Cheeks gives Trail Blazers much-needed class.(Chicago Tribune)

Byline: Sam Smith

CHICAGO _ Maurice Cheeks, the ultimate point guard, is becoming the ideal coach and perhaps the best choice for NBA coach-of-the-year honors. His dysfunctional Portland Trail Blazers are the league's hottest team despite a decade's worth of incidents in less than a season.

"Anytime we win, it's the players," says the media-shy Chicago DuSable High School product. "As the head coach, I take the blame for the losses. That's usually the way it is, anyway."

Cheeks' professionalism and quiet dignity have been a beacon of stability for the rollicking Trail Blazers, who've been caught up in fights, arrests and community revulsion all season. Yet, surprisingly, they're in the middle of the playoff fight in the Western Conference.

I remember Cheeks as the point guard for another rambunctious group, the Philadelphia 76ers of the `80s with Julius Erving, Darryl Dawkins, Moses Malone and, later, Charles Barkley. I remember asking Cheeks for an interview because we shared Chicago connections. Cheeks demurred. "You don't want to talk to me," he said. "Talk to the stars."

Always the point guard. Always looking to provide the assist for the big man, to make someone else look good.

A 36th pick from West Texas State in 1978, Cheeks was the John Stockton of his day, quietly efficient, a perennial assists and steals leader. Never thought to have enough ego to coach, Cheeks has insisted that his players accept responsibility for their actions this season and as a result has kept the team from disintegrating.