For a long time in the early-to-late 2000s, Chauncey Billups was not too appreciated around Northeast Ohio because of his role as “Mr. Big Shot” on the Cleveland Cavaliers’ division rival, the Detroit Pistons.
But now, in his third year as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, Billups has nothing but good things to say about the Cavs and their direction. In particular, before his team’s win over the wine-and-gold on Thursday night, the 47-year-old had rave reviews for Cleveland star guard Darius Garland.
“I’m a big fan of his because he can do it all athletically,” Billups said pregame. “He plays from the neck up. He’s got a high basketball IQ.
“I think that having him and Donovan [Mitchell] together’s been a little bit of an adjustment ’cause you have another guy out there that can kinda do all of those same things. Donovan needs the ball in his hands, so does Darius.”
Billups spoke further on the matter of the Cavs backcourt pertaining to Garland.
“I’m pretty sure he’s had some frustrating times, both of them, ’cause they’ve got to split duties there,” Billups said. “But J.B. [Bickerstaff]’s done a good job of keeping those guys locked in. Darius is a tough guy to game plan for ’cause he can do so much.”
When Garland is taking care of the basketball and getting into the paint, the Cavs are unquestionably a better team. Billups recognizing his talent as somebody who’s been in DG’s shoes should tell the story about how good he is.
This season, Garland is averaging 19.1 points, 5.9 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 1.4 steals, shooting 47.1 percent from the field. He is also turning the ball over at a career-high rate with 4.4 giveaways per game and shooting a career-low 33.8 percent from three.