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Douglas Pointing Noles In Right Direction

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By SCOTT CARTER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 18, 2007

Updated: 12/17/2007 11:47 pm

TALLAHASSEE - With his brother Harry in the stands 10 days ago, Florida State's Toney Douglas grabbed a loose ball, raced up the court and dunked in FSU's runaway victory over Maine. Harry, a wide receiver at Louisville and occasional one-on-one opponent for Toney, jumped to his feet as his brother looked over and smiled.

To the Douglas brothers, it was just Toney being Toney. After all, while growing up near Atlanta, nobody racked up the points better than Toney. As a senior at Jonesboro High in 2004, Douglas led the state in scoring, dropping in 34 points a game.

Douglas took his quickness and sweet touch down Interstate 85 to Auburn, where he led all Southeastern Conference freshmen in scoring (16.9 points per game) during the 2004-05 season. But with professional aspirations, Douglas realized there are not many 6-foot-1 scoring machines in the NBA not named Allen Iverson. So, after his freshman season and some difference of opinion at Auburn, Douglas packed his bags and headed to FSU, where Noles coach Leonard Hamilton promised to turn Douglas into a point guard.

The experiment is apparently working.

When Georgia State visited FSU earlier in the season, former Ole Miss coach Rod Barnes, in his first year at Georgia State, prepared to face the high-scoring Douglas who averaged 19 points and 5.5 rebounds in two games against Barnes' Ole Miss team as a freshman. Instead, Douglas played floor general in FSU's 78-48 victory, scoring 10 points and dishing out three assists in little more (23 minutes) than half a game.

"He is a different player, a totally different player," Barnes said. "When he was a freshman at Auburn, they ran plays for him and he came off screens. He shot the ball 18, 19 times. He scored a lot of points. He has come in here and they have turned him into a point guard who can still score. I think he is really focused right now on running their team."

The transition hasn't been an easy one for Douglas, who suffered a broken hand late last season right when he was beginning to learn his new role. With Douglas out of the lineup, FSU lost five consecutive games, crushing its bid to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998.

"When he got injured, I thought he was playing his best basketball," Hamilton said. "I remember a couple of games when we were really playing well, and Toney had barely taken any shots. And he was playing really well, too. I think he was starting to get it."

Douglas finished second on the team to Al Thornton in scoring last season, but with Thornton gone to the NBA, Douglas has continued to focus on getting everyone involved rather than taking on the majority of the scoring load like he used to. Douglas has scored in double figures in all 12 of FSU's games entering tonight's game against College of Charleston, but he rarely looks for his shot first.

"He has made such a conscientious effort on the offensive end this year to be more of a guy who understands the role of a point guard," Hamilton said. "It was a big adjustment for him. I think he has really improved his understanding of how to be the point guard we need."

At first, Douglas wondered how difficult the change of pace would be, especially with the loss of Thornton and the team's need for additional scoring. But a dozen games into his junior season, Douglas is confident he is on his way to becoming a strong point guard. Besides averaging 12.7 points and three assists, Douglas is leading the Atlantic Coast Conference with 2.8 steals a game, his defense often igniting FSU's offense.

"I'm real comfortable," Douglas said. "I'm just trying to make my teammates better. Whatever I have to do for us to be successful, I'm going to do."

And if that means an occasional dunk like the old days, so be it.

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