Posted by nixluva:

This team has to focus on a playoff birth!!! The experience would be incredible for our young talent! We already know what Gallo's level of play is and that won't likely change much at this point. So for the sake of the whole team we need to focus on the playoffs and try to make it! Gallo has YEARS to get it together not just half a season!

You're under this assumption that Gallinari has years. He doesn't. This franchise is not in a patience mode of rebuilding if you didn't notice. Everyone stated that was the case earlier in the season when I said it wouldn't be at the end of the season. This organization is in a state of constant flux. I give Gallinari until the middle of the season next year to have any impact or else he find himself traded or a bench warmer. Time isn't on Gallinari side.

Posted by islesfan:

Gallinari is not Dirk so I don't get the comparison. How many of those European players were chosen in the first 6 picks overall and turned out quite well? Gallinari is NOT a good defender. He might be willing to put his hands up at times but he is not anywhere near good. He can hit a spot up jumper but his handle and ability to finish is very poor due to being slow first step, overall slowness, high dribble and general weakness.

He needs a lot of development to be more than just a spot up shooter in the NBA and the Knicks need a lottery pick a lot more than they need to make the playoffs this year. Very short sighted.

I never said he was Dirk. I said it's a similar circumstance with all Europeans. Dirk wasn't very good when he first came in. People laughed at the Mavs for making the trade to acquire him at first. I remember that clearly. Then he developed. Now everyone laughs at the Bucks for trading him.

The fact is you just want to crap on anything the Knicks do and Gallo is no different and is an easy target for you. The problem is you're not making any good arguments whatsoever and you're trying to make him sound like Lampe in your above post and everything you have posted is incredibly inaccurate given what we've seen of him so far. Other than being a little stiff at times given the back and given the limited playing time this year you're quite a bit off base calling him slow, saying he has a poor dribble, can't finish, and doesn't defend. The fact is he does all those things quite well.

Here you go with the "please lose all 82 games so maybe we get the top pick". How long before you stop thinking that should be the primary plan for a team? Losing breeds losers. Walsh and Mike are not those type of people and neither are a number of the players we now have. Making the playoffs would be a worthwhile achievement. At this point who cares if we got the 10th pick versus the 14th if we made the playoffs.

Besides, again, all the clamoring for losing last year, blasting fans like me who didn't curse out the team when they won a game, got you what? The 6th pick and a player you don't like - and the team who won the lotto won many more games than us.

So the argument to lose games for a draft pick really just doesn't make sense. Gallo will be developed over the summer and if he proves himself he will get meaningful minutes next season.

We're winning games and trying to make the playoffs no matter how much that upsets you (What kind of a fan gets mad at a playoff run?) and in that we will play the veterans and the players who are clearly contributing. We're not throwing it away to try to develop a player that you dislike anyway - so in that I don't even know what you're lobbying for.

Posted by Cosmic:

Posted by islesfan:

Gallinari is not Dirk so I don't get the comparison. How many of those European players were chosen in the first 6 picks overall and turned out quite well? Gallinari is NOT a good defender. He might be willing to put his hands up at times but he is not anywhere near good. He can hit a spot up jumper but his handle and ability to finish is very poor due to being slow first step, overall slowness, high dribble and general weakness.

He needs a lot of development to be more than just a spot up shooter in the NBA and the Knicks need a lottery pick a lot more than they need to make the playoffs this year. Very short sighted.

I never said he was Dirk. I said it's a similar circumstance with all Europeans. Dirk wasn't very good when he first came in. People laughed at the Mavs for making the trade to acquire him at first. I remember that clearly. Then he developed. Now everyone laughs at the Bucks for trading him.

The fact is you just want to crap on anything the Knicks do and Gallo is no different and is an easy target for you. The problem is you're not making any good arguments whatsoever and you're trying to make him sound like Lampe in your above post and everything you have posted is incredibly inaccurate given what we've seen of him so far. Other than being a little stiff at times given the back and given the limited playing time this year you're quite a bit off base calling him slow, saying he has a poor dribble, can't finish, and doesn't defend. The fact is he does all those things quite well.

