Chauncey Billups Achilles Injury
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- Category: Sports
Clippers Get Bad Break, More Like Tear
When Chauncey Billups was waived by the New York Knicks as part of the amnesty clause that came out of the collective bargaining he stated that nobody should pick him up because he would be disgruntled. Hoping to change his mind, the new look Los Angeles Clippers picked up the veteran guard in hopes he could team up with newly acquired all-star Chris Paul to create one of the most dynamic guard duos in the league. What Los Angeles got from Billups was a true professional, veteran leader who took a young talented team under his wing, leading them to a 15-7 record in the first 22 games for the second best record in the western conference. Sadly, the story of where the Clippers will end this season will now have a completely different conclusion that does not include Billups, after he tore his achilles tendon in a game, leaving him unable to finish the season on the court.
Detroit, Denver, New York and Los Angeles all had one thing in common: when Billups played for them they were winners. Detroit has never recovered from the departure of the NBA Finals MVP, and the Knicks are on pace to miss the playoffs entirely this year with no veteran guard leading the team. The reason for this is because Chauncey Billups is the most under-rated player probably in the entire league. He is a sure-handed player who makes the smart pass, and can knock down a three-pointer. He is an intelligent player who understands the look of a variety of defenses, and knows how to exploit them. Now, he will only be able to lead from the bench as the Clippers will likely move Mo Williams into the starting guard position, which is unfortunate because Williams was a top contender for sixth man of the year award for his production coming off the bench.
Billups injury not only puts more pressure on Chris Paul on the starting line-up, but also changes the chemistry of the bench that has been so solid for the Clippers.
Are The Clippers Cursed?
"When I first heard about the injury to Billups I automatically began thinking about how for decades sports analysts would state that the Clippers franchise was cursed", explained a season ticket holder for the team who works for a global vehicle tracking company, GPS Tracker Shop. "I thought about the years of failure, the top draft picks that could never develop and of course the injuries that always seem to happen (Blake Griffin in his rookie year anybody?). I began to think that maybe the Clippers were cursed. That they were doomed for failure. After the most exciting Clippers' off-season in franchise history, it only took 22 games for the curse to raise its weary head."
On The Bright Side
No team in the NBA wants to lose a starting player who brings veteran leadership, but if that does happen the show must go on. The Clippers have Kenyon Martin ready to make his debut soon, and enough talent to still contend in the west. Will the loss of Billups hurt this team, especially when the playoffs start? Of course it will, but Los Angeles still has a talented squad capable of great things. For the Clippers to win they should consider keeping Williams on the bench, inserting Randy Foye into the starting roll to prevent messing with the bench chemistry. Blake Griffin will need to score 20 more consistently, and start hitting free throws when he gets to the stripe. And Chris Paul will need to continue being Chris Paul.
Every Clippers fan hopes that Billups makes a speedy recovery, and considers rejoining the team next season. The Clippers are in a good position to do great things, and now must really show their character by playing good basketball in the face of adversity.