Pharz: I think Gallo is struggling to adjust to the speed of the NBA game. He may never figure it out. He may not be physically capable of figuring it out. But after 15 games he acutally is showing signs of being able to cause havoc with the ball in his hands. Just pay attention to how many times he gets fouled. We say he is simply a jumpshooter but this guys ratio of touches to fouls has to be higher than most if not all on this team. I think he got fouled 5 times last night alone. That of course does not mean success but it is an indicator that if he gets strength and continues to develop he may go to the line a lot.

BTW, I thought Gallinari was sold as a guy who didn't need the ball in his hands to have an impact. So now we are saying like Nate, like Harrington and like Crawford that this guy needs the ball in his hands. This isn't the making of a team guy. I think most guys in the NBA feel the same way. If only they could get more touches then they would put up better numbers.

To your point about him needing the ball to be successuNow I talk about habits all the time. Once you gain bad basketball habits its very difficult to get rid of them. His movement without the ball is very poor. Now I place some of the blame on the leadership from the PG's but let's be real Gallo needs to give more of an effort to make this happen. Standing in one spot, either by design or because of laziness can turn into a bad habit in a hurry. Remember Stephon. Stephon was perpetual motion and energy for years. Larry Brown tried to teach him about ball movement. He took that to mean pass the ball and go to the corner and watch. The man hasn't moved since that season. I hope this doesn't happen to Gallinari.

I personally have gotten over when Gallinari was picked. Just like Allan Houston's contract we can't go back so we have to accept the reality. At this point all I care about is him becoming a good player.

[Edited by - bippity10 on 11-02-2009 5:37 PM]

Posted by Bippity10:

Pharz: I think Gallo is struggling to adjust to the speed of the NBA game. He may never figure it out. He may not be physically capable of figuring it out. But after 15 games he acutally is showing signs of being able to cause havoc with the ball in his hands. Just pay attention to how many times he gets fouled. We say he is simply a jumpshooter but this guys ratio of touches to fouls has to be higher than most if not all on this team. I think he got fouled 5 times last night alone. That of course does not mean success but it is an indicator that if he gets strength and continues to develop he may go to the line a lot.

I was going to bring this up. I think if he put it on the floor more defenders would have to respect him driving the lane and give him the room he needs to shoot. When he does drive with the ball, defenders are right up on him and they have to foul or get beat. I think Gallo is just figuring this out (ala he's starting to get to the line more) that if he has shows a good handle, it makes him harder to defend. and opens up his game. So there you have it, a little progress in just 14 games.

Gallo has to step up and demand the ball same goes for Chandler. Its more their team than these players that won't be around in a year or two. Thats wher D'Antoni has to step in and demand that the ball get to Gallo and Chandler more often.

I don't want to hear anything about playoffs playing with the vets and all that these vets are garbage. Either way the Knicks aren't going to make the playoffs I'd rather have Gallo and Chandler devlop and get experience and lose then win a few more meaningless games playing the veterans.

Posted by islesfan:

That's twice now that you've made this personal and called me names. That's fine, I get that you don't like me but honestly why would I bother getting into an argument that I can't possibly win since you hold a certain power over ever poster on this board. If you want to have a serious basketball discussion, I'll be happy to. But when things get uncomfortable, I'm just going to refuse to respond, which is my polite way of agreeing to disagree.

it's just not me Isles. You haven't had a serious basketball discussion on this board outside of the Yanks thread in a long time. You don't help yourself when you post Il Busto all the time. Either step up or step out.

Posted by Vmart:

Gallo has to step up and demand the ball same goes for Chandler. Its more their team than these players that won't be around in a year or two. Thats wher D'Antoni has to step in and demand that the ball get to Gallo and Chandler more often.

I don't want to hear anything about playoffs playing with the vets and all that these vets are garbage. Either way the Knicks aren't going to make the playoffs I'd rather have Gallo and Chandler devlop and get experience and lose then win a few more meaningless games playing the veterans.

Come on. These guys are younger players who look up to their veteran teammates. There is still a certain respect factor that younger players have for older guys. Both guys said that they listen to what advice the veterans give them. While I agree that at some point you have to decide on your own to make certain decisions. That should be more up to the coach.