Here you go with the "please lose all 82 games so maybe we get the top pick". How long before you stop thinking that should be the primary plan for a team? Losing breeds losers. Walsh and Mike are not those type of people and neither are a number of the players we now have. Making the playoffs would be a worthwhile achievement. At this point who cares if we got the 10th pick versus the 14th if we made the playoffs.

Besides, again, all the clamoring for losing last year, blasting fans like me who didn't curse out the team when they won a game, got you what? The 6th pick and a player you don't like - and the team who won the lotto won many more games than us.

So the argument to lose games for a draft pick really just doesn't make sense. Gallo will be developed over the summer and if he proves himself he will get meaningful minutes next season.

We're winning games and trying to make the playoffs no matter how much that upsets you (What kind of a fan gets mad at a playoff run?) and in that we will play the veterans and the players who are clearly contributing. We're not throwing it away to try to develop a player that you dislike anyway - so in that I don't even know what you're lobbying for.

Dirk was very good by his second year. From what I have seen Bargnani looks bigger and more agile than gallinari with more skills and he's been only a marginal NBA player in his first three years--something to think about. I can safely say that I do not think Gallinari is anyone that I believe is a future star in the NBA--perhaps a nice niche player at some point. One thing that I can see is we lack size at the 5--we cannot match at the 5---although this guy would be a brutal cover for any true 5 anyway. You would need a 5 who could punish him on the other end.

Posted by Cosmic:

Posted by islesfan:

Gallinari is not Dirk so I don't get the comparison. How many of those European players were chosen in the first 6 picks overall and turned out quite well? Gallinari is NOT a good defender. He might be willing to put his hands up at times but he is not anywhere near good. He can hit a spot up jumper but his handle and ability to finish is very poor due to being slow first step, overall slowness, high dribble and general weakness.

He needs a lot of development to be more than just a spot up shooter in the NBA and the Knicks need a lottery pick a lot more than they need to make the playoffs this year. Very short sighted.

I never said he was Dirk. I said it's a similar circumstance with all Europeans. Dirk wasn't very good when he first came in. People laughed at the Mavs for making the trade to acquire him at first. I remember that clearly. Then he developed. Now everyone laughs at the Bucks for trading him.

The fact is you just want to crap on anything the Knicks do and Gallo is no different and is an easy target for you. The problem is you're not making any good arguments whatsoever and you're trying to make him sound like Lampe in your above post and everything you have posted is incredibly inaccurate given what we've seen of him so far. Other than being a little stiff at times given the back and given the limited playing time this year you're quite a bit off base calling him slow, saying he has a poor dribble, can't finish, and doesn't defend. The fact is he does all those things quite well.

Here you go with the "please lose all 82 games so maybe we get the top pick". How long before you stop thinking that should be the primary plan for a team? Losing breeds losers. Walsh and Mike are not those type of people and neither are a number of the players we now have. Making the playoffs would be a worthwhile achievement. At this point who cares if we got the 10th pick versus the 14th if we made the playoffs.

Besides, again, all the clamoring for losing last year, blasting fans like me who didn't curse out the team when they won a game, got you what? The 6th pick and a player you don't like - and the team who won the lotto won many more games than us.

So the argument to lose games for a draft pick really just doesn't make sense. Gallo will be developed over the summer and if he proves himself he will get meaningful minutes next season.

We're winning games and trying to make the playoffs no matter how much that upsets you (What kind of a fan gets mad at a playoff run?) and in that we will play the veterans and the players who are clearly contributing. We're not throwing it away to try to develop a player that you dislike anyway - so in that I don't even know what you're lobbying for.

You say that I'm incredibly inaccurate but then you say that when it comes to dribbling, finishing and defending, Gallinari does all of that quite well?

