It was as if a teacher caught some kids smoking in the boys room, including the straitlaced, straight-A student.
In Denver’s inexplicable debacle against Minnesota, Chauncey Billups was as much at fault as the other Nuggets, who were outscored 56-36 in Sunday’s second half and lost to a one-win team. And eight days prior, Billups was on the bench while Denver, down 15, clawed back in another infamous game, the eventual loss at the Clippers.
Billups is a stand-up guy. And even after seven consecutive conference finals, he admitted that he is still learning leadership.
“As long as you’re playing and you’re playing with different guys all the time, you’re always learning,” the point guard said. “You’re learning when to pick your battles, when you let (something) pass, how to come at certain guys different ways and with certain personalities.
“(You’ve got to) be vocal, have a presence, keep talking about things — and do them.”
The theme this season, as bellowed by coach George Karl on Sunday, is being a “play hard” team. And Billups is learning how to push buttons — and push himself to play hard, even at age 33.
This is unquestionable: This team can only go as far as Billups leads it, even with Carmelo Anthony’s MVP numbers.
“What (Billups) is learning is leadership in the NBA is changing, and how you lead five to 10 years ago is probably different than how you lead today,” said Karl, who often has productive talks with Billups, such as after Tuesday’s shootaround. “Today’s practice habits and today’s personality come in different sizes. I’m sure Detroit had different personalities than we have. And his presence is very powerful, and we benefit from it.”
Now, Billups’ statistics aren’t always indicative of his incalculable leadership, but in Denver’s wins he shoots 41.4 percent and in losses just 33.3 (and that includes a 10-for-22 night).
And in those losses, turnovers are up and assists are down. In the third quarter against Minnesota, he had three turnovers in the first five minutes.
“You got to hold people’s feet to the fire,” Billups said, “hold everybody accountable, including myself.”
