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How Much Did Politics Play in us drafting Gallo ?? Could We Have Done Better??
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Papabear
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3/19/2009  10:32 AM
Papabear Says

I really like Gallo but all of his body movements and the look on his face tells me that he is home sick and in pain. He can make money in Italy. T think that maybe if he was on a small town team he might have faired better.
Because of Mike D's relationship with Gallo's father I don't think that they took a serious look at other players that was available in the draft.
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tkf
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3/19/2009  10:36 AM
gallo seems like a mature kid, I don't think he is homesick at all. NY is a great international city, he is making a load of cash, he can go home in the offseason. I just think the back issue and him wanting to be on the court, the competitor that he is, just bothers him the most...
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Cosmic
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3/19/2009  10:38 AM
I refuse to believe he was scouted for any other reason than the relationship with Mike D. This is not a player that Walsh goes out and finds himself. It's a player someone whispers in his ear. Mike D did the whispering. Knicks scouted, saw he has some good skills, and decided to gamble. If he stunk we would not have drafted him but we also would not have drafted him if Mike D were not the Knicks coach.

So, yeah, nepotism is involved in the pick.

If it bombs though can you really place an injury-bust on anyone's head? We're not talking Weiss or Frye here as Gallo obviously has skills.
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BasketballJones
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3/19/2009  10:38 AM
I think Gallo is actually a secret agent who has had to put his basketball career aside temporarily to go on a secret mission for the Italian government.
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Cosmic
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3/19/2009  10:44 AM
Nice sig, BJ, I myself have been contemplating submitting several patents to avoid future trouble!
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SupremeCommander
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3/19/2009  10:45 AM
Gallo does have talent, but there were other players with talent available. We're talking about Lopez because of las tnight, but Walsh loved Gordon, and there was speculation about Randolph. None of those guys have major back issues while still carrying a little baby fat.

What pisses me off, and I said this at the beginning of the season, is if this was a big deal and the plan was to shed contracts, WHY WASN'T SURGERY EXPLORED IN THE PRESEASON?!?! It's not like anything changed. They shut Gallo down to avoid screwing up the future... well why did the franchise put his future at risk to begin with then? To avoid scrutiny? To me, this is a huge deal underscoring the ineptitude of the Knicks' medical staff and the Knicks' management/ownership to understand their medical staff's ineptitude
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JohnWallace44
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3/19/2009  10:58 AM
He's not intimidated by the city. Everything I've heard is that he's had quite the time in the city.

Getting bounced by fat dudes in Summer League is another thing.
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PresIke
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3/19/2009  11:22 AM
look, gallo had a good rep before he had that injury over the summer as a tough player.

this is from our very own KBY elsewhere:
As for Gallo, before coming to the NBA he had some minor injuries here and there but he had a name for being tough. He was a famous kid playing with grown men in Italy and used to be hacked, shoved and pushed with a bullseye on his forehead and the kid didn't budge one inch, he actually seemed to intensify his efforts. He didn't start whining to the refs, it would be such a shame if his talent got derailed so early by a freak accident.

brandon jennings was interviewed on hbo real sports saying that he thinks the competition in the italian league is definitely stronger than playing against ncaa talent (although he hasn't played ncaa ball, he did play against top college level talent) because these are men, who have a lot more experience.

so for gallo to show the ability to perform well there probably shows he has something. what's happening is partially due to a number of anti-whatever things american and especially some of us new york basketball fans feel about non-american players, especially those we have not seen much of. even brandon jennings is facing the fact that as bryant gumble called "the ncaa hype machine" because none of us are even seeing jennings play. now suddenly someone of his stature is facing retribution.

gumble asked 10 nba gms who are likely to wind up in the lotto where they thought jennings would get drafted. there was no consensus. some said top 10, others late 1st round.

so being in europe hurts players a bit so far because we don't see them, and many fans don't have as much respect for it as ncaa hoops.

but, the real bottom line is gallo's been playing really hurt, and that is not giving us a chance to see what he's capable of. the max we've seen him play is 80-90% capacity, if that's what you want to call it, and he was playing like crap the past few games and looked more awkward because he was getting physically worse (he told mike d he didn't want to stop, but was playing at 50-60% of what he was capable). doctors had said see how it goes for 3-4 months, which is how much time has passed, and re-evaluate.

d'antoni said he was having to spend 5 hours warming up just to prepare for 1 game, and was doing everything asked of him. he said he is very smart and a hard worker.

i dunno, we just got unlucky, i think, with the injury.

let's just hope he can recover.

[Edited by - PresIke on 03-19-2009 11:23 AM]

[Edited by - PresIke on 03-19-2009 11:28 AM]
Forum Po Po and #33 for a reason...
JohnWallace44
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3/19/2009  11:30 AM
You could at least see flashes of what they were looking at when they picked him.

