Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups shook things up during Portland’s 113-102 win over the Chicago Bulls Sunday by taking third-year guard Shaedon Sharpe out of the starting lineup. The decision to move Portland’s leading scorer, and arguably its most promising young player in the rebuild, to the bench made waves, particularly for the reasoning behind the change: defense.
“I don’t believe in playing on one side of the ball, I just can’t allow that on my watch,” Billups told reporters in the pregame press conference at the Moda Center. “[Shaedon] has to be better.