By Paul Casey Gotham
****Remember, try this without research. Release your inner James Joyce and show us your stream of consciousness as you decipher the answer. Add to that the teachings of Myagi: patience. If you don’t get the answer right away, give your brain a chance to work if for no other reason than to stay in the discussion. You may not have THE answer, but you might prompt another reader by asking the right question.
West Texas A&M University. That is where I spent my college years. Not many Buffs have played in the National Basketball Association. In fact, if you take the years played in the Association by the other five alums, they add up to less than my time. I was a second round draft pick, but near the end of my career, I was exchanged for a first round pick – some guy who also played quarterback in college. I guess they needed my experience. Why not? I started 79 games for a championship team and played 31 minutes per contest. We got some revenge. After three losing trips to the finals in six years, we finally got a ring. Actually, I wasn’t there when we lost the first one. We were one of six teams to win the title in that seven-year span. I never led the league in assists, but I am in top ten of all-time. How about this: I ended my time with an assist to turnover ratio better than 3:1. Steals? Kind of like assists for me – never led the league, but I rank top ten all-time. I averaged double-digit points for nine of the seasons I played. I was first team all-defensive four consecutive years and second team another season. I also know the words to the Star Spangled Banner.
Who am I?
I’m pretty sure I know this one, but I’m gonna hold off. That very last sentence might be the best clue of all, esp for our younger participants who may have missed this guard’s fine career.
He was also a head coach in the league for several years, but now is an assistant.
Hmmmm…I don’t know, although it seems it shouldn’t be that difficult. A possible Hall of Fame bound point guard whose team lost in the Finals three times in six years before finally winning one. The Star Spangled Banner hint does nothing for me, but I have kind of a wild guess.
Is it Maurice Cheeks?
By the way, Wally, who are our “younger” participants? Rey?
Correct, Chas … it is indeed Mo Cheeks, former 76er great. I guess you don’t recall this, but a couple seasons ago while he was head coach … I think of Portland … a young girl was really struggling while trying to sing the national anthem before the game. In a real classy move, Cheeks walked over to her, calmed her down, and they jointly sang the national anthem at center court. It was a great moment and rec’d a lot of national attention….rightly so.
Apparently from the clues, Cheeks was traded late in his career for a former QB … wonder if that was Charlie Ward, the former Florida State QB?
And, yes, Rey came to mind as one of our “younger pinesters” … but I’m not sure the approx ages of others … Ian, Bill, Dan for instance. I’m only fairly sure that you, me, Casey, Smitty and certainly Pete have attained essentially “senior veteran status” here on the Pine. Anyone able to recall the ’80s and certainly the ’70s is in that group 🙂
I wondered if Charlie Ward was the player he was traded for also. Hard to imagine Mo Cheeks being traded for Ward, but he did briefly play with the Knicks at the end of his career.
Although I don’t think Charlie Ward was a first-round pick…at least I hope not.
I hope this is relevant enough to the thread, since the “moderator” is pretty particular about that 😉 , but what do folks think about Maurice Cheeks’ Hall of Fame candidacy?
Basketball-reference.com has a thing called Hall of Fame probability: https://www.basketball-reference.com/about/hof_prob.html. I don’t really like the methodology, but it has Cheeks at .054, which I believe means he has a 5% chance. He ranks just ahead of Lamar Odom in the metric, probably because Odom has several NBA titles which artificially boost his chances.
Now, I can see giving a boost to players like Bill Russell and Kobe Bryant for the number of championships they’ve won, but those guys don’t need it. So, this is the problem with considering championships a factor in Hall of Fame candidacies. If you’re a good enough player, that should be obvious enough.
Anyway, sorry for the tangent, but at least it’s related to the WAI answer.
Very relevant, Chas. I would think he has a much greater chance of making the Hall that 5% … I woulda thought his chances are better than 50%. Why? Take a look at this excerpt from Wiki:
“Cheeks played 15 years as a point guard in the NBA, including 11 with the Philadelphia 76ers, He earned four trips to the NBA All-Star Game, and he helped the 76ers earn three trips to the NBA Finals in a four-year span in the early 1980s (1980, 1982, and 1983), including one NBA championship in 1983. While starting at point guard for a Sixers team that at times included stars such as Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Andrew Toney, and Charles Barkley, Cheeks was well-regarded for his unselfish team play and excellent defensive skills. As a result, he was named to four straight NBA All-Defensive squads from 1983–86, and then earned a spot on the second team in 1987.
In NBA history, Cheeks ranks third all-time in steals and eighth all-time in assists. At the time of his retirement from the NBA in 1993, Cheeks was the NBA all-time leader in steals and ranked fifth all-time in assists.[1] He averaged 11.7 points per game for his career and notched over 2 steals per contest”.
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Sounds like the quintessential point guard who was a very valuable member of a title team and two others that reached the finals. 3rd all time in steals and 8th all time in assists makes quite an impression on me at least. Plus an assist:TO ratio of 3:1 is quite good.
Since we’re on the topic of “valuable point guards”, I hope everyone who watched the Bulls eliminate the Pacers last night appreciated what Derrick Rose means to the Bulls. He was battling foul trouble last night, so was out of the game for significant stretches. That game was Exhibit A in demonstrating that the Bulls are simply “quite ordinary” when he’s not on the floor. Of course, the continuing Incredible Disappearing Act of Carlos Loozer is not helping matters.
Carlos Boozer is a great pic and role player, much like Karl Malone.
If he doesn’t have a point guard who looks to distribute, then his skill set is limited to post up moves. He is OK with those, but he’s not that tall and his inside presence mostly comes on 2nd chance offensive rebounds or great passes down low.
Not a “loozer”, just not an All-Star in the system he is in.
Dan – you took the words out of my mouth.
Dan … C’mon … please don’t compare Boozer to Karl Malone. I agree … he’s not that tall … and he can’t jump, he’s not quick … and not real smart. How many times you gonna foul Tyler Hansbrough 10-15 ft from the basket where he can’t hurt you with turnaround jump shots, Carlos??? Hansbrough can certainly shoot free throws, but he can’t make 10-15 footers with his back to the hoop … not in this league. Duh! Hope you have fun sittin’ on the bench with your 4 fouls and 2 points on 1 of 6 shooting, Carlos. When you decide to show up and play a little smarter, then maybe the Bulls will REALLY be title contenders.
And, Carlos … tell your buddy Luol Deng to NEVER EVER foul a 3 point shooter. (Aren’t these Duke guys supposed to know this stuff already???) Oh, and then there’s Josh McRoberts of the Pacers (another Dukie) who suddenly thought he was in the NHL last night. That was embarrassing.
I’m certainly not the only one witnessing Boozer turn into Loozer:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/rosenblog/chi-chicago-bulls-carlos-boozer-is-bad-and-now-hurt-20110427,0,4133846.column
By the way … just an observation … does anyone else think Indiana’s Jeff Foster was also in the movie “Psycho”? That is one scarey dude … always has that “going postal” look. Yikes.