With a week of training camp in the books, one thing we’ve all hoped for this offseason (and in camp) is for Russell Westbrook to evolve into more of a floor-leading general of a point guard. Become a guy that controls the game. Own the ball. Take leadership in your position. And honestly, I’m not sure how many people out there are better to learn all that from than Mo Cheeks. If he can teach it as well as he did it, then Westbrook will take quite a leap this year. Observe the fantasticness that was Maurice Cheeks: Point Guard. Maybe that was Step 1 for Russ – pop in some game film of coach, grab a notepad and let the learning begin.

I became a big Sonic homer after that, but I still remember some of the lesser known guys in that finals series, Kurt Rambis with the big birth control horned rimmed glasses, Andrew Toney with an amazingly sweet stroke, Bobby Jones doing the dirty work and Michael Cooper’s lock down defense. I also sort of remember the guy who facilitated the Philly offense: Mo Cheeks.

It always amazes me when I player or a coach who I’ve sort of been keeping tabs on for years winds up on my team. It’s happened more times than I can remember. Cheeks is one of those guys. Never flashy, just sort of a classy, a bit above average coach who has been bouncing around the league learning his craft. He’s two games shy of a career .500 record in parts of 8 NBA seasons which is nothing to sneeze at. He’s a guy that can only enrich the coaching ranks for the leagues youngest team with a rookie at the helm.

It’s been so long that I really can’t remember what Cheek’s game was like as a player. I know I watched him, and I remember him playing, but I can’t remember the stylings of his game. And now that we have a head coach who was a Point Guard, a lead assistant who was a Point Guard, an old hand veteran as our third PG in Kevin Ollie, a guy who was the 4th pick in the draft in ’08 learning to be our starting Point Guard, and a guy who is coming off the worst knee injury I’ve ever seen in basketball as our young backup Point Guard, I thought it might be entertaining to put them all up against each other statistically and see how they shake out as Point Guards. Who was the best pure PG? Who had the best Assist to Turn ratio? Who would win a game of “horse” or one on one?

	Fga/36	Fta/36	Pts/36	Fg%	3Fg%	TS%	eFG%	Points per shot	Off. Rtgg.
Cheeks	9.7	3..0	12.6	.523	.255	.572	.526	1.30	116
Ollie	7.2	3.6	8.8	.410	.321	.500	.413	1.21	105
Brooks	10.7	2.6	12.9	.450	.372	.547	.503	1.21	116
Westbrook	14.8	5.8	17	.399	.271	.490	.415	1.14	.99
Livingston	9.2	2.3	9.9	.455	.231	.481	.447	1.07	.98

Clearly Mo Cheeks is the class of this group of point guards. Offensively he was a deadly efficient shooter from everywhere except from three. His first year in the league the Association didn’t even allow the three, but in his 2nd through 14th and final season, it wasn’t his strong suit. His 116 offensive rating, his 1.30 points per shot and his shooting percentages tell a story of great offensive efficiency otherwise. Scott Brooks also was a very efficient scorer. Brooks was especially accurate from three; during his final three seasons in the league he shot .403, .407 and .455 from deep respectively. Kevin Ollie’s shooting is sort of mediocre for his career, but it’s not horrible. It’s Westbrook and Livingston who are offensively below average. Livingston hasn’t attempted a three during his comeback from knee surgery, and he didn’t shoot it well beforehand either. Westbrook calls his own number more than any other on this list, but has the worst shooting numbers. His saving grace is the frequency with which he attacks the rim and gets to the line. In all fairness RW was a rookie and his numbers here are being compared to seasoned veteran’s career numbers. I expect Westbrook to make a big jump in efficiency in the upcoming season.

	Reb/36	Reb. %	Stl/36	Stl%	Ast/36	Ast%	Tov/36	Tov%	At/Tov ratio
Cheeks	3.2	4.9	2.4	3.2	7.6	29.2	2.3	17.5	3.25
Ollie	3.6	5.7	1.2	1.7	5.3	22.6	1.7	16.5	3.04
Brooks	2.7	4.2	1.9	2.6	6.3	25.0	1.8	13.0	3.56
Westbrook	5.4	8.6	1.5	2.1	5.9	27.5	3.7	17.6	1.58
Livingston	4.2	6.8	1.2	1.8	6.2	27.4	2.6	20.3	2.36

