fishmike wrote:I thought he showed us a lot in his 2nd year (which was really his first)

He's an NBA starter. He's got a top level shot and range. He plays defense and wants to guard the best scorer every night. He can pass and he can handle. The question is how good will he be at those things? And how will he fit in with this new group? What will he role be?

Wanting to guard the best scorer and being able to do it successfully are two different things. His coach knows the players he can guard and most of the time they would put gallup on the player with the least amount of offensive threat.

BigSm00th wrote:

playa2 wrote:

fishmike wrote:I thought he showed us a lot in his 2nd year (which was really his first)

He's an NBA starter. He's got a top level shot and range. He plays defense and wants to guard the best scorer every night. He can pass and he can handle. The question is how good will he be at those things? And how will he fit in with this new group? What will he role be?

Wanting to guard the best scorer and being able to do it successfully are two different things. His coach knows the players he can guard and most of the time they would put gallup on the player with the least amount of offensive threat.

True, but many guys in the NBA don't want to play any D whatsoever, so the distinction is important.

I was thinking about this the other day. Gallo averaged 15 and 5 last year, with good shooting stats (82% FT, 39% 3, 42% FG). April was his best month, he upped his FT% to 90% and averaged 22 a game. He needs to be around a 20 point scorer this year. He can definitely be a guy who averages 20 and 8 (IE Rudy Gay #s) next year.

Gallo, Randolph, Chandler, and Douglas all need to take steps.

Gallo also said he would win the 3 pt shootout when he participated in it, most guys who enter that contest think they will win.

What's so distinctive about that ?

For the knicks sake I'm hoping that this guy comes in the best shape of his career and develops an all around game and will defend better.

Amare and Felton are going to dominate every possession and I'd bet that Randolph is the only other guy who has a significant amount of designed offense where he's the primary option.

Walker, Gallo and Chandler are going to score when the defense is drawn in to whatever Felton/Randolph/Amare are doing. Designing plays for Walker, Gallo and Chandler would seem like wasted possessions to me when you have guys with the three primary scorers that fit so well together.

It really doesn't matter

just win baby

nixluva wrote:Playa Gallo was a decent defender in our system. I think he actually proved to be tougher than many players expected when they tried to take him. On offense I expect he will be improved. My guess is 18/7 this yr.

I was going to make a scoring prediction, but then realized we have a much different roster this year than last, and you just don't know how things will end up as far as point distribution. I think that the only player on the team who averages 20+ PPG is Amare, and even that is not etched in stone.

Amare-     21 PPG
Gallo-     17
Felton-    15
Chandler-  15
Randolph-  15
Douglas-   10
Turiaf-     7
Azu-        8
Other?      2

Adds up to 110 PPG for the team, which I doubt we will get (Suns led the league with 110 PPG last year), yet if you look at our individual players without thinking of team performance, I don't think any of you would feel the scoring numbers above, give or take a few points either way, seem totally out of line.

Gallinari has to be more consistent and efficient as a scorer, continue to work on his post-up game to exploit certain SF matchups, and I expect him to average 3 APG and 6/7 RPG.

As for Gallo's D- he was just about as good as anyone in our starting lineup last year- probably better, and he generally matched up against whoever was playing SF, but also had to be on the perimeter guarding PGs because of shoddy D by some of our PGs, and then helping out inside on our zone because MDA had to cover-up for Lee's poor interior D. To say that Gallo was put on the player with the "least amount of offensive threat" seems to be more than just an exaggeration.

jazz74 wrote:well i thought last year was really his rookie year because he played practically no games his rookie year. however, this is a big year in which he is our primary perimeter weapon on our team. more plays will be designed for him and we will see if he will get better. someone said the right thing by saying expect more of a joe johnson player ( which isnt bad) than a nowitski type.

Sort of a hybrid between Joe Johnson and Turkoglu, but yeah. He's basically going to live in a small area on the corner of the arc, just like those two do and set up offense from there once in a while, post up from there once in a while, but mostly look to knock down uncontested J's.

JohnWallace44 wrote:

jazz74 wrote:well i thought last year was really his rookie year because he played practically no games his rookie year. however, this is a big year in which he is our primary perimeter weapon on our team. more plays will be designed for him and we will see if he will get better. someone said the right thing by saying expect more of a joe johnson player ( which isnt bad) than a nowitski type.

Sort of a hybrid between Joe Johnson and Turkoglu, but yeah. He's basically going to live in a small area on the corner of the arc, just like those two do and set up offense from there once in a while, post up from there once in a while, but mostly look to knock down uncontested J's.

that would make me sick.

the guy apparently needs to be smacked in the mouth to bring some aggressiveness to the game. i think we picked up drago to f'k him up a little before games and get his mind on business.

JohnWallace44 wrote:I just don't see the offense balancing out like that. Gallo will be the Joe Johnson (Phoenix edition) in this offense. He's either going to need to nail open jumpers or make an extra pass that leads to an easy bucket.

Amare and Felton are going to dominate every possession and I'd bet that Randolph is the only other guy who has a significant amount of designed offense where he's the primary option.

Walker, Gallo and Chandler are going to score when the defense is drawn in to whatever Felton/Randolph/Amare are doing. Designing plays for Walker, Gallo and Chandler would seem like wasted possessions to me when you have guys with the three primary scorers that fit so well together.

Interesting idea. I agree with some of it - but disagree on where Gallo fits in. Amare will take the most shots but I think Gallo will be more involved in the offense this year. He was third on the team in shots taken last year and I see him being 2nd or 3rd this year. Felton does not take a tremendous amount of shots and I think Gallo being a better passer and shooter then Randolph has more plays called for him. I see Randolph finishing on the break and getting hustle points - I don't think his strength is that he's a polished offensive player that you run your offense through.

Another way of looking at is removing Harrington frees up a lot of shots and I think Gallo is at worst the third offensive option on this team. On the other hand if Randolph has a breakout offensive season then you may well be correct.