NBA FINALS: PISTONS v SPURS

June 22, 2005

Chauncey Billups

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: I don't know, I just try to be aggressive, I just try to really be the best teammate I can. If that means to step it up and set the tone for my team in whatever way I have to, I will. It doesn't have to be scoring. But it just so happened that it has been. There's other things that I like to do to set the tone, too. But of course, scoring is, you know, most of what y'all look at, you know what I mean, but I don't think that's my only effect on the game. It's a huge effect, but I don't think that's my only effect.

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Oh, yeah, I do. Of course, we're defending champs, so that pressure is on us. But they are at home. They are at home, and I think the pressure is really on them to win this Game 7 and win it all. They had the best record in the league other than maybe Phoenix, I don't know. But the pressure is definitely on them. They have got the home-court advantage in the series. This is Game 7 and no team has ever lost Game 6 and 7 and this and that, but there has not even been a Game 7 since '94 or whatever. I don't really believe in all that kind of stuff, but I do think the pressure is on them.

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: It happens. I don't think that that was him feeling the pressure. He's one of the greats of all time, really. So I don't think that it was pressure he was feeling. It just happens. You can't make every shot, you know what I mean. Plus, he's playing against three big defenders out here in Ben and Rasheed, they are all playing him different ways, you know what I mean, Sheed is playing with length, Tay is playing with quickness and Dyess is playing with his strength and his power, so it's tough every time he gets a comfort level with one of those guys, there's another one coming to guard him. So you have to change it up a little bit. It's tough on him, but even with all that, he's still having a great series.

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: Yeah, well, I love it. I think so many players just get a little too excited, which is understandable, you know, being in a situation like that, to get a little too excited and get a little too impatient. I think that's where I come in at with that calm demeanor and just staying poised out there and just playing this Game 7 like it's Game 1, you know what I mean, or the first round, not The Finals. I think my guys pull that confidence from me knowing that I'm going to be the same way out there.

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: No, you can't worry about any of that stuff. None of that stuff matters right now. It's all about playing this game tomorrow, you know what I mean, and playing every single possession and knowing that every possession is critical and the outcome will take care of itself, either way, whatever comes about. But you can't worry about anything outside that 90 x 50 out there.

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: I don't know if I compare to those guy, man. That's unbelievable company. But I do like these situations. I love them, man, I love to be in these kind of pressure situations. I have some history of doing good in these situations. I don't always do good, but my history is pretty good, you know what I mean, but all that doesn't mean nothing right now, because I haven't played in a Game 7 in The Finals. Not many people have. But, you know, I don't look at it like it's a Game 7 of The Finals. I look at it like, you know, this game, this is a regular-season game, even though it means a lot more. I played that same way, you know what I mean. I'm not going to get too high up or too high down. I'm going to be the same way throughout the whole process, and I do take a lot of pride in trying to be there in these big moments and trying to make my teammates better, and they make me better, also. I don't deserve a lot of that credit. But it's nice.

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: There was a couple dark days during the season. Of course, the melee at the Palace, it took a toll on us. It took a major toll on us. You couldn't turn on the TV without seeing it. It was just horrible. It was just a horrible thing that took a major toll on us. Then finally getting Ben back and then Coach Brown falling a little sick and being unhealthy and not being able to coach was a setback a couple of times. So we've had it, man, we've been through a lot. We understood that. We felt like had we not been through some of those situations, maybe we'll be sitting Game 7 at our place, you know what I mean, but we're not. You can't get those games back, but we're here you know what I mean. We're here, we are expected to be here and we're looking forward to tomorrow night's game.

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS: I think the way I would define Coach Brown is I think he's more passionate about this game than anybody I've ever been around, player, coach, fan, anything. I don't know anybody that loves the game like he does and cares about, you know, the integrity of the game like he does. I don't think he wants this game to change from when he played it, you know. But he just really -- he's in love with this game, man. I don't see him not being around this game. I can't see it. I can't see it. I've learned so much personally from him about this game, about my game, you know, that it's priceless, really, what I learn from him. I don't anticipate it being over for him, but if it is, you know, it's going to be a dark day in the NBA.