This is where the comparisons begin to get a little tighter. Westbrook is in a class by himself with regards to rebounding. He rebounds like a small forward not a rookie point guard. Livingston’s height and long arms make him a very good rebounder from the PG position as well. Ollie also is a decent rebounder. The shortest two guys (Cheeks and Brooks) are obviously the least proficient on the boards. Cheeks was a good thief and well known as a ball hound in the passing lanes as he was top five in the league in steals in 7 of his seasons. He was All-Defensive first team 4 times. Interestingly Brooks takes second place on the list with his quick hands. Cheeks and Brooks were the best assist men per 36 minutes but Westbrook and Livingston have 2nd and 3rd place by assist percentage (which has a bit more to do with team style of play). Ollie and Brooks were/are the most sure handed of this group which bodes well for the future prospects of Russell Westbrook in a mentoring capacity; Russell unfortunately led the league in turnovers. I would have been very surprised if you would have told me that Scott Brooks led this group in Assist to Turnover ratio. I would have guessed Cheeks or Ollie. Westbrook and Livingston are still very young and have played on losing teams for the most part. Both guys should improve with more experience in the league.

	PER	PAWS	Usage%	Def Rtg.	Height	Weight	Draft	Draft Pos.
Cheeks	16.5	3.45	15.2	105	6'-1"	180	36th	1978
Ollie	11	-.95	13.4	108	6'-4"	195	Not	Drafted
Brooks	14.5	.64	16.2	109	5'-11"	165	Not	Drafted
Westbrook	15.2	-.80	25.8	111	6'-3"	187	4th	2008
Livingston	11.7	-1.0	16.5	106	6'-7"	182	4th	2004

And finally, some random stuff thrown in there just for fun. The four time All-Star and NBA champ Mo Cheeks (it’s bound to help playing alongside Dr. J and Moses Malone) was the champion also in PER and Position Adjusted Win Score. Brooks rounded out as nearly average on PER and slightly above average on PAWS. Ollie and Livingston would be considered below average on both, and Westbrook is below average on PAWS as a PG, and a bit above average on PER (which doesn’t account for position played). Usage% tells us how often a player uses a possession himself (by shooting, turning the ball over, free throws and a little credit for assists). RW was far and away the leader; he in fact was second on the team to Kevin Durant and had 18% higher usage than the next highest player Jeff Green. Russell’s inner man is clearly at war with his shooting guard tendencies. Ollie shows a high tendency for pass first/shoot last play. Cheeks shows his defensive skill with a defensive rating of 105 points allowed per 100 possessions. Ollie and Brooks seem to be average defenders. Livingston’s Defensive rating was about 106 before the knee blew out, but tracked at 111 with the Thunder, the same as Westbrook. For reference the Thunder as a team allowed 109.4 points/100, so Livingston and Westbrook were below average on the team

The three guys currently in uniform for the Thunder (Ollie, Westbrook and Livingston) are the three largest specimens on the list, and undoubtedly Westbrook is the best athlete of the bunch. In a game of one on one I would take Westbrook over any of these guys right now as a rookie, but in a team setting Mo is the class of the group and second is Scott Brooks. I think Brooks or Cheeks would likely take the trophy among these five in a game of “horse”, probably even now.

I think Cheeks’ addition to the bench is a great asset for the Thunder in both a mentoring capacity for Westbrook and Livingston, but also as an experienced X’s and O’s guy for our rookie head coach. The Thunder were woeful offensively last season and Coach Cheeks with Portland and Philly had them in the top half of the league offensively 3 out of 7 seasons. I think the hire also shows great maturity and and a sincere desire to improve and succeed by Brooks. He’s not afraid of having a coach with a ton more experience than he has sitting next to him on the bench. How cool is that? The Thunder can’t help but to gain positive influence from having Cheeks on board, and Ollie too for that matter.

Maurice Cheeks and Rex Kalamian have been hired as an assistant coaches by the Thunder. It was previously reported that Dale Osbourne, a former assistant with the Utah Flash, has taken a job with Oklahoma City. But it appears Osbourne will join the Tulsa 66ers, the D-League affiliate of the Thunder, in some capacity.

Cheeks most recently was the head coach of the 76ers (2005-2008) and has been the head man with Portland as well. He was also a 15-year veteran in the NBA playing point guard and was actually teammates with Scott Brooks at one point. I must say that I’m thrilled with Cheeks coming on staff. He’s a great person and a great basketball mind. Not to mention he was named NBA All-Defense five times and was a four-time All-Star. The Thunder’s got some players that can certainly benefit from Cheeks’ defensive wisdom.

Kalamian was an assistant with Brooks in Denver and was most recently an assistant in Sacramento. He’s spent time in Minnesota, Los Angeles (Clippers) and also two seasons in Philly before Cheeks was the head coach there. I must say I don’t know much about him. He “specializes” in player development, which is right up the Thunder’s alley.