Baron Davis vs. Chauncey Billups
Boom Dizzle vs. Mr. Big Shot
In this gauntlet matchup, we have the point guard who left his Warriors at the altar for the Clippers going against the PG who disappeared for the Pistons in the 2008 playoffs. That said, each floor general has had remarkable success over the past few years after spending years unable to capitalize on their talent.
Last year, each player put up all-star stats:
Baron Davis: 21.8 PPG, 7.6 APG, 2.3 SPG
- He helped bring Golden State back to respectability.
- Baron has a much cooler nickname.
Chauncey Billups: 16 PPG, 6.8 APG, 1.3 SPG
- He won a ring with the Pistons in 2004.
- Chauncey is regarded as a clutch shooter.
Based on the numbers NBA.com highlights, Baron Davis is a much better player.
However, Chauncey Billups excels in less-heralded stats such as True Shooting Percentage.
Plus, although Baron Davis racks up more assists per game, he also has many more possessions, and gets assists on a smaller percent of his possessions. So, which do you think is more important- getting an assist each time you have the ball, or having the ball more often because your team needs you to?
As a result of higher shooting percentages, lower turnover rate, and higher assist rate, Billups actually accumulated more Win Shares and Player Efficiency Rating. Unsure what that means? Check the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).
Who would you rather have on your team?
August 4, 2008 at 1:10 am#
I’m pretty damn certain Baron Davis does not have a shiny head.
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August 4th, 2008 at 9:49 am
Although Baron is not completely bald, he definitely has a shiny head. Just look at a larger version of the image above: http://uweekly.com/buck/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/p1_davis.jpg. It gets quite shiny. http://www.nba.com/media/act_baron_davis.jpg.
I thought there would be a discussion of basketball skills, rather than shininess of head.
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August 4, 2008 at 4:08 pm#
Definitely Chauncey, to me Chauncey is the ultimate PG. He doesn’t score as much as Baron because he doesn’t have to. He lets his teammates do the scoring. Chauncey is often overlooked as one of the best in the league because he doesn’t score like Baron or Gilbert and he doesn’t dish behind the back passes like Steve Nash. (Most of which are uneccessary and if Nash wasn’t so experienced would result in Turnovers)
Which also brings me to another point, Turnovers. Chauncey is one of the best in keeping control of the ball. Detroit probably goes through less possesions than most of the league. Yet they still are a 59-win team. One of the main reasons for this is Chauncey’s control over the ball. He rarely turns the ball over more than twice a game and dishes out assists instead of giving up the ball to the other team. His career average for TOs is 2.00 that is nothing. Baron turns the ball over 2.77 times over his career and 2.83 last year.
Chauncey is also one of the most durable players in the league. Usually not missing more than 12 games in a season while Baron has a chance of missing half of it.
The reason Chauncey gets less assists is also the way Detroit initiates its offense, Detroit’s offense is one of the most team orientated offenses in the league. Every player touches the ball on almost every possesion. For this reason Chauncey gets less assists because he’s not the drive and dish PG he’s more of a guy who sets up the offense and lets the game come to him and his teammates.
And don’t forget Chauncey isn’t called Mr. Big Shot for nothing, he’s one of the best clutch PGs in the game.
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August 4th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
It’s great to see that a fan’s analysis is backed up by the stats I referenced above. Dominic, you are correct, the Pistons played at the slowest pace in the NBA last year. Their pace factor was only 87.3 (30th of 30). However, their offense was ranked 6th despite lacking an elite scorer. By comparison, the Golden State Warriors had the second fastest pace last season, which should have inflated all of Baron Davis’s numbers. Yet their offense was even more efficient than the Pistons’ offense, so it is a complex argument.
All things considered, plus the fact that the Pistons had the highest attendance in the NBA last year, I’m surprised the voting isn’t closer at the moment.
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August 4th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
That doesn’t surprise me at all, Detroit is a more defensive orientated team. Ranking third in opposing team FG% and 2nd in Scoring differential while in the middling range in points scored. Golden State however, was 25th in the league in opposing team FG% and in the middling range in scoring differential. Therefore Golden State attempts to win by scoring more than the other team. It has to be an efficient offense if they are to be in playoff conversations in the Western Conference. It’ll be interesting to see how Baron performs under Mike Dunleavy’s offense. Dunleavy has a tendency to call out every play which conflicts with Baron’s free reign he had in GS. I don’t know the Clippers pace but I would like to see how Baron’s numbers fluctuate with less possessions. It may provide a better comparison to Chauncey.
I agree with you I figured our fanbase would be clamoring to vote for Chauncey, perhaps some advertising on my part in blog comments would help Chauncey rise over Baron.
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August 4th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
The Clippers’ pace ranked 12th, and their offensive rating was 28th. The only Clipper who shot over 50% was Nick Fazekas, who played just 260 minutes for the team. I think Fazekas is vastly underrated and could be a David Lee type of player, but the Clippers just let him go. That’s a whole other story.
August 4th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Indeed I don’t want to get into a Nick Fazekas conversation but it was a foolish move by the Clippers. I don’t think they even made a serious run for him. Fazekas doesn’t seem like the type of player to refuse a contract because of money
August 10, 2008 at 4:50 pm#
Haha Chauncey tops Baron!!!
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September 2, 2008 at 6:49 pm#
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