DAILY DISH: Knicks will miss Chauncey Billups; NIT-mas for Nova

By: Kels Dayton

• It may have been the right move cap-wise, but the Knicks will sorely miss point guard Chauncey Billups. In just 21 games with New York last season, Billups averaged 17.5 points and 5.5 assists, and steadied the ship when the team was struggling trying to adapt to its new look. Billups is a proven winner, has doctorate-level basketball knowledge, and is as revered in the locker room as any player in the league. He wasn’t the ideal point guard for Mike D’Antoni’s offense, but then again, D’Antoni’s offense hasn’t proven it can win the way Billups has. While Carmelo Anthony has brought some much-needed star power and hope to a long-suffering Knicks fan base, Billups brought a confidence and
  

  Chauncey Billups just made the Knicks look like a contender. (Getty Images)

  been-there-done-that attitude that the Knicks haven’t had since Clyde Frazier was “dishing and swishing” at the Garden. Now New York will try and get by with Mike Bibby and Baron Davis. Good luck with that, Knicks fans.

• The addition of Chris Paul will make the Clippers a legitimate threat in the Western Conference…just not right away. Sure, adding Paul is a tremendous move for the most inept franchise in the history of sports, but giving up Eric Gordon, Al-Farouq Aminu, and Chris Kaman in the deal leaves the Clips with plenty of holes to fill before the season starts. The Clippers were already stacked at point guard, with former Knick Chauncey Billups, Mo Williams, and Eric Bledsoe locked into this season, so there won’t be much room for depth up front. Adding Caron Butler was another terrific move, but L.A. needs to sign some size if it wants to challenge for the Western Conference title. (Although the fact that the phrase “Western Conference title” was included in a paragraph on the Clippers is remarkable enough.)

• It’s beginning to look a lot like NIT-mas in Villanova. The Wildcats were blown out at Saint Joseph’s on Saturday, 74-58, in what was more of a Hawks slam dunk contest than a basketball game. ‘Nova is 2-5 after winning its first four games of the season, with losses to Saint Louis, Santa Clara, Missouri, Temple, and now, Saint Joseph’s. With only a home date with American left before the gauntlet that is the Big East schedule begins, the Wildcats have left themselves very little breathing room. Unless Maalik Wayns finds a way to clone himself, Villanova will likely miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004.