crzymdups wrote:

Finestrg wrote:

Olbrannon wrote:

Finestrg wrote:I was gonna create a tread about this but I'll mention it here: anyone else feel like Mike's a little too hard on this dude sometimes? Seems to always be yelling at him for something he didn't do right.. I know coach has the right intention but I dunno man, I would think those are hard conditions to perform under, no? Maybe a little more positive reinforcement would work a little better..I mean what the hell's the matter with this D'Antoni sometimes? He does realize they didn't draft point guard with this guy, right??? Thank God Douglas is a good coachable kid that takes it in stride but sometimes it looks a little overkill to me..Where does it say that TD has to be this guy's whipping boy?? I personally don't care to see TD getting chewed out time & time again--not the right approach if you ask me. Any thoughts?

Right here with you on that one. I feel it would be best to address this in a calm manner the next day while reviewing the game with him. At the moment it is all raw emotion and unproductive. That play is over move on to the next play. The guy already feels bad when he makes a mistake and needs to be refocused on the play at hand not the last one.

Absolutely..There was a situation a few games back at home where Mike, TD & Chauncey were discussing a play together during a timeout..After D'Antoni appeared to chew TD out yet again per usual, Toney and Billups walked back onto the court continuing the discussion..Right after leaving the bench, it looked like TD laughed a little as if to say, 'yeah this guy does that to me all the time.' Anyone remember that? Anyway, I agree with you O -- this guy's not a natural PG..It's gonna take time getting him to where they want although as we're seeing lately, he's improved a great deal and should keep improving..There's gotta be a better way of reaching him than constantly taking him to task on national TV every damn night..I don't care for it at all..Lay off the guy man..Dude's doing his best and that good enough for me..Toney's the only one that Mike takes that tone with it seems..There's plenty we have to be thankful for with Douglas--I hope D'Antoni realizes that. I'm sure he does--he just has an odd way of showing it..

I think Billups is already an invaluable mentor for Toney. and I think he'll continue to be one.

Mike is hard on his point guard. A lot of coaches are. Pop was hard on Tony Parker, still is. LB was hard on Chauncey. etc. point guards play the most demanding position on the floor, offensively.

Toney is learning and handling himself really well. It's still nice that we'll get Chauncey back soon as an end game killer.

I'm in this boat. If anyone remembers how much Pop yelled at Tony Parker back when he first came into the league, well, if would make MDA seem mild by comparison.

The part that is telling: MDA yelled at AR and then sat him, MDA yells at TD and plays him (ok, there are a few more factors going on with playing time). I think MDA sees some very good things that TD can do.

I'm not saying he's worthless. He was a great pick-up where we got him, he's definitely getting better, and he can be a key guy off the bench because of hustle, speed and D. I just don't think his ceiling is as high as others on this thread seem to. I think people's vision is being clouded by his recent excellent play.

Paladin55 wrote:TD did not exactly make me feel confident at the end of the game yesterday. You want a PG who you feel is not going to make foolish mistakes on the court at the conclusion of the game- a guy who will not give up the ball in crunch time, as well as a guy who can keep the offense on task.

Someone else on UK mentioned that he has a habit of pulling back against very little resistance from the man guarding him. Very annoying at times, he he seems too willing to reliquish the ball when he should be the one setting things up.

I like Douglas as a player, but he has some limitations which cannot be overlooked.

Childs2Dudley wrote:

Ira wrote:I'm very happy with the job he's been doing in Billups' absence. It's true that he's not a classic point guard in the John Stockton mode. But he's showing more ability in that respect and brings so much else to the table. His d is very good; he pushes the ball up well and he has a good outside shot. Buying that pick and using it on Douglas was a big plus for the Knicks.

Toney's shot is not really good. He's a streak shooter shooting 41% from the field, 34% from 3. These aren't good numbers. His defense is overrated. All he does is try to go for a steal most of the time and gets lost on assignments.

Anthony Carter is a better defender. Carter is also a better point guard. I would prefer he start and play more minutes than Toney.

Mike played Toney more than Carter yesterday because he was having a good offensive night.

