Toney “Baloney” Douglas is widely maligned as one of the worst players in the NBA. This is not entirely fair. He has one NBA-level skill (shooting threes), and an intelligent coach would not expect him to do anything other than that. Instead, he is forced to not play to his strengths when teams demand that he play defense, execute plays, shoot non-three-pointers, rebound, assist, and play intelligent basketball. That’s like telling Kobe not to chuck relentlessly, or telling Durant to miss shots. It won’t work.
In this game, my man Toney Baloney is overshadowed by Jeremy Lin and Tony Parker, but still puts together a decent game. He was five-of-seven from three and one-of-four from non-three. Tell me how that makes any sense at all. Two-point shots are, as a rule, closer to the basket than three-point shots. So they should be easier! Right? Somebody should tell Toney that. There is never any reason to shoot a better percentage from three than from the field as a whole. But again, this is probably just a case of his coach not playing to his strengths. New rule for Toney: never venture inside the three point line. As history has cruelly taught us, it can only end badly.