Posted by martin:

Posted by islesfan:

Posted by martin:

Posted by islesfan:

That's twice now that you've made this personal and called me names. That's fine, I get that you don't like me but honestly why would I bother getting into an argument that I can't possibly win since you hold a certain power over ever poster on this board. If you want to have a serious basketball discussion, I'll be happy to. But when things get uncomfortable, I'm just going to refuse to respond, which is my polite way of agreeing to disagree.

it's just not me Isles. You haven't had a serious basketball discussion on this board outside of the Yanks thread in a long time. You don't help yourself when you post Il Busto all the time. Either step up or step out.

Actually I have but you refuse to acknowledge anything I say except for wise crack remarks that seem ok for everyone else on this board to make.

obviously the wise crack remarks and other stuff is getting in the way of your real discussions. If Marv calls you out for being a troll, you should probably take note and change your style. I would suggest the same, in fact, we have asked you to.

I thought I had. Maybe you could tell me what exactly it is that you and Marv have found objectionable so that I can try to change it. I assume that these standards are for everybody on this board to follow and not just reserved for a certain few.

Posted by martin:

Posted by islesfan:

Posted by martin:

Posted by islesfan:

You Pollyanna's act like us hatters are expecting Gallinari to be dominating. Far from it. We just want to see some of the game that we heard he had, other than being able to shoot the ball like most euros. Or maybe you guys think it should take months to show that he can dribble a basketball.

which are the other euros over 6'9" who shoot nearly 50% from the field? And we have seen Gallo put the ball on the floor and hit baskets too.

Well I'm not going to use his shooting pct because it's such a small sample but Euro bigmen who can shoot isn't exactly a new phenomenon.

Come on Martin, you honestly think that Gallinari has shown a good handle or the ability to create his own shot?

Gallo ain't shooting layups out there, they are mostly 3 pointers.

Don't you think it's weird that on one hand you won't use his shooting pct because it's such a small sample and yet you want to make ANY type of comparison with Gallo? The dude has played 15 games and you are labeling him a bust. You can't have it both ways.

You claim that he is like any other big Euro. What were Dirks stats after 15 games? How about any other perimeter big man over 6'9"? Pick a few if you want to make a comparison. Or just keep trolling along.

thank you.

Posted by Rookie:

Posted by BasketballJones:

Posted by Rookie:

Come to think of it...didn't pass over Andrew Bynum to get Frye?

Please don't start that again....

Oh...sorry. Can we get a do over starting around 2004?

[Edited by - Rookie on 02-11-2009 3:09 PM]

Bynum was passed by a number of teams, in fairness, although Frye is perhaps the biggest bust of that draft.

Martell Webster and Ike Diogu were amongst the higher picks as well.

That being said I was in the camp that wanted us to take him.

I am not sure what I am looking for in Gallo but I can tell you what I was hoping for after hearing his reviews after the draft. I was hoping for a big guy who could: handle the ball, display tremendous court vision, set up his teammates, possess a great outside shot, have the poise of an older player despite his youth, to be more nba ready because he was facing tougher (as reported) competition against professionals in Italy, play point forward etc. I have seen him display a good outside shot, poor footwork, trouble handling the ball, trouble anytime he puts the ball on the floor before a shot, bad shot selection if it involves dribbling, and horrible defense. He was the sixth pick in what may have been the deepest draft in the history of the draft so expectations for him should be high. At this point he is not close to being the player that the Knick organization hyped up after the draft.

i think his handle seems pretty good for a guy his size to me.

and he does a pretty good job, actually, on help defense. one-on-one, as already stated, he struggles.

Posted by TMS:

Posted by Finestrg:

Posted by TMS:

14 games & he needs to be an impact player by now... unreal.

