Chauncey Billups blames the lack of an ‘alpha’ player for the team’s slow starts

The Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups attributes the Trail Blazers’ sluggish starts to the absence of a dominant “alpha” player, as reported by Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian.

Portland has consistently struggled in the first quarters, exemplified by a recent game against Washington where poor three-point shooting and turnovers led to a significant early deficit.

Billups acknowledges the team’s talented players but emphasizes the current lack of a go-to player who can spark momentum in the opening minutes of the game. He underscores the need for a collective effort to compensate for this absence.

“We’ve got some good players and some guys that are going to be All-Stars in this league,” Billups said. “But right now, we don’t have that dude that you can just throw it to and he can just kind of get us going for the first four or five minutes of the game. We just don’t have that. So we’ve got to do it collectively.”