Larry Bird’s favorite Celtic’s teammate

[tbonezone]

Pearl might’ve been the most exciting and dynamic, but Sherman Douglas was the best pure point we had.

In that era, (80s, early 90s) amazingly, Syracuse could boast the all-time NCAA assist leader, Sherm, the all-time NCAA rebounding leader, DC, the all-time NFL rushing leader Jim Brown, the all-time NFL receiving leader Art Monk, and all-time NFL scoring leader, Gary Anderson.

Pearl was the best no doubt. . but Sherman also made those around him great.

 

[Vshukla]

Pearl was the best no doubt. . but Sherman also made those around him great.

How lucky were we? We had 3 years of the best point guard in college basketball. Then when that guy left early, we followed up with 3 years of the best point guard in college basketball.

 

[BillSU]

My favorite point guard too.

"I knew my days with the Celtics were over” - Larry Bird admits his love for Boston ended when the team traded his favorite teammate

Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird opens up about how the trade of Sherman Douglas and front-office dysfunction led to his emotional departure from the franchise.

www.yahoo.com

We should have a point guard like Sherman Douglas again and again:

#20 Sherman Douglas

Back to Player Index​

6'0"

165 lbs

Guard

HS: Spingarn

Washington, DC

Born: 9/15/1966

Washington, DC

Season Stats

Season	Cl	Pos	G	GS	Min	FG	FGA	%	FT	FTA	%	3Pt	3PA	%	Asst	Reb	Fls	DQ	TO	ST	BS	Pts	PPG	APG	RPG
1985-86	Fr	G	27​	0​	307​	57​	93​	61.3%​	32​	44​	72.7%​	---​	---​	---​	57​	44​	33​	0​	33​	33​	5​	146​	5.4​	2.1​	1.6​
1986-87	So	G	38​	38​	1240​	246​	463​	53.1%​	151​	203​	74.4%​	16​	49​	32.7%​	289​	97​	72​	0​	121​	64​	5​	659​	17.3​	7.6​	2.6​
1987-88	Jr	G	35​	35​	1195​	222​	428​	51.9%​	104​	150​	69.3%​	14​	53​	26.4%​	288​	76​	55​	0​	117​	69​	1​	562​	16.1​	8.2​	2.2​
1988-89	Sr	G	38​	38​	1348​	272​	498​	54.6%​	110​	174​	63.2%​	39​	106​	36.8%​	326​	93​	71​	2​	139​	69​	1​	693​	18.2​	8.6​	2.5​
Career			138​	111​	4090​	797​	1482​	53.8%​	397​	571​	69.5%​	69​	208​	33.2%​	960​	310​	231​	2​	410​	235​	12​	2060​	14.9​	7.0​	2.2​

Sherman Douglas was the ultimate floor leader, leading Syracuse to its best three year run in school history. 'The General' was an excellent ball handler, who was a clutch scorer during the crucial moments of the game.

Douglas graduated from Springarn High School in Washington D.C., the same school that Dave Bing attended. Douglas was not highly recruited, with Syracuse being the only Division I school to offer him a scholarship.

As a freshman, Douglas saw limited playing time as the dynamic Pearl Washington was running the show. However, the practice time everyday against the Pearl was invaluable in Douglas’ development.

Douglas had big shoes to fill his sophomore season, as the Pearl left early. Suddenly thrust early into the starting role, expectations were not very high. Everyone was wrong, as Douglas proved to be an excellent floor general and a big scorer. He led the Orangemen in scoring, and they won the Big East regular season championship. That was only the beginning, however, as the Orangemen got even hotter. Douglas played phenomenally in the Big East tournament, scoring a tournament record 35 points against Pittsburgh in the semi-finals (since broken), along with 11 assists. Syracuse would lose in the Big East finals to rival Georgetown, but not due to Douglas' efforts (he had another 20 points, 8 assists). Douglas guided the team through the NCAA tournament, and they reached the NCAA Championship game. Only a Keith Smart shot with seconds remaining spoiled the miraculous run.

Douglas showed himself to be able to run the fast break as well as any player in the country. His trademark was the alley-oop pass, lobbing the ball up near the hoop as sky-walker Stevie Thompson or big men Derrick Coleman and Rony Seikaly would slam it home. Douglas would often focus on passing the ball early in the games, and then would revert to becoming a scorer during the crunch moments of the game. He was gifted at helping his teammates get the easy basket, and very good at minimizing turnovers. Full court presses against Syracuse were foolish because Douglas always seemed to break them.

His junior season, the Orangemen started the season #1 in the country. They would quickly fall from the rank with a loss to North Carolina. However, behind Douglas they remained one of the top teams in the country all season long, and they would win the Big East Championship. There were high expectations in the NCAA tournament. However, Douglas was ill, and while he played against Rhode Island, his game was clearly off, and the Orangemen were upset.

