久久亚洲国产成人影院-久久亚洲国产的中文-久久亚洲国产高清-久久亚洲国产精品-亚洲图片偷拍自拍-亚洲图色视频

USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
Sports
Home / Sports / Sports top news

Pistons take aim at old glory by bringing back Billups

By Associated Press in Detroit | China Daily | Updated: 2013-07-13 08:28

Pistons take aim at old glory by bringing back Billups

Chauncey lands another chance to lift Motown

Chauncey Billups wanted to stay with the Detroit Pistons for the rest of his career.

Now the team that traded him away five years ago has brought him back.

Joe Dumars, Detroit's president of basketball operations, confirmed on Thursday that Billups and the team had agreed to terms on a two-year contract that will pay the veteran point guard $2.5 million each year.

The first year is guaranteed.

"I never wanted to leave here. Everyone knows that," Billups said on Jan 26, 2011, after making a flurry of 3-pointers late in a game to help Denver win in Detroit. "I wanted to retire here."

He's back to help the Pistons as a pass-first point guard who can drain 3-pointers.

He will also be expected to mentor 21-year-old Brandon Knight and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the No 8 overall pick in the draft, both on and off the court.

Detroit dealt Billups to Denver on Nov 3, 2008, when the franchise decided its championship-winning window had closed.

The Pistons are almost 100 games under .500 since making the unpopular and unsuccessful move.

They traded Billups in part to speed the development of Rodney Stuckey, to see if Allen Iverson could provide a spark while his contract expired and to clear salary-cap space for the future.

"It was just a season of inevitable change and inevitable pain," Dumars said after Detroit's 2008-09 season ended by getting swept in the first round by the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers.

"Although it was a tough year, we also knew it was a necessary process if you're trying to position yourself to remain relevant."

Stuckey, who is still with the team, never became a dependable point guard. And the millions spent in the summer of 2009 on free agents Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva turned out to be wasted.

The Pistons traded Gordon to Charlotte last summer, basically to get his contract off the books.

Detroit could still deal Villanueva, who is entering the last year of his deal, to a team that might want to take on his expiring contract later this summer or during the upcoming season.

The Pistons, 148-244 since trading Billups, are in a four-year postseason drought. It's their longest since missing six straight from 1978 through 1983.

Billups, a five-time All-Star, turns 37 in September.

He tore his left Achilles tendon during the 2011-12 season, when he was limited to 20 games with the Los Angeles Clippers, and bounced back last season to play 22 games for them.

Billups has averaged 15.4 points - making 42 percent of his 3-pointers - and 5.5 assists during his career.

Boston drafted him out of Colorado with the No 3 pick in 1997. He was on rosters in Toronto, with his hometown Nuggets, Orlando, Minnesota, Detroit, back to Denver, New York and the Clippers.

He bounced around early in his career, but has always had fans at The Palace, which hasn't been the same buzz-filled building it once was since he was sent away.

When Billups played his first game in Detroit after being traded, his signature introduction - "Buh! Buh! Buh! Billups! - set off a standing ovation that lasted a couple of minutes and led to him blowing kisses to the crowd.

Back then, Billups said it was the most emotional regular season game he had experienced to that point in his 12-year career.

"I may forget the game and what happened," he said. "But the ovation and warm welcome the fans gave me, I'll never forget."

It's easy to forget how good the Pistons were after they signed him as a free agent in 2002.

With his steady play on the court and calm demeanor off it, Billups helped the Pistons win a title and come within a victory of repeating while reaching at least the Eastern Conference finals in each of his six full seasons with them.

The Magic Johnson-led Los Angeles Lakers are the only other franchise to play in six straight conference finals since 1970-71, when teams had to win two series to advance that far.

The Pistons, though, seemed to be fading as a championship contender when they won just two games in three straight conference finals before sending Billups away.

As the Pistons try to make a climb back toward being a relevant NBA team, a goal that was helped by signing Josh Smith on Wednesday, they are anxious for Billups to return.

(China Daily 07/13/2013 page16)

<<!-- iscomment為1標示該文章可以評論 -->

Most Popular

Highlights

What's Hot
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 亚洲精品一区二区久久 | 国产区二区 | 黄色三级在线播放 | 又黄又湿又爽 | 老司机免费福利午夜入口ae58 | 自拍视频第一页 | 亚洲精品久久久久综合中文字幕 | a级毛片视频免费观看 | 毛片的网址 | 免费播放毛片 | 成人国内精品久久久久影院 | 美国一级毛片片aa成人 | 日韩高清欧美 | 丁香婷婷影音先锋5566 | 日韩欧美国产一区二区三区 | 亚洲性久久 | 中日韩一级片 | 亚洲图片 自拍偷拍 | 久久综合狠狠综合久久综合88 | 成人国产永久福利看片 | 韩国三级 mp4 | 成人免费国产欧美日韩你懂的 | 欧美精品成人 | 欧美久久亚洲精品 | 又刺激又黄的一级毛片 | 亚洲成人播放 | 中国人免费观看高清在线观看二区 | 99性视频| 日韩亚洲在线 | 国产日韩亚洲欧美 | 久草视频福利在线 | 国产毛片一级国语版 | 国产成人一区二区视频在线观看 | 亚洲性久久| 久久国产片 | 毛片大片免费看 | 国产精品日韩欧美在线 | 性色午夜视频免费男人的天堂 | 日韩美毛片 | 国产亚洲欧美日韩国产片 | 国内成人免费视频 |