 1997 rape allegation against Billups resurfaced. Reports reveal that no criminal charges were brought up and Billups settled a civil suit in 2000. Billups himself did not shy away from another investigation. The Blazers' front office looked at the case and did not find anything that would disqualify him from the coaching post.
However, this did not stop fans from slamming Damian Lillard on social media. The All-Star admitted to not knowing about the allegation but pointed out that he does not support such actions.
It would be interesting to see how this develops moving forward. Whatever the future holds for Lillard and the Blazers, it's still worth examining what Billups can bring to Portland. In fact, there are two main reasons why he's actually the perfect coach for Damian Lillard and the Blazers.
Similar playing style
During his playing days, Chauncey Billups was tagged as a scoring guard. The term was relatively new then. Fans and analysts were still accustomed to seeing traditional guards whose playing style consisted of purely orchestrating the offense and handing out assists. This made Billups an unorthodox player during those days, but it still commanded respect from his foes.
Now, there are a ton of scoring guards, with Damian Lillard one of the best examples. We're all familiar with Lillard's offensive chops. The man can literally score from anywhere: through driving layups, normal 3-pointers, or 3-pointers from the logo. This similarity in their play will definitely play a part in their player-coach relationship.
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In relation to their scoring prowess, both Lillard and Billups have that clutch gene in them. Billups was called Mr. Big Shot because he always showed up during the game's critical moments. Lillard doesn't need any coaching regarding this. He's very comfortable when the game is on the line. But some words of wisdom from Billups won't hurt.
Besides, Billups probably has some great game-winning plays in his book. Maybe this is the time to finally unveil them.
Defensive Coach
Chauncey Billups was named to the All-Defensive Second Team twice in his career. During his stint with the Detroit Pistons, defense was their mantra and this is what actually led them to the title in 2004. In his lone tenure as the Clippers' assistant head coach, Billups helped the team finish with a 110.6 defensive rating in the regular season. This was actually a slight downgrade from the Clippers' 106.9 defensive rating (fifth in the NBA) in the season prior. However, let's not forget that the team went through a staff overhaul. So, overall, Billups still did a good job.
This is the aspect where the Blazers need Billups the most. In the regular season, the team had a 115.3 defensive rating, which ranked 29th in the league. They were actually the worst defensive team to qualify for the playoffs. A quick look back at the previous seasons reveals that the Blazers have a struggled defensive for a while now. This is a reason why they do well in the regular season but get booted out so easily in the playoffs.
With Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum in the fold (for now), we can say that the offense will take care of itself. The Blazers have had no problems putting the ball into the basket. On the defensive end, fans should expect tighter, well-organized schemes.
The Blazers will likely make the postseason once again. If they make a deeper run, then credit should be given to Billups for a splendid job.
