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rvwink
Posts: 20412
Alba Posts: 0
Joined: 7/3/2006
Member: #1145
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Four smart people really liked Toney Douglas. Clearly D'Antoni and Walsh are the first two and Coach K is number three. Coach K apparently thought Toney Douglas was the most valuable player in his conference, instead of Ty Lawson. The fourth guy is David Falk. Douglas is the only player David Falk's is representing in this years draft. He doesn't need the money and more, thanks to representing players like Michael Jordon, and I get the idea that he wouldn't go out on a limb and predict big things for Toney Douglas if he didn't believe it. He he was a bench player, I don't think he would waste his time with him. I don't include myself in the four smart people, but I have listened to some interviews and spent some time researching things on the net, and I too really like Toney Doublas.
First, he is the fastest player in the NBA draft in the 3 quarter court dash. (7th fastest on record.) Second he is strong. I didn't look extensively but he managed 15 repetitions and 14 was the highest I saw otherwise for a guard. He also prides himself on being tough and he is dedicated to playing defense. Despite being only 6'2", Toney was the most valuable defensive player in his conference. Part of the reason was his excellent wingspan. He is a student of the game which helps him average about 2 steals a game for his college career.
The scouting reports say that his assists averages are too low, and the number of incompleted passes was too high. They also say he is a shoot first player, who is too small to play shooting guard and not a good enough passer to play point guard. Also because he spent 5 years in college, due to transfering, Toney is 23, another negative.
Toney knew based on his height that he needed to be a point guard to make the NBA. Unfortunately in his first year at Auburn, the coach that recruited him left, and the replacement insisted on playing him at shooting guard. He tried to turn to the draft after his freshment year, but was persuaded otherwise. One consequence was that his scholarship was canceled at Auburn and so he needed to transfer and chose Florida State. The next two years, Florida State had other people playing the point, so again, he didn't get the experience he wanted playing point guard. Only in his senior year, did he get the experience he wanted playing point. Another negative for Toney is that his overall assist numbers are not attractive, but Toney needed to be the leading scorer for the team averaging 20 points a game, and so he simply couldn't be a pass first point guard. He succeeded in his goal to take Florida State to the NCAA tournament, something the Gators hadn't done for a number of years.
Toney's favorite player is Joe Dumars. I think he is near the size of Chancey Billups and like David Faulk I believe he has the potential to be a winner in the NBA despite his size and other shortcomings. For those that like Nate Robinson, I think Toney Douglas has made it time for him to leave. I expect him to make the Knick's active rotation in his rookie year. He has a long wingspan, and with his defensive prowess and lateral speed, I think he will be able to guard 6'4" or even 6'5" shooting guards effectively, and get significant playing time at the two guard positions, unless the Knick's draft another point guard, and make Chris Duhon a backup, in which case I still think Toney Douglas will thrive as a backup shooting guard.
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6/30/2009 12:15 AM
