(Portland, OR)  --  New Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups is saying the 1997 rape allegations against him shaped his life at his opening press conference.  Billups did not face any criminal charges in the 1997 incident, but he settled a civil lawsuit filed by the woman.  Portland GM Neil Olshey said the Blazers commissioned their own independent investigation about the 1997 incident and found that Billups did nothing wrong.  When a follow-up question was asked about how the 1997 incident shaped Billups, Portland PR staff prevented Billups from answering the question.