Raptors not sure what they have in Douby http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/613704 Apr 04, 2009 09:00 AM DAVE FESCHUK ORLANDO, FLA.-By signing Quincy Douby to a second 10-day contract yesterday, the Raptors continued their quest to answer the most obvious question that surrounds the young guard. To wit: Why was Douby drafted with the 19th overall pick by the Sacramento Kings in the 2006 draft, only to rot on the Kings' bench for most of the past three seasons? Perhaps it's because he's a classic tweener, smaller, at a wisp-thin 6-foot-3, than the traditional shooting guard, but not possessed of top-notch point-guard skills. Or perhaps Douby, who prefers to describe himself as a combo guard, has a theory that's as good as any: "In Sacramento I had three coaches in three years, and I didn't get drafted by none of the coaches." Indeed, while Sacramento general manager Geoff Petrie had an obvious affection for Douby's long-range shooting touch and long-armed quickness, the admiration wasn't necessarily shared by Eric Musselman, Reggie Theus or Kenny Natt, the succession of men who manned the bench for the struggling Kings before Douby was released in January. If playing time's the judge, Douby's fourth NBA coach, Raptors interim head coach Jay Triano, hasn't exactly been blown away by Douby's practice-court presence. In the previous 10 days, with the Raptors in the midst of a five-game winning streak that they'll attempt to extend this afternoon in Douby's native New York City, the 24-year-old got on the court for one unremarkable five-minute stint. That's not to say, though, that the cause is lost. "I feel bad we haven't given him the chance to play," said Triano yesterday. "He works his butt off at practice. He's quick. He can break guys down off the dribble a little bit, and we haven't had that. "The toughest thing right now is, what position is he? But we have to find out. The upside of this kid, he can score, he's a decent defender from what we've seen in practice ... and he's a 19th pick." Douby's story amounts to a rare out-of-nowhere success. The son of Haitian immigrants who grew up in New York's downtrodden Coney Island neighbourhood, he didn't play organized basketball until his junior year in high school. But once he did, his legend grew quickly. There were 60-point games for Grady High. There was a storied college career at Rutgers. And there was an early entry into the NBA draft as a junior, a move that earned him a guaranteed contract worth millions that he partly used to buy his paycheque-to-paycheque parents a beautiful house in North Carolina. If Douby comes off as a little less brash than your typical Big Apple product, perhaps it was because he was a childhood neighbour of far higher-profile prospects, among them fellow Coney Islanders Stephon Marbury and Sebastien Telfair. Douby, mind you, has been observed to wear shirts monogrammed with the phrase: "I Douby-Lieve." And his first purchase as an NBAer was said to be a Cadillac Escalade, complete with a customized chrome nameplate: "Un-Douby-Lievable." The Kings, sadly, considered him imminently leave-able, even if he had his moments, scoring a career-high 32 points against the Lakers last year. He spent a stint in the D League before he got to Toronto. There are no guarantees beyond this 10-day deal. But Douby seems convinced he can stick. "I just need the opportunity to show what I can do," he said. Said Bryan Colangelo, the Toronto general manager: "You take a look at guys like this. There's a reason players are drafted where they are, and I think going back to all of our (pre-draft scouting reports in 2006), we kind of liked him. So we'll take an extended look at him, and try to figure out what we've got in him." --

※ 发信站: 批踢踢实业坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 24.3.16.9