Obviously looking back at it we could have done better. There were deals on the table that we didn't take to get the picks that ended up being OJ and Westbrook.

Staying at our slot, most of us wanted Bayless. He hasn't shown a lot.
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PresIke
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3/19/2009  11:35 AM
Posted by Cosmic:

I refuse to believe he was scouted for any other reason than the relationship with Mike D. This is not a player that Walsh goes out and finds himself. It's a player someone whispers in his ear. Mike D did the whispering. Knicks scouted, saw he has some good skills, and decided to gamble. If he stunk we would not have drafted him but we also would not have drafted him if Mike D were not the Knicks coach.

So, yeah, nepotism is involved in the pick.

If it bombs though can you really place an injury-bust on anyone's head? We're not talking Weiss or Frye here as Gallo obviously has skills.

how is saying you "refuse" to see it any other way a balanced and objective way of viewing what took place?

gallo was pretty high on almost every draft board out there, as a mid-late lotto pick.

how does that go with the only reason we drafted him was because of his relationship?

if i was friends with mike d how come he didn't draft me?

because i'm also not considered an nba lotto pick, like gallo was.

mike d's relationship may have played a role, but it's silly to say that's the primary reason we drafted him.

the knicks have stated that they were considering gordon very strongly and had a hard time picking, but felt gallo had more potential and filled other needs versus adding another chucking (albiet talented, and with star potential) undersized 2 guard.

[Edited by - PresIke on 03-19-2009 11:39 AM]
Forum Po Po and #33 for a reason...
PresIke
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3/19/2009  11:38 AM
Posted by JohnWallace44:

You could at least see flashes of what they were looking at when they picked him.

Obviously looking back at it we could have done better. There were deals on the table that we didn't take to get the picks that ended up being OJ and Westbrook.

Staying at our slot, most of us wanted Bayless. He hasn't shown a lot.

hindsight is 20/20 man.

what deals where there? i never heard of any?

who also knew westbrook would get taken by the sonics/thunder? that was a bit shocking to me, and many others.

if we were in the top 5 we would have maybe moved love for mayo, but we got super unlucky in that regard by ending up at 6.

Forum Po Po and #33 for a reason...
nyk4ever
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3/19/2009  11:49 AM
Wow another could we have done better thread?

Who woulda thought.
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Nalod
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3/19/2009  12:53 PM
You can tell by his face he is homesick?
martin
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3/19/2009  1:06 PM
Posted by Nalod:

You can tell by his face he is homesick?

it's a very close look to the "my back hurts" expression. Hard to tell.
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Paladin55
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3/19/2009  1:28 PM
Posted by tkf:

gallo seems like a mature kid, I don't think he is homesick at all. NY is a great international city, he is making a load of cash, he can go home in the offseason. I just think the back issue and him wanting to be on the court, the competitor that he is, just bothers him the most...

Good point.

His back was hurting and seemingly getting worse, and you could see that in how he was playing- especially in his shooting. MDA could see it and made the right decision to cut his minutes, and unlike Jerome James or Curry, Gallinari was probably frustrated that he could not even play at the level he had been playing only a short time ago and hold on to the minutes he had earned.

Going to Italy is just an indication of how desperate he is to be able to play here at the level he played at in Europe/Italy.

I would also add that he was a known talent in Europe- not some mysterious Fredric Weiss type who had played only a few minutes and not been heavily scouted. He was drafted for his overall game, which included a great jumper. Ironically, to me anyway, was how well he seemed to play defense, despite the fact that this had been something everyone assumed he could not do.

[Edited by - Paladin55 on 03-19-2009 1:31 PM]
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Papabear
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3/19/2009  1:36 PM
Posted by martin:
Posted by Nalod:

You can tell by his face he is homesick?

it's a very close look to the "my back hurts" expression. Hard to tell.
Papabear Says
Martin you can say what you want but Gallo was not the best player on the board when we made our pick. We keep on talking about getting in the lottery. For what? Weve been making bad choices for years and it may not get any better.
We didn't pick the best man in the draft that could have helped us bad back or not and I like Gallo.

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sebstar
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3/19/2009  1:52 PM
the pick looks really bad right now. There was a budding superstar, for all intents and purposes, selected one slot before him, and some great talent selected after him.

I will agree with Islesfan on one thing...Walsh said himself that he couldnt screw this pick up, and from where we currently stand right now, it looks like the Knicks out-thought themselves on this one and wanted to make the splashier, more exotic pick rather than the sound one. Wanted to prove how smarter they were than everybody else.

I am sure other factors such as Gallo's ties to D'Antoni, and NY's significant Italian population were factors in his selection. Thats cool, but his ass better pan out if you're passing up Randolph, Gordon, and Lopez.

