Bonus points if you can dunk, but its about having a step on someone and knowing that you have guaranteed points. A step, not three steps.

Remember that 6OT game 'Cuse had against UConn? Flynn wasn't dunking on Thabeet, but he could score at the rim with a guy right there and get the foul. He didn't have to get away from the guy to score, he could go at them and score.

Now, Rondo and Rose can do the same without nearly as much effort.

When Marbs was at his best, what was he doing? He used that signature move where he takes a dribble, tucks the ball and runs through someone on his way to a layup. When we were bad he stopped doing that.

I'm really not saying anything controversial here folks. Toney is a nice player. He had a good game, but a good game shooting jumpers. Championship point guards in this league get to the stripe, and part of that is being bigger than the guy they're going against and imposing their will.

Here's what scares me, and yes I know it's one game.

0-0 from the line - you can't expect him to score efficiently without getting to the line as a small guard

1 assist - Marbs says, "How do you get an assist?" Yes, players can make more shots, but there was a lot of standing around just like you see when Nate took over games last year, and when Crawford did before him.

Just like I said after Gallo's two good games, let's see these guys put it all together for a stretch of games. I am of the opinion that Douglas has some physical limitations that will hamper him from doing that. I do hope I'm wrong. It's not a revolutionary statement. He's not physically a favorable matchup against the guards in the Atlantic, or the new generation of guards in general. That's just a fact.

He very well might want it more than they do. What that can overcome is hard to tell. We'll just have to wait and see.

JohnWallace44 wrote:It's not about dunking. Can you use your body to shield the defender and get a layup with the off hand?

Bonus points if you can dunk, but its about having a step on someone and knowing that you have guaranteed points. A step, not three steps.

Remember that 6OT game 'Cuse had against UConn? Flynn wasn't dunking on Thabeet, but he could score at the rim with a guy right there and get the foul. He didn't have to get away from the guy to score, he could go at them and score.

Now, Rondo and Rose can do the same without nearly as much effort.

When Marbs was at his best, what was he doing? He used that signature move where he takes a dribble, tucks the ball and runs through someone on his way to a layup. When we were bad he stopped doing that.

I'm really not saying anything controversial here folks. Toney is a nice player. He had a good game, but a good game shooting jumpers. Championship point guards in this league get to the stripe, and part of that is being bigger than the guy they're going against and imposing their will.

Here's what scares me, and yes I know it's one game.

0-0 from the line - you can't expect him to score efficiently without getting to the line as a small guard

1 assist - Marbs says, "How do you get an assist?" Yes, players can make more shots, but there was a lot of standing around just like you see when Nate took over games last year, and when Crawford did before him.

Just like I said after Gallo's two good games, let's see these guys put it all together for a stretch of games. I am of the opinion that Douglas has some physical limitations that will hamper him from doing that. I do hope I'm wrong. It's not a revolutionary statement. He's not physically a favorable matchup against the guards in the Atlantic, or the new generation of guards in general. That's just a fact.

He very well might want it more than they do. What that can overcome is hard to tell. We'll just have to wait and see.

Regarding the bolded and you got to know, didn't Douglas score our last two baskets on drives and splitting defenders no doubt?
He drove when it counted most and was able to hit some jumpers...

Yeah, you can compare measurements of players, their times, etc. but that is like showing me a picture of your hot girlfriend, her IQ score, etc. when to really understand her, or any person (e.g. - basketball player), you got to look into their heart. You got to see what they are made of, not on paper and rationally but with a bit of our other, dare I say, senses. Vision being one of them. And then intuition being another. You know, you can watch the guys game and see/feel so much about a player that doesn't show up in the stats. Like Gallo was doing (though not as much recently).

Regarding Douglas, from what I read about his character, work ethic and from what I see on the court, the guy has a chance to be a player. How good, as with most, is up to him. He has incredible quickness. But he does need to learn to finish more often, as you said.

John, you said "he got by guy on a couple of plays. I'm aware. Very nice plays in fact." Saying "a couple of plays" is missing the point and you know that. It was our last two baskets. It was when it counted. You are leaving out the obvious to make your argument sound better. And if you want your arguments to be taken seriously, then be a bit more fair to both sides. You make good points but you also avoid glaring weaknesses in your argument. Your "couple of plays" point is my case in point and is often littered through your posts. I am not the first to mention that. Not trying to pick on you, just want to make that clear.

