TheGame wrote:

Olbrannon wrote:

martin wrote:

Olbrannon wrote:combo guards seem to be more common than a true point. If you have two on the floor does it equal a true one?

So I know you have followed Toney throughout college, etc. What's your take on how well this kid can learn the PG position?

I was actually more impressed with his PG tangibles in the summer league than I have seen recently, but that may just be because has been playing Douglas off the ball. Or perhaps the time spent on the floor is just too little to notice a bigger PG landscape. I know don't, but especially during the 4th quarter of the ORL game last night, I didn't see much from Toney outside of shooting skills (and D) and not much in the way of running an offense.

thoughts? I know these things take a few years.

In order to pass well I think first you need the other team to respect your outside shot so they don't sag on to your target. He's got that now I think. Pro game the players are taller and faster and better schooled. I believe the openings are smaller and Toney unsure at times would rather do something else rather than force it in and have a turnover. The ball is the most precious thing in the game and he gets that.

I think you really hit it. This kid understands that turnovers kill your team and he does not want to turn the ball over so he is only doing what he is comfortable doing. If the coaching staff runs this kid through pick and roll drills all summer to where he is making those passing 100-200 times each day, by the time next season starts, he will be able to run the plays as well as Duhon with the added benefit of actually being able to hit an outside shot or drive to the hoop.

I'll re-iterate again that I like TD but his A/T ratio .93 - which is awful. So his not getting assists is not just because he is protecting the ball.

Having a PG who can dish and dunk doesn't hurt, either.

TheGame wrote:

TMS wrote:

EnySpree wrote:

TMS wrote:

kam77 wrote:The only thing you need to be a PG is a pass-first mentality.

just having a pass first mentality doesn't mean anything unless u have the court vision & awareness to make the right decisions w/the ball & set guys up in the right spots for easy baskets... it's not easy to run an offense & get ur teammates involved before looking for ur own shots

But if Toney is open or if he has a driving lane....he scores it at 49% clip. Everything he does is within the flow.

whether or not he has the ability to be john stockton is irrelevant to his impact on the team when he is in there. I don't agree with the fact that D'antoni needs a ball dominating point guard for his system to work...His system is ball movement, pick and rolling cutting, and moving. The ball should be moving around with everyone getting a shot at making a good pass. Toney Douglas is doing a great job at that...labeling him a combo guard isn't fair.

On this team...what is Duhon??? A guy that shoots 40 foot 3pters before his team crosses the half court line is a pure point guard??? Duhon has been a combo guard his whole career especially in Duke.

Toney Douglas needs to be handed this team right now....Toney was the best point guard on the floor last night on either team.

bro, don't get me wrong i love the kid, but i haven't seen anything from him yet that shows me he is a viable longterm solution at starting PG... i'm sure w/work he can develop that part of his game but as of now he's another undersized SG like Nate w/o the knuckleheaded shenanigans & less explosion.

I don't disagree that he is not a natural PG, but he is someone with a high basketball IQ that has the ability to control his game. Honestly, MDA is not running him as the pg. When he is in the game, Hughes takes over at point. So we really have not seen whether he can actual run MDA's offense, except in summer league. He needs reps. This next summer, if I were the Knicks, I would hire a full practice team and have Douglas run the pick and roll play from different angles about 200-300 times in a row every day for the entire summer. This kid is smart and I think with reps, he will develop the feel for the offense that Duhon has, only he will be able to actually score unlike dudu.

I disagree only in degrees. Although Duhon has not been good he does have some PG skills. I do think TD is smart and can develop but I doubt he'll develop into a distributer as quickly as you think.