Every Monday, our Kyle Ratke will break down the last week in basketball news. Today, he takes a look at the retirement of Chauncey Billups, the FIBA World Cup and a wiffle ball tournament. Enjoy!
Goodbye, Mr. Big Shot
Point guard Chauncey Billups was only in Minnesota for two seasons. I was 10 and 11 during those years. To say I remember a whole lot about Billups during his time in Minnesota would be a lie. He averaged 10.9 points and 4.5 assists per game in 159 games. Good, but certainly not great.
If only the Wolves knew what was coming from the former University of Colorado star. In their defense, three teams (Boston, Toronto and Denver) passed on Billups before Minnesota. It didn’t really seem like anyone knew what Billups would become.
I became a fan of Billups mostly because I was selfish. My dad bought me a box of basketball cards. To be more specific, it was a box of 1997-98 Hoops cards. In that box, I somehow landed like 13 Chauncey Billups rookie cards. Seriously.
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So yeah, when I opened this pack, I had no idea who he was. I just hoped he would be good so I could somehow sell his cards and buy my parents a new house because that’s what kids think when they are young. Cards aren’t a waste of money. They are an investment. And whenever mom tells you you’re wrong, you giggle and tell her to be patient. One day, I’ll be the one with the money. Classic moms. Like they know anything...
When Billups signed with the Wolves, or more likely when I recognized he was on the same court as LaPhonso Ellis (my grandpa tells me that I loved LaPhonso Ellis. Like more than Kevin Garnett. So that worries me a bit), I instantly became a fan because I wanted his card to be worth money.
I have no idea what the card is valued at now, but it’s more than what it was in 2000.
Billups went on to become a pretty great player, as you probably already know. It seemed like he was the definition of defense during the mid-2000s. He only averaged one steal per game during his career, but from 2002-2007, he was the last point guard you’d want to go up against. He was the guy at Lifetime who picked your pocket every time down the court. He was the catalyst of those great Detroit Pistons team, eventually winning the 2004 NBA Finals. For some reason, it feels like they won more.
Regardless, Billups was always the pro’s pro. He was the player you wanted your kids following growing up. Hard working. Effort. Energy. And most importantly, a team player.
He made five All-Star teams, won the 2004 Finals MVP, was named to the All-Defensive second team twice, to the All-NBA third team three times and will likely be a Hall of Famer in a few years. It’s hard to imagine that Billups played for seven teams during his career.
He was so good, and so good when you needed it most.
So long, Chauncey. You’ll be missed.
For some reason, I have a feeling we’ll see him back in the game relatively soon.
Making It Look So Easy
The United States cruised to the FIBA Championship, once again.
Maybe things would have been different had Spain made FIBA’s Championship game. I don’t know, but the way the United States was playing, I mean, it really wasn’t even that much fun to watch. No game was closer than 21 points. Remember these are only 40 minute games, giving the US less time to build a giant lead. But they did it anyhow.
We talk a lot about “the leap” players make after playing for the National Team. Of the players on this year’s team Stephen Curry, Derrick Rose, Rudy Gay, Kyrie Irving, James Harden and DeMarcus Cousins have already made the leap. Although, you’d like to see Rose make another one…
You could argue DeMar Derozan made his leap last season. My candidates to have big seasons next year include Anthony Davis and Kenneth Faried.
Davis is going to become a top-5 player in this league whether we like it or not. But what he showed in the World Cup was impressive. He averaged 12.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.1 blocks (2nd in tournament). In 2014-15, don’t be surprised if Davis is averaging 25, 12 and 2.5. Pierre is going to be one happy Pelican.
Faried is an interesting case. He’s not a star in the NBA. A good player, sure, but not a star. At the end of last season, though, we saw him turn into a much better player. That transferred into the World Cup. The Manimal averaged 12.4 points (25th) and 7.8 rebounds per game. Faried is an undersized power forward at 6’8, but he’s able to make up for it with his strength.
This dunk could kill someone:
The Nuggets have reportedly shown interest in extending Faried’s contract. That seems like it would be a good idea.
The Minnesota Winter Sports Championship
On Friday, the a few members of the Timberwolves staff took park in a wiffle ball tournament with other corporations around Minneapolis. The tournament was hosted by the Positive Coaching Alliance. It was an awesome tournament and I’m proud to say I was a member of it. I'm a below-average player who played more like Tsuyoshi Nishioka than Derek Jeter, but whatever. Even Nishi had his moments.
The members of our team included myself, Zach McGowan (Account Representative), Jared Hensch (Group Events Specialist), Sam Hubble (Partnership Sales and Activation), Andrew Maher (Business Research Coordinator), Kelly Pedersen (Interactive Design) and our fantastic coach Jeff Munneke (VP of Fan Experience and Basketball Academy).
We lost our first game before winning our next two to advance to Target Field for the third-place game against the Minnesota Wild. Without rubbing it in too much, we kicked some tail. Maher shut out our friends from across the river and we came away with a 9-0 win.
Horrible form, Kyle. I was pulled in the first inning.
Jared’s form isn’t much better.
Hubble hit a grand slam in our second game. We came back after being down 11-1. I felt like Kevin Millar on the 2004 Red Sox.
Kelly’s stance is… well, it’s something.
I wish we had a picture of McGowan, who was a solid hitter, or of Maher, who really was the team’s MVP. The dude was pitching like Hideo Nomo out there. Regardless, awesome job to everyone in the tournament.
Playing on Target Field was truly something I’ll never forget. Thanks again to the Positive Coaching Alliance. For more information on PCA, head to their site for more info.
As always, thanks for reading. Enjoy your week.