Duhon is terrible enough that you could start anyone and it would probably be an improvement, but Douglas is not the be-all-end-all player for us at the position unfortunately. I see him as being a BJ Armstrong, Fisher type, which is good enough when you have all-stars at the other spots, but should be a backup.

What I was very happy to see is that Douglas seems to be taking the plays that the defense gives you in this offense. Where Duhon had been seeing open lanes to the basket and saying, no thank you, for some unkown reason, Douglas was finishing those plays.

Same plays have been there for Duhon, but he just wasn't playing like he was interested in finishing them.

Playing Douglas will eliminate some of the massive deficits we've been finding ourselves in, but I don't see the skills in his game to put us over the top at all. Gallo, Chandler and Al need to be the primary scoring options. Lee should get the garbage points, and the PG just needs to take what's there.

martin wrote:

JohnWallace44 wrote:Martin, is www.kneejerk.com available?

Douglas is terrible enough that you could start anyone and it would probably be an improvement, but Douglas is not the be-all-end-all player for us at the position unfortunately. I see him as being a BJ Armstrong, Fisher type, which is good enough when you have all-stars at the other spots, but should be a backup.

What I was very happy to see is that Douglas seems to be taking the plays that the defense gives you in this offense. Where Duhon had been seeing open lanes to the basket and saying, no thank you, for some unkown reason, Douglas was finishing those plays.

Same plays have been there for Duhon, but he just wasn't playing like he was interested in finishing them.

Playing Douglas will eliminate some of the massive deficits we've been finding ourselves in, but I don't see the skills in his game to put us over the top at all. Gallo, Chandler and Al need to be the primary scoring options. Lee should get the garbage points, and the PG just needs to take what's there.

Douglas is not here to put the Knicks over the top or be an all-star. He plays tenacious D, he stays in front of his man, he pushes the ball, he rebounds, he deflects, he steals, and he is a proven scorer. He still has to prove he can do all of those things at the NBA level consistently, but we already know his work ethic is there. Dude just went head to head with perhaps the #2 PG in the league and didn't look foolish. IMHO, per his experience, he is not a liability and shows good potential to be a 2-way starter.

I have no idea where you get the BJ and/or Fisher comparisons. Those guys were/are primarily one dimensional - life outside playing next to a super-duper star would show those guys to be bench dudes.

You get me Jerryd Bayless to go along with Toney Douglas, suddenly I'd feel real good about the PG situation in NY..

Where are all the guys who had doubts about his shooting ability now? Most of them are shutting up because they may be realizing that they had/have no idea about how young players develop. Nobody really understands the various dynamics that factor into how well a young player performs at this level and how long it takes them to become players capable of contributing in the NBA. That's why I find it humorous to read pronouncements by some declaring this or that rookie to be a bust or a bad pick based on a few games in the SL or pre-season.

I never had doubts about his shooting ability- although I did wonder how he would do from the 3pt line. If you saw his college clips you would have known that they guy is an excellent midrange jump shooter- and you don't just lose that ability because you move up a level. The final Nets pre-season game gave us an idea of what he might be able to do as a pro, and these last two games have confirmed it with me. He is also showing us that the hype about his defense was legit, and the same confidence that seems to be helping his offensive game, is showing up on D, where he suddenly seems a step quicker because he is coming to understand what he is capable of doing at this level as a defender.

He is not ready to start yet- mainly because he still has to work on his judgment as a distributor, and understand that he has enough quickness to get to the basket more often and not just rely on his J, but it is great to see him evolving in such a short period of time, and he is more than worthy of 20-25 MPG with this team. He still has a lot to improve on, but the guy is a player, and for at least the past two games he is looking like one of the steals in this draft-maybe not a guy to build around, but one to build with, whether he be a starter or a key rotational player.

Toney Douglas was the best player on the floor at least last night. He was hitting his shots. 3 pointers, shots off picks, pull up jumpers in transition, drives to the basket....

Totally impressed with this kid.

SupremeCommander wrote:As far as I'm concerned, douglas should start. Hill should start. Gallo and Chandler should start. We could go 4 on 5 and I wouldn't care. Get them their reps.

yeah... how is hill getting dnp's gonna help the kid? if hes a bum then fine, you found it out. send him to the d-l if he is gonna continue to get not time or garbage time. id rather take lumps now. gotta find some guys who can help going fwd then play guys who you know for sure are gone or arent in the plans.

unwatchable basketball may be the consequence... as if that hasnt been the case for a long time now anyway.