Posted by playa2:
Even ya boy Clyde Frazier(company man) doesn't trust "the gall" read:
Well, count Knicks legend and team broadcaster Walt "Clyde" Frazier among the skeptics.
Speaking on July 11, before Gallinari even made his brief appearance on the court in Vegas, Frazier was wondering if the foreign import was the right fit for a Knicks team hoping to make a quick turnaround under the new leadership of Donnie Walsh and Mike D'Antoni.
"No one knew about the guy," Frazier said. "The highlights, it looks like he's a scorer...but [he has] the same weaknesses: defense, rebounding."
"Plus the kid is only 19," Frazier continued. "C'mon, he's going to be overwhelmed by New York."
Frazier's final assessment suggested he doesn't think the Italian Stallion will be doing too much shaking or baking at the Garden this winter: "You're looking at a project. He's a project at best. I don't think he's going to be much help this year."
Ahhh ya gotta get a good laugh listening to Clyde in gereral, but let's be honest, he really doesn't bring too much insight to the table as a color commentator. Mike Breen/Gus Johnson and NY fans deserve a better analyst than Walt Frazier. Come on man, a project? A project at best???? Rediculous. I don't agree with that assessment at all. I mean, if you don't know the guy, just say so. Truth is this looks to be one of the more advanced prospects to come out of the draft. BTW, D'Antoni is on record as saying he expects him to play and contribute this year.
Gallo's clearly got some things to work on --- specifically showing us early on he's committed to playing defense & rebounding (I'm not expecting Dennis Rodman, just show us you're committed to these aspects), good shot recognition (some of his highlight reel shots did appeared forced at times), adjusting to a Western NBA style, & he needs to fill out and get a little stronger (all things that should come in time). Getting bigger and stronger is the key for him imo - the combination of his crafty dribble drive/perimeter game in an eventually stronger body is what will really seperate this kid from other players. I'm glad the Knicks see him as a 4 eventually - that's where he'll be most effective in the NBA. But clearly he has a lot of advanced skills already at an unusually young age - NBA ready skills. Now of course a lot relies on just looking at tape because he's a Euro. but after looking at a lot of tape and seeing him in that one summer league game I see a suprisingly advanced game with a good deal of polish:
- Excellent shooter from anywhere on the court. Shoots it well off the dribble too.
- Great passer/team-oriented guy.
- Can handle the ball very well at that size. Not uncommon to see him grab a rebound and go coast to coast for a score.
- For a fairly big dude (the projection is he'll grow to a legit 6'10" if he's not that tall already) he's very nimble - appears to get to the rim easily for a score or a foul.
- Despite the soft label he actually appears pretty tough to me. A good portion of the tape on this guy shows him continually being aggressive & attacking the rim strong, unafraid of and ready for the contact that comes with it.
- Appears crafty enough to have similiar success in the NBA with all his offensive moves despite the better competition.
- Above average FT shooter. Looks to have the type of aggressive game where he should be at the line a lot too.
- Shows good intensity out there.
- Good nose for the ball.
Hey that's what I see. I quickly warmed up to this pick once I started really looking at all the available footage on this guy. I think we got a good one here - has a chance to be special. My bet is we got a guy that will eventually be a player maybe not as good as Larry Bird or Dirk Nowitzki but hopefully better than Keith Van Horn, Detlef Schrempf & Toni Kukoc - all guys he's been compared to. Back injury aside (and with training camp right around the corner we're gonna find out quickly how badly he's hurt), I don't see why he can't come in and contribute right off the bat this year. Funny though, if you ask Clyde, he'd tell you we just drafted the next Jackie Butler....
[Edited by - finestrg on 09-18-2008 12:21 AM]