EMS

Gallo followed his 30 point game that was similarly one-dimensional and played what I thought was a great game getting a lot of assists and getting to the line. Not much since.

All these young guys just need to find consistency and keep building on their game.

This team looks like it's using the regular season as the training camp. I hope they can start getting some pieces to fit soon. It's hard to watch as you all know.

JohnWallace44 wrote:

earthmansurfer wrote:Regarding Douglas, in particular to JohnWallace44, it's going to take quite a bit of time to see what we have.

Yeah, you can compare measurements of players, their times, etc. but that is like showing me a picture of your hot girlfriend, her IQ score, etc. when to really understand her, or any person (e.g. - basketball player), you got to look into their heart. You got to see what they are made of, not on paper and rationally but with a bit of our other, dare I say, senses. Vision being one of them. And then intuition being another. You know, you can watch the guys game and see/feel so much about a player that doesn't show up in the stats. Like Gallo was doing (though not as much recently).

Regarding Douglas, from what I read about his character, work ethic and from what I see on the court, the guy has a chance to be a player. How good, as with most, is up to him. He has incredible quickness. But he does need to learn to finish more often, as you said.

John, you said "he got by guy on a couple of plays. I'm aware. Very nice plays in fact." Saying "a couple of plays" is missing the point and you know that. It was our last two baskets. It was when it counted. You are leaving out the obvious to make your argument sound better. And if you want your arguments to be taken seriously, then be a bit more fair to both sides. You make good points but you also avoid glaring weaknesses in your argument. Your "couple of plays" point is my case in point and is often littered through your posts. I am not the first to mention that. Not trying to pick on you, just want to make that clear.

EMS

Good stuff EarthMan.

My response would be that you can have your girls with personality. We have a lot of players on this Knicks team that you could "bring home to mom." I dated this Asian chick once who was half crazy, lived in a squatters apartment between Avenue C and D. She was a dancer too. Not your average girl. Now, I would not introduce her to my mother... but if I had to win one game, so to speak... I'd dial her number.

Get what I mean? Different strokes for different folks, but Donnie obviously needs one of those freakydeeky chicks. Look how the dude is dressed. You can tell he misses that kind of girl in his life, but they are currently wearing Lakers and Golden State jerseys.

Now, you can't have five girls that get in fights and burn your apartment down. The Blazers tried that a few years back.

I hear you on Douglas. I have not at all dismissed that he had a great game. Just giving you my reasoning as to why I think that is a little bit like fool's gold, just like the game where Gallo hit all the threes was not as promising as the next game where he made plays but didn't shoot as well. And you notice that he had to keep hitting for us to stay in it.

Here's the last few plays in the 4th. Douglas makes the two great plays you're talking about where he gets by the defender hitting the runners and it's 93-93, then he doesn't box out and Okur gets the put-back and the Knicks are down 2. There was 1:16 left at that point.

- Knicks go down, Harrington misses a 3 - 1:03 left
- Utah runs clock, AK47 hoists a 3 and misses - 39 seconds left
- Hughes tries to take it coast to coast and gets blocked - 30 seconds left
- Utah runs more clock, Brewer misses a jumper - 7 seconds left, Knicks take timeout
- Knicks run the failed Hughes play, Douglas tries an up and under move and misses - game over.

Obviously the Hughes block has nothing to do with Douglas. Just a dumb play by him, and Douglas is just a rookie so, whatever, you can't kill him for not demanding the ball and dictating the action but the Knicks will not win with final possessions like this. Utah's begging to get beat, and you just have to force the action instead of trying two contested foul-line leaners and a three pointer out of the corner. I have no idea how much of that is on the coach and how much is on the player, but I know that the players of the type that I'm hoping for in the Knicks future at the PG position would just take it to the paint to force the action in the closing seconds. We lose all the time to Wade, LeBron, Gordon, in those instances.

Rose was huge for the Bulls last night as they were down by two points. He penetrated and got to the line from just playing an isolated 1on1 on the top.. Just apropos PG's and FT's.