Toney's defense is definately overrated. He gambles way to much. Often times his quickness bails him out.

He has a lot to learn about defense from this wiley vet:

tj23 wrote:Some nice play recently. Still not a good starter. Can't see it. Not a pg. Not a smooth athlete. Poor ball handler and bad decision maker. He only looks good when his shot is falling.

tj23 - TD BETTER be a good starter. Chauncey Billups knee has not cooperated with the script and the playoffs are right around the corner.

Has anyone really been watching these games lately? TD is playing great ball. Sure he makes mistakes but he is getting better.I hear everone talking about Anthony Carter. Yes spot moments for Carter is great but if you think that you are going to put Carter in every game and start before Douglas you will see the true age coming out of Carter. He looks good now because his playing time is what it is and he is not being over worked. We are not getting beat because of a point guard issue. We are getting beat because we do not have a big man in the middle and I'm not talking about a 6.10 guy I'm talking about a 7foot plus guy who can defend a block shots and rebound. We need a 7 foot bruiser before we need a Chris Paul or another PG. I saw Amare matched up against Chandler in the Mavericks game and Amare looked about 4 inches shorter and he couldn't do the things he wanted to do.

not my kinda playa!

Paladin55 wrote:TD did not exactly make me feel confident at the end of the game yesterday. You want a PG who you feel is not going to make foolish mistakes on the court at the conclusion of the game- a guy who will not give up the ball in crunch time, as well as a guy who can keep the offense on task.

Someone else on UK mentioned that he has a habit of pulling back against very little resistance from the man guarding him. Very annoying at times, he he seems too willing to reliquish the ball when he should be the one setting things up.

I like Douglas as a player, but he has some limitations which cannot be overlooked.

Papabear Says

Why do we keep on talking about point guards when we keep getting killed because we have no defense and please note Toney Douglas in one of our best defenders. We need a Big Center who can robound, block shots , and defend!!Point Blank.

Papabear wrote:

Finestrg wrote:

Olbrannon wrote:

Finestrg wrote:I was gonna create a tread about this but I'll mention it here: anyone else feel like Mike's a little too hard on this dude sometimes? Seems to always be yelling at him for something he didn't do right.. I know coach has the right intention but I dunno man, I would think those are hard conditions to perform under, no? Maybe a little more positive reinforcement would work a little better..I mean what the hell's the matter with this D'Antoni sometimes? He does realize they didn't draft point guard with this guy, right??? Thank God Douglas is a good coachable kid that takes it in stride but sometimes it looks a little overkill to me..Where does it say that TD has to be this guy's whipping boy?? I personally don't care to see TD getting chewed out time & time again--not the right approach if you ask me. Any thoughts?

Right here with you on that one. I feel it would be best to address this in a calm manner the next day while reviewing the game with him. At the moment it is all raw emotion and unproductive. That play is over move on to the next play. The guy already feels bad when he makes a mistake and needs to be refocused on the play at hand not the last one.

Absolutely..There was a situation a few games back at home where Mike, TD & Chauncey were discussing a play together during a timeout..After D'Antoni appeared to chew TD out yet again per usual, Toney and Billups walked back onto the court continuing the discussion..Right after leaving the bench, it looked like TD laughed a little as if to say, 'yeah this guy does that to me all the time.' Anyone remember that? Anyway, I agree with you O -- this guy's not a natural PG..It's gonna take time getting him to where they want although as we're seeing lately, he's improved a great deal and should keep improving..There's gotta be a better way of reaching him than constantly taking him to task on national TV every damn night..I don't care for it at all..Lay off the guy man..Dude's doing his best and that good enough for me..Toney's the only one that Mike takes that tone with it seems..There's plenty we have to be thankful for with Douglas--I hope D'Antoni realizes that. I'm sure he does--he just has an odd way of showing it..

Papabear Says

I'm quite sure that when TD's contract is up there will be plenty of teams wanting to get him and pay him. The reason why tony Douglas is putting up with Mike D is because he is aware of what Mike D is capable of doing. Destorying as young players career. So Tony D is just biting his time and getting better. Everyone sees what Mike D is doing to TD but he keeps on playing ball.