It's the little things...
http://offthedribble.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/30/gallinari-takes-blame-for-loss-to-jazz/
March 30, 2010, 9:02 PM
Gallinari Takes Blame for Loss to Jazz
By HOWARD BECK
PORTLAND, Ore. – Sometimes the best measures of a young player’s growth come without the basketball in his hands, or the game clock running. Some steps are taken in near solitude, in a quiet corner of the locker room.
After a deflating loss Monday night in Utah, Danilo Gallinari sat and brooded and made an unprecedented gesture: He blamed himself.
He had scored just 9 points. He had missed 8 of his 10 field-goal attempts and all but 1 of his six 3-pointers. He had come up empty in the final minutes, when the Jazz pulled away for a 103-98 victory.
Gallinari is just 21 years old and a virtual rookie. He is not the Knicks’ leading scorer or their franchise player or an established star, although they have hopes for all of those things.
Still, he felt the responsibility was his on this night. He said so in pointed and sometimes profane terms, showing a full grasp of English slang as he cursed his mistakes.
“If I play 42 minutes and I go 1 for 6 from 3, I definitely have to think about this game,” Gallinari said tensely. “I’m on the court and I’m a big part of the offense. So if I shoot the ball bad like that in these type of games – tie games, at the end of the game, you look at the shots – definitely got to blame myself.”
With that, he exhaled and groaned.
“I cannot be like that,” he said.
This has been an interesting season for Gallinari, who has shown both promise and growing pains. He averaged 16.1 points in December, slumped for two months and then reemerged in March, averaging 16.7 points over the past 15 games.
He is, as expected, among the N.B.A. leaders in 3-point shooting, but his game is expanding. He has shown a surprising defensive tenacity and versatility, checking Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams in the last week.
It was while Gallinari was shadowing Williams, cutting off his drives and passing lanes, that the Knicks got back in the game Monday night.
“I proved to myself that I can play defense on great players and be effective enough,” Gallinari said. “If the offense was better, we could have got the game.”
Williams did what superstars do: He hit two deep jumpers down the stretch, including a 3-pointer, and dished to Mehmet Okur for another 3. Gallinari missed the only shot he took in the fourth quarter and had a turnover in the final minute.
The 2-for-10 line was among the worst in Gallinari’s brief career. He was particularly frustrated because most of the attempts were open shots. It was pointed out that he has had many ups and downs this season, but Gallinari was not comforted.
“Up and down is fine, but this is too down,” he said.
When the Knicks drafted Gallinari with the sixth pick in 2008, they boasted of his shooting ability. Despite the back troubles, he supported those claims in his rookie season, making 44.4 percent of his 3-pointers.
Expectations were raised further last fall when Coach Mike D’Antoni, in a fit of hyperbole, declared Gallinari was the best shooter he had ever seen. Gallinari shrugged off that statement on Monday, saying, “I don’t feel the pressure,” and instead took offense to the suggestion that he is a one-dimensional player.
“When I came here, I played 28 games and I was just shooting from 3, I was not missing the 3 and everybody thought I was just a shooter,” he said. “But I knew that I’m not just a shooter, I can do a lot of stuff. And you know this, you know I can do a lot of stuff.”
More than half of Gallinari’s field-goal attempts this season are from beyond the arc. But he has also shown an ability to drive and score in traffic and hit the midrange jumper. An energetic defender, he leads the Knicks in blocked shots and is second on the team in steals.
Those are the skills that stand out on the court. But becoming a star also requires pride and accountability. Gallinari angrily and profanely claimed his share on Monday, making perhaps his greatest leap yet.
Let's go Knicks. That's amare
