It is a mighty struggle to avoid making this a Knicks blog. For one, grandma bred in me a love for the Blue and Red (or is it orange?) that still stirs me to rapture today. Second, the Knicks are barely relevant without Amar'e Stoudemire as a cipher for Judaism, poetry, race relations, labor disputes and general chicanery. Even so, the Knicks present a challenge to the perceived order of the NBA today. At first dismissed as a sideshow, their threats are real and urgent in the context of the season. Raymond Felton can handle the rock like a maven, though his shooting prowess is limited. Toney Douglas makes up for what Felton lacks in shooting, but has no court vision. Anthony Randolph rebounds where Amar'e can't and a whole long list of Frankenstein parts compensating for amputations. Even Rony Turiaf and Timofey Mozgov work like conjoined twins to fulfill their duties as centers. Generally, it's all confusing but, at least right now, it looks like a load of fun.
New York and Chicago haven't had a true rivalry since a certain No. 23 suited up for the Bulls and a Jamaican immigrant fought arduously to stop him. Aside from the defection of Jamal Crawford from Chicago to New York in his early career, there has been little player movement to even trump up a debate between the two squads. A couple of New York locals have played in the the Bulls uniform, including Ron Artest (The Bridge), Ben Gordon (Money-Earnin' Mount Vernon) and more recently Joakim Noah (Harlem World), but none to scintillating effect. Naturally, the two cities seem like they could be jungle predators fighting for a final bone, but in basketball 2010, Chicago's Derrick Rose/Luol Deng/Joakim Noah combo are the real show here. When TNT decided to air Knicks-Bulls, it was a respectful nod to what that contest should mean but not what it amounted to.
But then in a strange and FourPointPlay-like turn of events, the Knicks turned into the dreamy style small-ball, running-gunning terror I had come to love in my childhood. Specifically, the guard play from Toney Douglas and Raymond Felton were a serene potion of attentive defense and made three-point baskets. In the previous season, though the Knicks shot 2145 threes and made a paltry 34% of them in comparison (the league high was 41%), charges like Danilo Gallinari made a name for themselves by simply showing a willingness to take shots from anywhere on the floor not near the basket. The Mike D'Antoni fusillade of 3-bombs was not enough to make a new man out of Tracy McGrady or Al Harrington, mind you, but it certainly emboldened young phenoms like Gallo and Nate Robinson to fire at will. In the end, it read like a chaotic war plan from an even more desperate platoon.
But on the night Toney Douglas was born, that season of futility culminated into his career-breaking game. In an instant, he made Derrick Rose, a master of tearing into the lane and finding teammates, basically an ineffectual piece because he could not answer shot for shot with his lesser peer, one Toney Douglas. And it brought into question just how important Rose could be if he didn't adapt to this modern game by adding a long-range shot to his arsenal. Although Douglas, Gallinari and D'Antoni have a long way to go before they prove that this strategy works with any other team besides the stacked '05/'06 Phoenix Suns, their dramatic turn into a young squad with something to prove is a source of hope for even the most cynical fans on New York basketball. Specifically, Douglas has been on a mission that re-imagines the term guard in almost the same way that Mike Bibby and Jason Terry did a decade earlier. His first five games have been a story of open court mayhem with 11 threes and 12 steals signifying how his particular set of skills will be a welcome asset as Stoudemire wanders the wilderness of jump-shooting big men. The same way that Amar'e's position of Power Forward betrays the fact that he is, at heart, a scorer who happens to be 6'10, Douglas's label Point Guard betrays his function as a tempo-pusher and shot-maker.
The FourPointPlay is about players who make the biggest difference in 5 minute stretches with non-traditional, impudent grabs for power. Toney Douglas has just made this list. Other players of note, who can choke the life out of a team with a steal and a well-timed three point shot:
- Jamal Crawford
- Mickael Pietrus
- Steph Curry
- Jameer Nelson
- Deron Williams
- Chauncey Billups
- Jason Richardson
This group is as truncated as it is unofficial but it helps for context. Has the post-millennial game leaned more toward players who can not just retain possession but create turnovers and then get the absolute highest point value from the forced turnover? Theorize for a moment if Rajon Rondo could hit three point shots. Is there any doubt the Celtics would have frustrated last year's Lakers all the way to an upset? In basketball, to possess the ball is to determine the course of the game. Any player who can create possessions and convert the highest point total each time is the tacit master of flow. Ask Toney Douglas this season.
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