There have been several point guards already named to this
list with pretty impressive bios – No. 70 Allen Iverson was a four-time scoring
champion and league MVP, No. 61 Isiah Thomas was a 13-time all-star and
two-time NBA champion and No. 60 Walt Frazier was a two-time champion as well
in New York, the sport’s biggest market.
Yet this system puts Mo Cheeks ahead of all three.
Cheeks never received a single vote for MVP. He did make
four all-star games, but he never averaged more than 15.6 points or 8.4 assists
per game. What he did do, better than those players above was win consistently
for a long, long time.
Cheeks played in 133 games on 13 playoff teams. Although he
won just one NBA championship with the Doctor J-Moses Malone 76ers juggernaut
in 1982-1983, his teams played at least 10 playoff games seven times, and that
included an appearance with the Knicks. Simply put, a Mo Cheeks team could be
counted on to make deep playoff runs every year.
His PERs were solid but not spectacular. His career mark was 16.5 and he had just four above 18.0. His win shares were competitive. He had six seasons of 8+ win shares. He never had a negative VORP and only three negative Box +/- seasons, two of which were at the end of his career. His teams though won 61.2 percent of their regular season games and 55.6 percent of their playoff games. How does that compare with the Iverson, Thomas and Frazier?
His PERs were solid but not spectacular. His career mark was 16.5 and he had just four above 18.0. His win shares were competitive. He had six seasons of 8+ win shares. He never had a negative VORP and only three negative Box +/- seasons, two of which were at the end of his career. His teams though won 61.2 percent of their regular season games and 55.6 percent of their playoff games. How does that compare with the Iverson, Thomas and Frazier?
|
Comparing winning percentages
|
||
|
Player
|
Reg. season
|
Playoffs
|
|
Mo Cheeks
|
61.2%
|
55.6%
|
|
Allen Iverson
|
51.0%
|
42.3%
|
|
Isiah Thomas
|
57.9%
|
63.0%
|
|
Walt Frazier
|
58.8%
|
58.1%
|
Iverson’s teams simply didn’t win as much. Thomas and Frazier have similar numbers, but they didn’t have Cheeks’ longevity. Of course, you could make the argument that Cheeks was lucky because he was lightly regarded coming into the NBA. He played at West Texas A&M University and lasted until the 14th pick of the second round before the 76ers drafted him. Guys such as Rod Griffin, Buster Matheney and Marvin Johnson, players who never played a minute in the NBA, were drafted ahead of Cheeks.
He walked onto a team that already had Julius Erving and Bobby
Jones and would eventually have Moses Malone, Andrew Toney and Charles Barkley.
Thomas, Frazier and Iverson all were high draft picks taken by bad teams that
were then built around them. Undoubtedly, Cheeks benefitted from playing with
great players.
Cheeks though was one of those players who was better than his
boxscore. If you’ve stumbled on to this ranking from outside Rockford, our area
is home to Fred VanVleet. VanVleet was a finalist for NBA sixth man of the year
despite the fact he averaged just 8.6 points and 3.2 assists per game. VanVleet
was recognized because he ranked 28th in the NBA in real plus minus –
a measure of how much better his team was against the opponent while he was on the
floor.
If you watch VanVleet, he hounds his man on defense. He
double-teams and draws charges without regards for his body. He drives when he
has an advantage and hits the open shot when left open. He leads the break well
and gets the ball to the right people at the right time and rarely turns the
ball over. He is a smaller version of Mo Cheeks.
The beauty – for me – of Youtube is getting to watch video
of great games from the past. Watch the old Celtics-76ers, 76ers-Lakers
matchups. The announcers will talk endlessly about Larry Bird, Dr. J, Kareem
and Magic, but watch for Cheeks. He’s in the middle of every big defensive play.
He always pushes the pace. He blocks his man out and he never makes bad
decisions. He hits shot after shot. His career field goal percentage of 52.3
percent ranks 56th all time – the only guards who shot better were
Dave Twardzik and Lewis Lloyd. He plays winning ball no matter who is on the floor.
The numbers bear that out.
|
Maurice
Cheeks bio info
|
|
|
Career
|
1978-1993
|
|
Games
|
1,101
|
|
Points
|
11.1
|
|
Rebounds
|
2.8
|
|
Assists
|
6.7
|
|
FG Pct.
|
52.3%
|
|
All-Star games
|
4
|
|
NBA MVPs
|
0
|
|
NBA Titles
|
1
|
|
Playoff seasons
|
13
|
|
Playoff games
|
133
|
|
Points
|
14.4
|
|
Rebounds
|
3.4
|
|
Assists
|
6.9
|
|
FG Pct.
|
51.2%
|
|
Hall of Fame
|
2018
|
|
Top 100
rankings
|
||
|
|
Points
|
Top 100 ranking
|
|
1-year
|
310.64
|
70th
|
|
5-year
|
1,345.82
|
75th
|
|
10-year
|
2,423.82
|
58th
|
|
Career
|
3,010.03
|
53rd
|
|
Maurice
Cheeks at his peak
|
|||
|
1982-1983
|
Cheeks
|
Top 5
|
Points
|
|
PER
|
18.6
|
24.00
|
|
|
Win Shares
|
9.4
|
13.22
|
|
|
Box +/-
|
3.8
|
6.36
|
|
|
VORP
|
3.6
|
5.90
|
|
|
Total Advanced Stats
|
35.4
|
49.49
|
71.54
|
|
Playoff PER
|
17.3
|
24.10
|
|
|
Win Shares
|
1.6
|
2.16
|
|
|
Box +/-
|
3.5
|
6.57
|
|
|
VORP
|
0.7
|
0.98
|
|
|
Total Advanced Stats
|
23.1
|
33.81
|
68.32
|
|
Reg. Season Win %
|
78.48
|
78.48
|
|
|
Playoff Win %
|
92.31
|
92.31
|
|
|
MVP Voting (75 points)
|
0
|
|
0
|
|
Playoff MVP (25 points)
|
0
|
0
|
|
|
Total Score
|
|
|
310.64
|
|
Cheeks’ 10 greatest seasons
|
|
|
1982-1983
|
310.64
|
|
1980-1981
|
262.42
|
|
1984-1985
|
261.99
|
|
1981-1982
|
258.37
|
|
1979-1980
|
252.40
|
|
1978-1979
|
243.23
|
|
1985-1986
|
238.86
|
|
1983-1984
|
215.43
|
|
1986-1987
|
201.50
|
|
1989-1990
|
178.98
|
|
Career
winning percentage
|
|||
|
|
W
|
L
|
Pct.
|
|
Regular Season
|
673
|
427
|
61.18%
|
|
Playoffs
|
74
|
59
|
55.64%
|
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