The Difference Between Chauncey Billups and Overrated Chris Paul
If you want a fantasy team (good stats), you'll take
Chris Paul. But if you want a championship-contending team, wins, and deep playoff runs, you'll take
Chauncey Billups.
Billups also completely outplayed
Paul in the 2009
Playoffs, it was a total annihilation. Billups isn't as impressive statistically career-wise, but Paul pretty much explains the
difference between himself and Billups here, albeit unintentionally
.
"...He's (Billups) always been a winner
... you see some people who, you know, can go out and score 25, 30 points every night, but their teams always lose. He's just a big time winner."
Paul is the guy that can put up numbers every night, but not lead his team anywhere. He's basically
Tracy McGrady, but with a few first round wins under his belt. Billups is the guy who, regardless of his statistical production, can turn mediocre teams into title contenders, something which Paul can't do, regardless of his statistical production. And Billups could still dominate statistically when he had to
For example, Billups completely smoked Paul in the 2009 Playoffs, and even outplayed
Melo, after Paul had his best statistical year, joining
Magic and
Kevin Johnson as the only players to average 20+ ppg and 10+ apg on 50% in a season (Magic and KJ did this twice). Billups also outplayed
Kobe in the
2004 Finals, so he could dominate statistically if needed, but not at the cost of his team success. (
Side note - in
2011 Paul played against Kobe who had his absolute worst playoff run in all of his starter years, and lost in the 1st round, so his performance wasn't nearly as impressive as Billups outplaying
2004 Kobe who also shared the ball with
Shaq but had better averages through 3 rounds)
Billups from
2003 to 2009 was supremely successful at making his team better to a high degree, something Paul has never done. The Pistons had not made an
ECF since
1991 before acquiring Billups, and then made 6 straight ECF under Billups, including 2
NBA Finals and a championship. Billups made the
2007 and 2008 ECF without the help of 4x DPOY
Ben Wallace, and Billups also didn't have
Larry Brown after the
2005 Finals, yet still made 3 more ECF without the
Hall of Fame coach. Granted, the
East was weak after
2006, but likewise the 2009 Pistons were so weak without Billups that they went from 6 straight ECF to 39-wins and a first-round sweep in the weak East, even with Rasheed,
Prince, and
Hamilton on the team, after going to 6 straight ECF with Billups.
Billups then came to the tougher
Western Conference, and picked up where he left off, taking the 2009 Nuggets from a first round 8-seed sweep in 2008 to the 2009
WCF, while completely exposing and outplaying Paul in the process. In his first year in the tough Western Conference, Billups did what Paul hasn't been able to do in his entire career, and led a mediocre first round team to the 2009 WCF. And this wasn't even prime Billups. Billups proved that he could take any 8-seed team in the East or
West that would normally get swept in the first round - even a losing 39-43 Pistons team, and make them a
Conference Finals contender, regardless of his statistical production.
That's far more impressive than a guy who puts up first-round inflated playoff stats and never played a playoff team that was good enough to make the Finals. Chris Paul is the guy you want on a fantasy team, but Billups is the guy you want on a championship team
Billups also elevated
Carmelo's game to a whole other level while playing with him in
Denver.
As of 2015, Carmelo has shot 50% in only 15 out of 66 playoff games in his career, but 10 of those 15 games came while playing with Billups in 2009 and
2010. Carmelo shot at least 50% in 10 out of 22 playoff games with Billups, but only shot 50% in 5 out of 44 of his remaining playoff games. Paul has never shown that he can elevate his team or teammates like Billups did. If you want empty stats, take Chris Paul, but your team damn sure isn't going anywhere. If you want your team to win games and make several Conference Finals, at the very least, and a guy who can still outplay superstars like Kobe (2004), Melo (2009), and Paul (2009) when he has to, Billups is the clear and obvious choice.
Paul has played with
-
Tyson Chandler
-
David West
-
Peja Stojakovic (one of the best shooters in history)
-
Blake Griffin (arguably best PF in the league)
- Deandre
Jordan (2x rebounding champ)
-
Jamal Crawford (2x 6th man of the year)
-
Coach Doc Rivers
and has still played 7 of his 11 playoff series in the 1st round, and never played a playoff team that went on to make the Finals, yet still continues to lose. He never would have led the 2003-2008 Pistons or 2009 Nuggets to contendership like the vastly superior Chauncey Billups did