The two Butlers

It's probably only me, but I'm getting really confused by Chauncey Billups in a Denver Nuggets costume this playoffs. Not because he should still be in Detroit, because that's weird too. No, it's because they're playing the Hornets - who have the other Butler -- Rasual.

As many of you know, when Mychal Thompson was calling games here for a year in Minny, he was almost Muhammad Ali-quick with poetic zingers throughout his commentary. He also wanted to nickname everything. My favorites were Wally Szczerbiak -- Vanilla Sky (because he kind of looked like Tom Cruise...never caught on...) and Chauncey Billups -- The Butler (because Chauncey is only a name a Butler would have). So when Chauncey would take it to the rack or hit a huge 3, it was always "The Butler, serving it up!" I loved that, but it also never caught on...then Thompson left for yellower pastures, to work for the Lakers.

Well now many years later, I am having a hard time working while listening to the game on TV without watching closely because Rasual Butler is having a helluva series. He's been an assassin for a young guy, scoring 17 in the Hornets win yesterday, and shooting 75% from 3-point land (9-12) over the first 3 games. Billups has been even more crazy, going 14-19 from 3. So everytime the announcers yell, "Butler for 3!" I always look up expecting to see Billups. It's very confusing.

The year the Wolves won the first round of the playoffs in Denver has permanently colored my view of the Nuggets as a bunch of punks. And everything that's happened since has been seen through that filter -- the Carmello sucker punch, etc. But Denver has put together a very interesting team and a deeper bench that will make them a team to be reckoned with in the playoffs. Obviously the trade for Billups tied it all together, but the additions of a healthy Nene and K-mart, a rejuvinated Birdman Chris Andersen, plus a still-streaky-but streaky-good J.R. Smith and solid backup A.C make this team formidable. Plus I like that Billups and Birdman are both from the Denver area, so the local pride angle is stronger...and they seem less like a hired gang of punks.

I'm still pulling for New Orleans in this one, I love Chris Paul and I loved how the New Orleans fans welcomed me last year in the Hornet's haven. But Denver has more guns than I had realized, and a number of people who can (and do) step up. Man for man they don't necessarily match up with the Lakers, and they lost their season series to them 1-3. But for once they might actually make some noise, especially if the Butler serves up a whole bunch of heaping helpings.