I want to see some signs though. A glimpse once or twice just to remind us that it's there. Haven't seen that at all. That's why I'm concerned now.

shooting a high percentage & knocking down 3's isn't a sign? being an unselfish player on the court isn't a sign? what are you looking for? for him to explode & go off for 30? that's not realistic yet, he's still getting his game legs under him & trying to find his niche in this offense... take a look at some of the statlines that other rookies have put up this season & tell me how much of a sign guys like Eric Gordon, Joe Alexander, Jerryd Bayless, Marreese Speights, JJ Hickson, Brandon Rush, Anthony Randolph, etc. showed in their first several games? should we have been concerned about all these kids after they didn't have a breakout game after their first several in the NBA? come on, give the kid some time before u judge the guy... my gosh, i dunno what is with some of u guys these days... u'r usually such a level headed bro & i always respect ur point of view but come on dude, stop falling prey to the knee jerk style posting that's prevalent around these parts & come back to the light my man.

Not the signs I'm talking about my dude. A high shooting %? Not exactly a stat I can get pumped about this early, not with his small body of work, but OK. The guy's playing 10 mins. a night. Going 1-2, 2-3 most nights. That adds up to a nice shooting % on the ole calculator but it's hardly enough shots taken to get that pumped up about it yet. You know what, I'll give you that though - he'll probably always be a high % guy and he obviously can shoot the ball. But so could Steve Novak at that size. So could Kevin Pittsnogle. Those guy's weren't the 6th pick in an NBA draft - this kid Gallinari was. This kid's supposed to be able to do a heck of a lot more and I just haven't seen any of it in the NBA yet. And what is starting to irritate me some is that I've seen the clips and I believe in this kid's ability. I maintain he's either unable to go full tilt yet (in which case he should continue to rehab and maybe start thinking about next yr. if it's a physical problem with the back or the nerve running down the leg), his teammates might be freezing him out a little bit as many suspect (I agree, there could be something to this - I noticed this way back even in the home opener against Miami and I posted about it that night in the game thread -- if that's even remotely true, MDA needs to fix that ASAP), OR MDA himself is still handling Gallo with kid gloves as he said he was going to when he came back. Something's going on here...

As much as I disagree with Briggs on quite a few subjects (and I'm not even totally with him on this one either), he has a few valid points here. This kid was the 6th pick in a good draft. And he was made the 6th pick because he played the game in Europe with a certain flair and intensity while showing an unusual skill set, rare for a player that tall. Well where is it? All I see right now is a guy who offers no defense, little rebounding, gives the ball up as soon as he gets it, a guy who's not attacking, not posting up, just not showing his stuff. Playing extremely passive and not making the most of the little time he is getting. Like I said earlier on a different thread, I wouldn't care if he went 0-10 tonight in LA, I'm not looking for stats yet - just start showing us the skills that made you the 6th pick while also showing me some heart and determination. Show me you have the ability to have an impact and play in this league. Show you belong. IMO, that's how every NBA rookie should be going about their business. I criticized Jerry Sloan the other day for being an old coot that was too critical of Morris Almond but maybe Sloan's right. Maybe Almond just didn't play hard enough in Sloan's estimation and didn't earn his PT... All I see right now is a guy that's not playing anywhere near to his capabilities. He's not meeting expectations. Not trying to blast this kid by any means --- I believe in him. I believe he can be a major factor. An impact player. I believe what I've seen in those clips to be 100% legitimate, not some kind of mirage. I don't believe that he can only play that way in Europe and not in the NBA. I don't buy that. Others have made the transition before and I think he has enough ability to do so as well. But the kid has got to start showing us something or else I can't defend him anymore. I defended this kid to the death early on when he had a very effective 14 pt. outburst for us in the Summer League (where, for the most part, he had all his abilities on display that day) then went down after getting hit by Traylor. While everyone was screaming up and down about drafting damaged goods I refused to go off the deep end. I remained patient and kept saying he needs time to fully recover. Well that was then. This is now. He's been cleared to play and IMO he's had a decent enough run here now to get himself acclimated to the system. For whatever reason, the player I see now is a shell of the player from Europe and from Summer League. I'll continue to remain patient, but in actuality it's tough to argue the main theme here - 6th pick in the draft, you're gonna have to start showing some major signs here sooner or later - much more than playing 10 mins. and knocking down an open jumper or two then sitting the rest of the way. That's not why we drafting this guy. We can go out and pick up any role player to supply that. Being picked 6th in a deep draft, there's got to be some kind of responsibility and accountability that comes with being picked that high. For me, we're arriving at that point now.


[Edited by - finestrg on 02-12-2009 12:40 AM]