At this point who cares if we got the 10th pick versus the 14th if we made the playoffs.

"At this point", meaning that there is a point where you believe it's worth losing games and improving your draft position. Seeing that we agree on that, it comes down to a definition of where that point is. 11th in the conference and fighting for the 7th or 8th seed isn't that point for me. Just like it wasn't in 2004 when they made the 8th seed and were bounced out of the playoffs in a 4 game sweep.

Obviously the team needs to be smart with their lottery pick, the fact that they weren't last year doesn't change the logic behind what I think they should be doing to maximize their draft position.

The Knicks have 1 1st rd pick over the next 2 drafts. Last year's lottery pick is a gigantic question mark and now the team is saying that they're putting his development on the back burner because they're focusing on making the playoffs this year. IMHO, those 2 draft picks were incredibly important to help lure free agents in 2010 and be a huge part of making this team a contender beyond that. Maybe some people are happy to just make a playoff appearance and are willing to put development on the back burner. I'm not. Having a higher draft pick is obviously beneficial for a rebuilding team. What is the benefit of being a one and done playoff team?

I believe the Knicks plan on keeping Chandler, Lee, Nate, Duhon, and possibly Wilcox if he excels with us. Walsh is going to look to show future free agents that we could make playoffs without them and that the core of Chandler, Lee, Nate, Duhon, and possibly Wilcox is a playoff group that potential free agents like James and Wade and Bosh would be able to bring to another level.

I don't believe giving Gallo big mins will make him a better player at this point as much as adding weight and building up his strength. He needs to work on getting an Al Harrington type of build.A guy like Wilson Chandler who was already physically NBA ready is a guy who you could just give mins to and let him develop that way.

If David Lee was taken with lottery instead of Frye yet had the same exact career would we be upset with taking him with our lottery pick? The same David Lee who had no jump shot, limited offensvie game post game, poor defense, consistently getting pushed around in the post because he lacked strength, lacked a true position as a SF or PF?

Posted by islesfan:

Gallinari - DNP-CD

Can a player develop through osmosis?

We have a back-to-back. Look for Gallo to get plenty of minutes tomorrow.

Press beating up MDA about Gallinari now. There apparently is a pecking order and Gallinari appears to be at the bottom.

Posted by islesfan:

Posted by Rookie:

Posted by islesfan:

Gallinari - DNP-CD

Can a player develop through osmosis?

We have a back-to-back. Look for Gallo to get plenty of minutes tomorrow.

He's 21 years old and can't give you 10 minutes in back to back games? Seriously?

I'm looking at it from more of a 'working in two new guys who haven't played much and need to get their legs' point of view. Someone had to sit, coach needs a look at his new guys, they need some game action to knock the rust off, and they will need a rest tomorrow. Gallo, should be ready to go and motivated to fight for his minutes. Gallo need to show some signs of improvement tomorrow. Q got minutes because he deserves a chance to fight for his spot. Of course, he did exactly what we expect from him....nothing. Q should start to be phased out, but Gallo needs to start to show something. These guys need to learn what it's like to fight for a playoff spot even if they don't make it it's another learning/growing experience for the team. Coach is going to play his best players and right now, Gallo needs to show that he is one of them. I like the move, MDA is a great motivator....except if he thinks your useless like *cough* Curry and Marburry then he could give two craps about you.

Gallo is f'ed. MDA is doing him wrong there is no way Hughes should be playing ahead of him. Hughes hasn't played in a month and is rusty as hell. He pretty much sucks and should be earning his time through practice with the team instead MDA throws him into the rotation at Gallo's expense. This is a slap in the face to not just Gallo but to Knicks fans everywhere. The goal of the season is rebuilding and that seems to be thrown out the window for some BS playoff appearance. This Larry Hughes move is going to set this franchise back a year.

Walsh and MDA need to wake up they pulled a Isiah moves with aquiring Hughes.