Billups' Busy Week: Team USA & NBA All-Star

BOUDLER -- Former CU standout Chauncey Billups concluded a busy week in which he was one of 27 players named to the 2010-12 USA Basketball men's national team Wednesday while he was also named to the West squad for the NBA All-Star game on Sunday.

NBA Commissioner David Stern replaced an injured Chris Paul with Billups on the All-Star team and Billups responded with 17 points and five assists in 26 minutes as the West fell short, 141-139, to the East squad.

Billups, however, lived up to his "Mr. Bigshot" nickname by scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter. He hit threes to twice pull the West within one early in the fourth quarter. His three-pointer with 2:03 pulled the West within four at 137-133 and then his step-back jumper tied the game at 137-137 with 1:05 left.

It was Billups' fifth consecutive appearance in the All-Star game and his 17 points is a personal best, surpassing a 15 point performance in his first appearance in 2005-06.

Billups also last week was named as one of 27 players to the USA Basketball men's national team, which includes a commitment to USA Basketball is from 2010-12 culminating in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Billups was also a member of the 2006-08 men's national team and played on the squad in the summer of 2007 when the team qualified for the Olympics by winning the FIBA Americas Championship in Las Vegas.

"Having a player of Chauncey Billups' caliber in the pool of players is a huge asset for the national program," USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He's a veteran who understands what his role needs to be in order to maximize the success of the team. His attitude is infectious. The bottom line is - he's a champion."

The pool of 27 players will host a camp prior to the FIBA World Championships in 2010. Should the United States win that tournament, they will be automatically qualified for the Olympics in 2012.

Jerry Colangelo, the chairman of USA Basketball since 2005, brought a new approach to the national team in 2006 after the USA began slipping in international competitions. Colangelo hired Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and assembled players willing to commit to three years instead of putting a different team together each year.

The approach worked, as the team compiled a 26-1 record, losing only in the semifinals of the 2006 World Championships. Team USA went 10-0 at the FIBA Americas Championship in 2007 to qualify for the Beijing Olympics, where it earned the nickname "The Redeem Team" and won the gold medal.

"Jerry Colangelo and I had a lot of conversations with Chauncey regarding him joining the 2010-12 pool," Krzyzewski said. "I am thrilled he decided to do so."

Billups was originally added to the national team after the World Championships and played in all 10 games at the Americas Championships, averaging 5.6 points, 2.6 assists per game while shooting 35.5 percent from behind the arc and hitting all 11 of his free throw attempts.

Unlike when the program first began for the 2006-08 team, this national team will have an added benefit of returning players in addition to the players who have been involved in the pipeline the last couple of summers.

Billups led the Buffaloes to their first NCAA tournament in over two decades in 1997, where CU topped perennial power Indiana and coach Bob Knight in the opening round before losing to North Carolina and Dean Smith in the second round.

As a sophomore, Billups was named a first-team All-American by Basketball News, becoming the eighth All-American in Colorado history, and named first team All-Big 12 by league coaches and the Associated Press. He was the first player at CU to score over 1,000 career points by the end of his sophomore season and still holds freshman records with 465 points, 143 assists, and an average of 17.9 points per game.

While Billups collegiate career is impressive, perhaps even more astounding is his NBA career which began in 1997 as he was the third overall draft pick to the Boston Celtics. In 2004, Billups helped lead the Detroit Pistons to the NBA title and was named to be the finals Most Valuable Player, averaging 21 points and 5.2 assists in five games.

On November 3, 2008, Billups returned home to Colorado as a result of being traded to the Denver Nuggets. He has helped lead the Nuggets to a franchise-best 54 wins and appearance in the Western Conference Finals in 2008-09, the most for the Nuggets since moving to the NBA in the mid 1970s.

Prior to CU, Billups helped George Washington High School in Denver where he was Colorado Mr. Basketball three times and selected as a 1995 McDonald's All-America.

Colorado University Athletics

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