I havent given up on Gallo one bit. He showed some great flashes of talent, and he is obviously tough. I see why they drafted him, but the bottom line is that this is a results driven business. , especially considering the talent they passed on.
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martin
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3/19/2009  2:24 PM
Posted by Papabear:
Posted by martin:
Posted by Nalod:

You can tell by his face he is homesick?

it's a very close look to the "my back hurts" expression. Hard to tell.
Papabear Says
Martin you can say what you want but Gallo was not the best player on the board when we made our pick. We keep on talking about getting in the lottery. For what? Weve been making bad choices for years and it may not get any better.
We didn't pick the best man in the draft that could have helped us bad back or not and I like Gallo.

How can you say that when you saw nada of Gallo before the draft.
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sebstar
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3/19/2009  2:36 PM
and hell yeah, politics plays a major role.

Remember the Layden regime. We had all these lames runnin around with Utah ties like Eisely, Shandon Anderson --- and weak ass dopes like Doleac, Weatherspoon, Felton Spenser. Knicks were a straight, 1950's BYU squad. Shyt was a joke, the Knicks were not poppin at all and were truly an embarrassment.

Enter Zeke. He gets rid of all that nonsense with the quickness and immediately makes his presence felt turning the Knicks flashier overnight --- those Layden cats were gone before Zeke's feet even touched the NY ground. He goes obvious 180 and replaces the 'Leave It to Beaver' squad with athletic cats, and gunners. He even jettisoned Van Horn, who was arguably playing the best ball of his career, for the malcontent Tim Thomas, all in the name of athleticism and stylized play.

Zeke gets whacked, and in steps Donnie. Can't wait to get rid of Zeke's big mistake, Marbury, --- to the point where it turned into a P.R debacle. They could have simply reduced his role, but Walsh made sure to make a political point. Draft Gallo, a nice Italian boy rather than an "athletic thug" like the guys Zeke was supposedly drafting and bringing in. This was an obvious bone thrown to the corporate types and the more conservative NY fan base. Knick regime makes sure to make an example out of Nate at every turn, so that fans know they have him under control and he is not getting too uppity.

Every GM cant wait to put their fingerprints all over the organization and signal to fans that they couldnt be more different than the last collective of minds. As we have seen, it often causes them to overreach on certain decisions, because its more about "change" than it is about good basketball decisions.
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Cosmic
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3/19/2009  2:56 PM
Posted by PresIke:
Posted by Cosmic:

I refuse to believe he was scouted for any other reason than the relationship with Mike D. This is not a player that Walsh goes out and finds himself. It's a player someone whispers in his ear. Mike D did the whispering. Knicks scouted, saw he has some good skills, and decided to gamble. If he stunk we would not have drafted him but we also would not have drafted him if Mike D were not the Knicks coach.

So, yeah, nepotism is involved in the pick.

If it bombs though can you really place an injury-bust on anyone's head? We're not talking Weiss or Frye here as Gallo obviously has skills.

how is saying you "refuse" to see it any other way a balanced and objective way of viewing what took place?

gallo was pretty high on almost every draft board out there, as a mid-late lotto pick.

how does that go with the only reason we drafted him was because of his relationship?

if i was friends with mike d how come he didn't draft me?

because i'm also not considered an nba lotto pick, like gallo was.

mike d's relationship may have played a role, but it's silly to say that's the primary reason we drafted him.

the knicks have stated that they were considering gordon very strongly and had a hard time picking, but felt gallo had more potential and filled other needs versus adding another chucking (albiet talented, and with star potential) undersized 2 guard.

[Edited by - PresIke on 03-19-2009 11:39 AM]

What is to be objective about? It's clear that Mike D'Antoni's friendship with Gallo's father played a big role in taking a look at the kid. When they saw he had skills they took a gamble on him. There is no other story here. An Isiah-led Knicks don't select or even think about Danilo and neither does anyone in the top 14 selections of the draft. Not a chance. Perhaps ESPN would project Danilo as going 15th to the Suns if Mike D hadn't left Phoenix and maybe the Suns do select him if Mike and Kerr were buddy buddy at that point. Otherwise this kid doesn't get looked at until later in the draft and even then I question by whom? Never heard of him until Mike D was announced as our future coach.

If you think otherwise then that's your choice but you'd just be attempting to ignore the obvious that nepotism was involved in the selection. No other GM with the 6th pick selects Gallo. No one. No matter what franchise they work for. Unless Mike D was their coach and he had the GM's ear.

Regardless I'm not going to cry over spilt milk, and definitely not partake in the new thread of disaster Isles started, nor will I say OMG why didn't we select LOPEZ instead! It's not exactly constructive and those convo's have already run their course. It's a shame the kid is in such bad shape but it's nothing I can control so it's time to just move on and hope for the best with that one.

Yet I am in firm belief that the reason Gallo was even considered as a draft option was because of Mike D. No Mike? No Gallo. Whether or not Gallo's skill set legitimized the risking the selection is irrelevant to the OP's question.
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