Toney Douglas and the Infinite Sadness

by YAmareKa on Jan 16, 2012 11:23 AM EST

Watching Toney Douglas play makes me sad. Take the jump (off the ledge).

These are the questions I ask when I watch TD play: What if TD was a couple inches taller? What if he could jump a little higher? What if he was a little faster?

I want him to be all those things. Why? Because maybe he would be what we all want him to be: a player who we all loved and evolved into the player the Knicks need most, a bonafide PG.

I'm sure I'm over thinking this, but it just seems like Toney wants to be better. Better then who he is, better then what he's capable of, but he just can't. He wants be taller, faster, a better PG, but he doesn't have the physical capability of doing it. Now he's just frustrated at the player he is.

In the beginning, there was TD who DWTD. Isn't that why we loved TD to begin with? Toney did what he does, mainly playing stifling defense and being a spark plug. Now? We're asking him to be something more, something that Toney doesn't do, and you can see in his play that it bothers him. He can't be a PG. He can't be taller, faster, jump higher, or pass off the pick and roll. He wants be all those things for his teammates and for us the fans….but he can't.

We as fans have gotten frustrated, but is it Toney's fault that he's been put into this position? Trying to be something he isn't and quite frankly, might never be?

D'antoni:

“He was a little bit behind and then thrown into a starting lineup where everybody expected us to win the championship two weeks ago. I think it got to him a little bit.”

Read: Toney was given impossible expectations, change who he is, and since he can't do it, he's frustrated because he so badly wants to be better.

I'm not saying we can't critique Toney Douglas' play and his ability to run the pick and roll, but don't boo him because he's trying to be something he's not, like this New York Post (!!) article mentioned (http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/knicks/fingers_pointing_kcZMSbcYjHc51CZT34EffJ).

And that's why watching Toney Douglas makes me sad. Toney, if you ever read this, just do what you do. Even if the Knicks want you to be a PG, even if we the fans want you to be a PG, just do what you do and maybe you'll find that shot, the swag and confidence back.

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Comments

Did dantoni say that?

I don’t think anybody had those expectations except him. At the beginning of year he said: “If you have a center from the defending champions on your team and you’ve got two superstars in Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, obviously you’ve got to compete for a championship”.

He put those expectations on the team, he can’t say they are “impossible” expectations if he put them on the team himself….

You just got Tysoned!!!!!!

by Jason Bee on Jan 16, 2012 11:30 AM EST reply actions

I agree, D'antoni didn't give it to him, it was the circumstance

I actually like D’antoni. I think D’antoni is saying that the circumstance of us competing and being in the place we were placed expectations of TD being a PG, which he just isn’t and now it’s affecting his play. And if you’re saying nobody had any expectations, why did people boo him? People booed because he fell short of the expectation of being a competent PG, which TD isn’t.

by YAmareKa on Jan 16, 2012 11:50 AM EST up reply actions

he was being being booed

because he was playing like shit…not just as a competent PG, but as a basketball player

You just got Tysoned!!!!!!

by Jason Bee on Jan 16, 2012 11:53 AM EST up reply actions

and why was he playing terribly?

He got messed up trying to be a player he isn’t and consequently lost his overall confidence/game.

by YAmareKa on Jan 16, 2012 12:07 PM EST up reply actions

I don't know…

I just don’t overall buy that “he wants to be better then who he is, better then what he’s capable of, but he just can’t. He wants be taller, faster, a better PG, but he doesn’t have the physical capability of doing it. Now he’s just frustrated at the player he is”. I think at this point in his career, he knows exactly what he is and thats a role player. A scoring option combo guard who plays adequate defense. I don’t think “everyone” as dantoni put it, expected him to transform into this great PG. I think most people actually expected the PG play to be bad as it actually is, as evidenced by obtaining Bibby and Diddy. I think he’s just going through a bad stretch right now and his shots aren’t falling, again not just as a PG, but as a player.

You just got Tysoned!!!!!!

by Jason Bee on Jan 16, 2012 12:16 PM EST up reply actions

I agree 100 percent with YAmareKa here.

It’s just hard to play your game when you’re trying to play someone else’s game because that’s what the team needs.

Get The Frickin' Rebound

by fuhry on Jan 17, 2012 9:42 AM EST up reply actions

Wait. So I should feel bad for asking him to play like a halfway decent PG?

Formerly known as "GangGrizzle".

by B.Rush on Jan 16, 2012 12:33 PM EST reply actions

You don't have to feel bad

Just don’t expect it to actually happen. And I do think that the game he can play doesn’t get played when you ask him to do that.

Get The Frickin' Rebound

by fuhry on Jan 17, 2012 9:43 AM EST up reply actions

One thing about TD

Is it just me or does Douglas seem to get rocked by screens more so than any other player in the NBA. Douglas chases opponents and doesnt seem to either see the screen coming or he doesn’t care about it which leads directly to him hurting his shoulder.

by Mr. 2 on Jan 16, 2012 12:39 PM EST reply actions