Latest Denver Post column on Chauncey Billups

[Jim McMaster <mcmaster@sweng.stortek.com>]

Here is the local columnist's latest writings on Chauncey Billups.  From the 
Denver Post on 3/11/97.

[The Denver Post Online]      Chauncey's next game could be last

                   By Mark Kiszla
     [Sports]      Denver Post Sports Columnist
                        March 11 - BOULDER - How much longer can Colorado
                   point guard Chauncey Billups afford to play basketball
                   for love?
                        The next CU loss could be his last defeat as an
                   amateur. Why?
                        Returning to play for the Buffaloes next season
                   will require Billups to just say no to more than $3
                   million.
                        "When this season is over, I'm going to have to sit
                   down with my family and think real hard about turning
                   pro," Billups said Monday.
                        The decision, the sophomore admitted, will be the
                   source of agony. The NBA wants to make him an offer
                   almost impossible to refuse.
                        "If Chauncey Billups decided to come out for the
                   draft this year, it's a strong, strong possibility he
                   will be taken among the first 10 picks in the draft,"
                   said an NBA personnel chief, who spoke on the condition
                   of anonymity. "The current consensus of NBA scouts is
                   Billups would be the first point guard chosen, ahead of
                   Jacque Vaughn of Kansas or (Stanford's) Brevin Knight."
                        What's it worth to be a top-10 pick in the draft?
                   At the rate stipulated in the NBA's current labor
                   agreement, it's nothing less than three years of
                   employment and a minimum compensation package of $3.7
                   million. Guaranteed.
                        What's more, Billups could show up tonight at
                   McNichols Sports Arena, lace up his sneakers in the
                   Nuggets' locker room and immediately be the
                   most-talented guard on the floor for the home team.
                        Barring an unanticipated, late-season change in the
                   NBA standings or a statistical upset in the draft
                   lottery, Denver figures to pick somewhere between sixth
                   and eighth in the first round. Think basketball chief
                   Allan Bristow is praying for Billups to turn pro? Even
                   the Nuggets might be able to sell some tickets if they
                   could cast a genuine hometown hero in a starring role.
                        If Billups were to leave Colorado, however, it
                   might be another 28 years before the Buffaloes receive
                   another invitation to the NCAA Tournament.
                        "People say I have a lot of unfinished business at
                   CU," said Billups, who has dreamed of the Buffs winning
                   a national title. "But you're not going to accomplish
                   everything." But Billups owes coach Ricardo Patton, his
                   school and this state's basketball fans absolutely
                   nothing. None of them can thank Billups enough.
                        Cherish every spin move and each basket made by
                   Billups against Indiana in the tourney. When clocks
                   strike 10 across Colorado on Thursday night, his time in
                   a CU uniform could be over.
                        Three million bucks can buy everything an athlete
                   and his family could ever want. Life seldom offers
                   anybody a better guarantee.
                        How many of us could refuse the temptation that
                   soon will be presented Billups?
                        How many artists are willing to continue starving
                   in the name of their craft?
                        Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning stayed in
                   school because he wasn't done having fun. Wake Forest
                   center Tim Duncan delayed his NBA entry 12 months
                   because he wanted to own a degree.
                        Billups should tell the pros to wait for a more
                   practical purpose. His basketball education isn't
                   finished.
                        As his 22 percent shooting in the Buffaloes' last
                   four games can attest, Billups could use a little
                   refinement in his offensive game.
                        As one, humiliating blocked layup in CU's recent
                   loss to Oklahoma should remind him, Billups doesn't
                   possess such dominating physical talent that going to
                   the next level will be an easy leap.
                        As the stormy pro career of Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf
                   proves, you can be everybody's All-American at age 20 .
                   . . and a little, lost soul in the NBA a year later.
                        "Is Chauncey Billups ready to be drafted in the top
                   10? Without a doubt," said an executive who wishes
                   Billups were quicker and more reliable with a 20-foot
                   shot. "But is Chauncey Billups ready to step in and be a
                   star in the NBA? No way." There's only one, good reason
                   for Billups to return to Colorado for one, final season:

                        It might be the best thing Billups ever did for
                   himself.

                        Mark Kiszla can be reached at
                   sports@denverpost.com.

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Jim McMaster
mailto:mcmaster@sweng.stortek.com