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Chauncey Billups has said that he is not concerned if the Portland Trail Blazers get off to a slow start during the 2021-22 season. The former NBA champion took over the reins from Terry Stotts during the offseason. After being an assistant coach to Ty Lue in LA, this is the first time Billups has been entrusted with the head coaching responsibility in the NBA.
The Trail Blazers ended their preseason without a win in four games. However, considering the coaching change, the team could take some time to adapt to the new head coach and get used to the new scheme of things.
The Blazers have been a consistent playoff team. But they haven't had much success in the postseason, and that is where Billups needs to deliver. Speaking about the same in an interview, he said:
"I’m not concerned if we get off to a tough start, this thing is more about: How can we be better? This team has gotten to the playoffs forever. and then those habits end up coming into play and it derails you from trying to extend your season. So I’m more concerned with how we can change a lot of things that are really important for us on both ends of the ball. And when we actually do that, I just know how good of a team we can be.”
The Portland Trail Blazers have one of the toughest schedules this year. They face tough Western Conference opponents like the Denver Nuggets, LA Clippers and the Phoenix Suns twice over the next month or so.
However, they have some amazing players like Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, who are capable of producing match-winning performances on a nightly basis. If these players get going, the Blazers stand a chance of registering a few wins in an action-packed month for them.
Could Chauncey Billups guide the Portland Trail Blazers to a deep run in the playoffs this season?
Chauncey Billups was part of the Detroit Pistons team that was regarded as one of the best defensive units in the NBA.
His addition could help the Trail Blazers become a better defensive unit than they have been over the past few years. The preseason certainly gave the team enough time to get set together as a team. Speaking about the progress of the team since he took over the reins, Billups said:
“I’ve talked a lot in the preseason about us just kind of being realistic about where we are. I mean, we’re trying to change things, some ways that we do things. There’s a process that comes with that. You look at our preseason, and obviously in the preseason you don’t care about the results, you care about if you’re making progress."
"There’s some time when we were making progress, and there’s some times when when we were taking steps back, and you’ve got to expect some of that as you’re trying to change habits.”
The Portland Trail Blazers have been knocked out in the first round of the playoffs, in the last two years.
Chauncey Billups will look to end that run and carry the team forward by implementing some excellent defensive schemes with the Blazers. However, he will need his players to be all locked in with the process and give in their all when they take the floor for the 2021-22 regular season starting October 20.
Guess the Lakers players!
