I think Douglas is our best chance at slowing down and sometimes stopping opposing pg's and think that Gallo guarding the occasional quick pg is a disaster waiting to happen. He did a good job against Brooks at the end of that Houston game but Brooks did hit those shots and then you have the SG being able to post up Douglas. Douglas is a great defender, but he isn't that tall and that leaves him open to being posted up time and time again (as we have seen).

Perhaps this is just an end of the year test, but though Gallo is turning into a great defender, against pg's he is going to get exposed as he just isn't that quick (though he is great at positioning). Anyway, why do it now when we have a great defensive pg? I could see when Duhon was playing (or when he comes in to backup Douglas now) or even when Sergio is playing.

earthmansurfer wrote:I'm curious what you all think. I see there is an article out on this, though I've questioned it, especially since the Houston game.
Here is the article: http://www.fromthebaseline.com/blogs/1560-bad-idea-danilo-guarding-point-guards

I think Douglas is our best chance at slowing down and sometimes stopping opposing pg's and think that Gallo guarding the occasional quick pg is a disaster waiting to happen. He did a good job against Brooks at the end of that Houston game but Brooks did hit those shots and then you have the SG being able to post up Douglas. Douglas is a great defender, but he isn't that tall and that leaves him open to being posted up time and time again (as we have seen).

Perhaps this is just an end of the year test, but though Gallo is turning into a great defender, against pg's he is going to get exposed as he just isn't that quick (though he is great at positioning). Anyway, why do it now when we have a great defensive pg? I could see when Duhon was playing (or when he comes in to backup Douglas now) or even when Sergio is playing.

He actually holds his own against PGs, IMO, but you create other matchup problems by having him do this, and you know it has to take something out of him offensively if he is chasing a PG around the court.

I thought that replacing Duhon/Sergio with Douglas meant that we would go back to playing our PG against that of the opposition because Douglas has some defensive ability.

Why not give Douglas the opportunity to go 1/1 on D against opposing PGs at this point in the season? Nothing more to lose, and little pressure on him- and it also keeps Gallo a little fresher.

Paladin55 wrote:

playa2 wrote:I told you that people will make this guy into something regardless of who he really is.

What exactly are you talking about??

What is your point- or are you just attempting to be cleverly cryptic without taking the time to describe your position?

He should not be playing a PG unless he ends up there on a switch. He is probably best suited to guard SFs, and certain PFs at this point, but he needs some lower body muscle to play the big guys on a continual basis.

If you saw the Suns game you also saw him guarding Lopez, at times, and there was one occasion when Lopez has some very deep position and Gallinari took the banging and maintained his position very well, resulting in a missed shot by Lopez. He is not ready for that kind of pounding on a continual basis, but he is proving himself to be a pretty flexible defender with decent footwork, an ability to block shots, and the kind of toughness not associated with European players.

For whatever reason, MDA has decided he likes a rangy defender (Jeffries, and not Gallo) on the opposition PG. Maybe this was something to be done with Duhon at point, but I really want to see Douglas guarding PGs and Gallinari dealing with guys his own size.

CrushAlot wrote:

Paladin55 wrote:

playa2 wrote:I told you that people will make this guy into something regardless of who he really is.

What exactly are you talking about??

What is your point- or are you just attempting to be cleverly cryptic without taking the time to describe your position?

He should not be playing a PG unless he ends up there on a switch. He is probably best suited to guard SFs, and certain PFs at this point, but he needs some lower body muscle to play the big guys on a continual basis.

If you saw the Suns game you also saw him guarding Lopez, at times, and there was one occasion when Lopez has some very deep position and Gallinari took the banging and maintained his position very well, resulting in a missed shot by Lopez. He is not ready for that kind of pounding on a continual basis, but he is proving himself to be a pretty flexible defender with decent footwork, an ability to block shots, and the kind of toughness not associated with European players.

For whatever reason, MDA has decided he likes a rangy defender (Jeffries, and not Gallo) on the opposition PG. Maybe this was something to be done with Duhon at point, but I really want to see Douglas guarding PGs and Gallinari dealing with guys his own size.

I don't think D'Antoni puts alot of thought into coaching defense so things don't change and adjustments are not made game to game. Gallo is being put into Jeffries role despite the fact that there is a good defender at the point and Gallo needs to be defending bigger guys. Adjustments need to be made. Toney is a good defender.

I agree- he has to let both of them grow up.

Pharzeone wrote:I'm sorry but why are we discussing how effective our 6'10 or 6'11 player can be guarding 6'2 players? Why isn't he in the post guarding 7 footers? When will he be in the post? How long do I have to wait until he gets there? You know where there is a real need for a presence. Stop the madness.

Please read the post carefully before you reply in a way that distorts the OPs intention in writing the post.

Paladin55 wrote:

Pharzeone wrote:I'm sorry but why are we discussing how effective our 6'10 or 6'11 player can be guarding 6'2 players? Why isn't he in the post guarding 7 footers? When will he be in the post? How long do I have to wait until he gets there? You know where there is a real need for a presence. Stop the madness.

That is not the point of the thread. It has nothing to do with how effective a tall player can be against smaller players. The OP is suggesting that a smaller player should be playing against smaller players. The OP wants the "madness" to stop too, as do I.

Please read the post carefully before you reply in a way that distorts the OPs intention in writing the post.

My bad. I thought he wanted to see more of that. Let the dude put on weight and get use to the post. NO need to push him further out on the perimeter. I caught the Knicks in 60 and couldn't believe that the genius kept it up with Gallo on Nash.

Pharzeone wrote:

Paladin55 wrote:

Pharzeone wrote:I'm sorry but why are we discussing how effective our 6'10 or 6'11 player can be guarding 6'2 players? Why isn't he in the post guarding 7 footers? When will he be in the post? How long do I have to wait until he gets there? You know where there is a real need for a presence. Stop the madness.

That is not the point of the thread. It has nothing to do with how effective a tall player can be against smaller players. The OP is suggesting that a smaller player should be playing against smaller players. The OP wants the "madness" to stop too, as do I.

Please read the post carefully before you reply in a way that distorts the OPs intention in writing the post.

My bad. I thought he wanted to see more of that. Let the dude put on weight and get use to the post. NO need to push him further out on the perimeter. I caught the Knicks in 60 and couldn't believe that the genius kept it up with Gallo on Nash.

Not sure if Andrew is right on the pick and roll strategy, and it is something to look at, but do the bad match-ups created for us because Gallo is guarding PGs, make is less necessary for opponents to even attempt the pick and roll? I do remember Gallinari being scraped off of Nash and being force to deal with Lopez down low a few times.

SupremeCommander wrote:I know I'm in the minority here, but I approve of Gallo guarding the other team's best offensive player--regardless of his position. When there's actually something to play for, I won't care. But right now he is being developed into a complete player. I'm sorry. Guarding a guy like Steve Nash now will make it that much easier to guard, say, Hedo Turkeyglue next season.

I endorse this strategy.

I can play devil's advocate, though, and say that he also needs to be able to something that he has not had to do too often this year- guard players down low- especially larger players...

...no?