Happy first Friday of February. We’re just one week away from All Star Weekend so let’s continue to do what we have been doing every Friday here on the NBA Player Takeover and that’s highlighting a player has been playing exceptionally well. This week we have someone who has been doing just that. With their star player out with injuries this guy has really stepped up to lead his team and the team has responded by playing great basketball without their superstar player. This player has played on a number of NBA teams but after winning the NBA Finals MVP award in 2004 he has really cemented himself as one of the premier point guards in the NBA. This week on the NBA Player Takeover, our featured player is Chauncey “Mr. Big Shot” Billups of the Denver Nuggets.

Chauncey Billups has continued where he left off last season by guiding the Denver Nuggets to another strong campaign. Ever since he made his return to his hometown of Denver he has made a definitive impact for his team. The Denver Nuggets are currently in second place in the Western Conference and despite not having Carmelo Anthony in the lineup for a number of games, the team has been playing exceptionally well with Chauncey leading the charge.

Taking a look at his DNA, let’s see how “Mr. Big Shot” has been doing so far this season:

Chauncey’s jump shot is his weapon of choice when he steps onto the hard court. However, he needs to work on improving his short and mid range jump shooting percentages (his mid range jump shot needing the most work as it’s 8% lower than the PG average in the NBA). A lot of that can be attributed to not getting as many touches due to Carmelo Anthony’s incredible scoring this season but hopefully his numbers improve because they will have it tough in the playoffs if they have another date with the Lakers. Chauncey’s ability to hit the big shot when it matters is what he does best, but that can only happen if he has better shooting statistics so he needs to get working on improving his short and mid range shooting.

Here are some shots of Chauncey in NBA LIVE 10:

Next week we will have a special edition of the NBA Player Takeover taking a look at players who we think could win the NBA All Star Game MVP. As well, continue to let us know which players we should feature here on the NBA Player Takeover and we’ll do our best to get the best players featured.

Enjoy the first weekend of February and we’ll see you all again next week.