The Portland Trail Blazers have had the microscope locked on them for the past 48 hours. The allegations surrounding suspended Head Coach Chauncey Billups have come as a shock, not only to the people watching from afar but surely to the players and coaches he worked with every day.
My heart truly goes out to the people, particularly the young players, whose world has been turned upside down following alleged revelations about the guy they looked up to and trusted. The franchise and the broader fanbase who initially entered the season full of hope, have been picked up, tossed about like a cocktail shaker and left rattled with more questions than answers.
But basketball, much like life, moves on. The playing group now presses on trying to focus on implementing Billups’ game plan without him. The guy leading them through this rocky terrain is Tiago Splitter who was announced as interim coach shortly after the news broke. The Brazilian is a former NBA champion player who has rapidly risen the ranks in coaching circles over the past seven years.
No one knows how long Splitter will remain in the role but the fact that he was chosen over fellow assistants Nate Bjorkgren and Patrick St Andrews, is interesting. Bjorkgren has already served as a head coach, leading the Indiana Pacers in 2020-21 while St Andrews has been highly touted as a head coach in waiting.
But it could be argued that Splitter has had the most recent success in a top job, shocking many in Europe by taking Paris Basketball to the title in his first year with the club, a few short months ago.
Let’s take a closer look at his bona fides.
Splitter the Player
The 40-year-old was taken with the 28th pick by the San Antonio Spurs in 2007 — 27 picks behind Greg Oden —as a center out of the Spanish Liga ACB. Proverbially “stashed”, Splitter continued to ply his trade in Europe with success an annual expectation for the young big. With Saski Baskonia, Splitter won two Liga ACB titles, two Spanish Cup MVP awards, one All-EuroLeague First Team, two All EuroLeague Second teams and a Liga ACB MVP and Finals MVP.
The 6’11 big eventually joined the Spurs for the 2010-11 NBA season, holding his own on a team expected to contend every season he was there. In 2013, he played crucial minutes for a Spurs team that made it to the NBA Finals, only to lose to LeBron James and the Miami Heat.
The following season, the Spurs, still complete with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard — and Australians Patty Mills and Aron Baynes — got their revenge, besting the Heat in five games. Early that same postseason, they dispatched of an upstart Blazers team, fresh off a Damian Lillard buzzer beater in the first round.
More often than not, Splitter started at center for those great Spurs teams, sharing front court duties with Hall of Famer Duncan. He was by no means a star, but he played his role in coach Gregg Popovich’s system seamlessly, understanding where he fit and how he could best help the team.
In 2015, he was dealt to the Mike Budenholzer-led Atlanta Hawks in exchange for the draft rights to Georgios Printezis and a second round pick. At the 2017 NBA trade deadline, the Brazilian was again moved, this time to the Philadelphia 76ers serving under Brett Brown, no doubt imparting wisdom on a younger Joel Embiid.
Unfortunately, injuries got the better of Splitter in early 2018, at the still-young age of 32, finishing his career with NBA averages of 7.9 points, 5.0 boards and 1.2 assists.
He was a star in Europe but found a role as a reliable cog in successful NBA systems, able to serve on both sides of the ball from the big man positions.
Splitter the Coach
Two months after retiring, Splitter joined the Brooklyn Nets as a scout while also spending time in player development. Within 18 months, he was exclusively in player development, serving with the Nets until the end of the 2022-23 season, working under Kenny Atkinson, Jacque Vaughn and Steve Nash during his stay.
After five years in Brooklyn, he joined former colleague Ime Udoka on the Houston Rockets for the 2023-24 season where he reportedly worked closely with Alperen Sengun. A year later, he returned back over the Atlantic to take on his first head coaching role with Paris Basketball, leading the team to the French Cup in what was described as a Cinderella season.
He joined the Portland Trail Blazers coaching ranks this summer, put in charge of the team’s offensive schemes.
While there are a number of theories as to why Paris did so well under Splitter, a few things did stand out.
Clearly, he’s not a “rah rah” type, preferring clear and positive messages to communicate his desire to win. He also has an appreciation for maturity, citing a lack of “ego” in his Parisian players.
“The group itself is amazing, with no egos. And it’s really hard sometimes to see a group like that, with no egos, playing for each other in professional sports.”
“We tried to do everything that we had to do in those moments to win. Sometimes it’s control, sometimes it’s playing fast.”
Those successful Spurs teams had multiple Hall of Famers but it always seemed as if their egos were checked at the door. Duncan, Parker, Ginobili and Leonard — before his eventual departure — appeared of the same mind as role players, like Mills, Baynes, Boris Diaw and Danny Green who contributed and played for each other. Those Spurs teams might have played the purest offensive basketball, keeping the ball moving on offense and defending as a unit on the other side of the ball.
The current Blazers are obviously not the championship Spurs, but on watching the Portland squad since his arrival, they’re definitely more Spurs-y than they were before — whether that’s via Billups or someone else, I don’t know. The quick passing, the unselfishness, the constant movement and the swarming defense.
That last one is obviously something Billups instilled in this group last season but you’d have to believe, given the way the Splitter-era Spurs played, it could be something that sticks. While Splitter has previously been ardent about being his own man, he has acknowledged his teachers.
*“There are things, but I’m certainly not Dusko Ivanovic (Saski Baskonia) or Gregg Popovich. I’m Tiago. I have my own way of being, coaching, and leading games… but you do learn a lot about motivation, about how to push players. What I saw that worked and was good as a player, I’ve kept for myself, and I try to use it now.*”
Asked about how he would make this a Tiago Splitter team after last night’s win, he said “I don’t know … in two months I’ll have a better answer for you.” Assuming he’s still coach at the end of the calendar year, it’ll be interesting to see how the team’s playing style has evolved.
Conclusion
No one would have chosen this reality for the Blazers. The next few months will be messy as we learn more about the Billups situation. But Splitter appears to be a sure pair of hands who, from all reports, has already influenced the way this team plays from behind Billups.
For me, it’s hard to see Billups returning. If he does go, and with the Blazers soon to be under new management, the franchise may look to find a different head coach. But if they decide on Splitter, I’d be supremely confident in him being at least as good as any other untried NBA coach, given where he’s come from.
I have no idea what will happen, but the big Brazilian seems to know what he’s doing with the demeanor to help this young group along.