Douglas would lead SU to another fine season his senior year. Early in the season Syracuse had a rematch against Indiana in the preseason NIT, and Douglas would have his most memorable play. Receiving an outlet pass short of mid court, Douglas, without turning around, hiked the ball through his legs, tossing a beautiful pass to Stevie Thompson who would dunk the ball.

It was also a season of personal accolades. Douglas would become Syracuse’s all time leading scorer (later to be broken) and would become the NCAA’s all-time assist leader (again, later to be broken). He would set a Syracuse record with 22 assists against Providence on January 28, 1989. Douglas would be named to the All Big East First Team all three seasons he was a starter, and was the MVP of the 1989 Big East Tournament, despite the fact Syracuse lost the title.

Douglas would be drafted by the NBA's Miami heat in the 2nd round of the 1989 draft.​

NBA Career Statistics

Pos	G	Min	FG	FGA	%	FT	FTA	%	3FG	3FA	3Pct	Asst	Reb	Fls	DQ	TO	ST	BS	Pts	PPG	APG	RPG
Guard	765​	21,148​	3,335​	6,886​	48.4%​	1,601​	2,361​	67.8%​	154	576	26.7%	4,536​	1,672​	1,612​	0​	1,760​	785​	76​	8,425​	11.0​	5.9​	2.2​

Though small by NBA standards at 6', Douglas would be a solid point guard for twelve seasons. His second year in the league was perhaps his best, as he averaged 18.5 points and 8.5 assists for the Miami Heat. Douglas was able to bring his famed alley-oop pass to the NBA, and succeed with it despite the fact many critics assumed the athletic talent of defenders in the league would prevent. He showed everyone he was the unquestioned master of that pass.

Douglas would lead his team to the playoffs four times (1992, 1993, 1995, and 1998), making it past the first round just one time. Overall he would play for Miami (1990-90), Boston (92-96), Milwaukee (96-97), New Jersey (98, 2000-01), and the Los Angeles Clippers (99). He retired from the league in 2001.

His uniform was retired by Syracuse in 2005, and he was named to the Syracuse All Century Team in 2000.​

 

[rhcuse]

$23.8M career earnings

 

[SUFaninNJ]

I know some people don't want to hear it, but I have always thought that Douglas was a better overall point guard than Pearl.

 

[RF2044]

I know some people don't want to hear it, but I have always thought that Douglas was a better overall point guard than Pearl.

I agree -- but "better" is subjective. Pearl was a better ball handler, and could elevate his game like noone I'd ever seen when the lights were brightest.

But Sherman was one of those rare point guards who made everybody around him a better player.

Tough call, but I agree with you.

 

[baggerbob]

I agree -- but "better" is subjective. Pearl was a better ball handler, and could elevate his game like noone I'd ever seen when the lights were brightest.

But Sherman was one of those rare point guards who made everybody around him a better player.

Tough call, but I agree with you.

Actually Pearl leaving for the NBA was better for the team. What made the 1987 team so good was everyone on that team could score and defend.
Pearl was too ball dominant, which was also his problem in the NBA. Sherm made others better, Pearl was a great showman, but didn't necessarily make the other players better.

 

[jncuse]

Also, not related but sort of.

Never understood why Wallace never got more of a chance in Toronto.

He averaged like 14/5/2/1/1 there in 1997-1998.

Then they basically didn't play him again the next year and traded him back to the Knicks who never appreciated his potential.

His PER 36 stats were 19 points and 8 boards. Just crazy he never seemed to get a run.

They were a bad team. Yet they moved on fom him without giving him any serious run beyond that season.

The reasons for not playing him much after that 1997/1998 were pretty clear if you followed the Raptors at the time. The Raptors had huge positional upgrades at the 3/4 that offeason. They didn't see Wallace as a core player because of his tweener status which made him a bad defender, when being a 3/4 tweener mattered more in the NBA. The Raptors were also not at the same level of "bad" team in 1998/1999 like they were in 1997/1998 (they went from a 16-66 team to a team that was almost .500 in 1998/1999 and just missed the playoffs) They drafted SF Vince Carter that season. Traded for PF/C Kevin Willis and PF Charles Oakley that offseason. And they also were committed to playing Tracy McGrady more as a 19 year old in his second year in the NBA. Wallace just got squeezed out. And it was 100% fair.

He wasn't good enough to get more minutes on that 1998/1999 team.
- He couldn't get minutes over Vince and TMac at the 3, which was the "best" position for Wallace. And Vince was really good much more quickly than expected.
- And he couldn't defend at the 4, and the Raptors brought in established vets like Oakley and Willis for a reason. So he got blocked there.

I loved Wallace for his play at Syracuse -- and enjoyed his ability to score in his first season in Tornoto on a terrible team -- but he was not NBA starter material. In Toronto, his rebounding was also closer to 6/36 not 8/36 over his full time there.

 

[jncuse]

Vince Carter and McGrady. Raptors smartly protected those investments with Oakley. That’s a tough spot to play in with that roster and your main asset is offense not defense.

And also protected those investments with Kevin Willis up front as well.
He effectively got shut out of the 3/4 role because of multiple players at each position.