Posted by sebstar:

Posted by Bippity10:

Posted by sebstar:

Posted by Bippity10:

Posted by sebstar:

Posted by GKFv2:

Posted by sebstar:

As of now, I'm giving Gallo the benefit of the doubt. Duke is coming off back surgery, we've got to give him time to get his legs back and acclimate himself to NBA speed again. Gallo has a very high ceiling given his size and skill set. Would I be more comfortable with a Gordon or Rudolph right now? Sure, but there is more than a good chance that Gallo could shoot past them once he fixes his shyt.

But Hill. Naw. I'm not sold. You really going to tell me that you guys would rather have Hill/Douglas than Jennings/Blair? Hil's ceiling just seems so cotdamn low.

Yes. Yes I am.

Why. So you're telling me if we had Jennings/Blair and somebody else had Hill/Douglas you would envy their picks? Be real, fam.

[Edited by - sebstar on 10-19-2009 11:05 PM]

I would take Jennings/Blair but we don't have Jennings and Blair so I don't whine about it.

You obviously have more important things to "whine" about.

http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshheuf5TPCS3Xzb0euL

Seb: You and I had a rocky start but over time I have grown to think you are hilarious.

Haha. Hells yeah, bout time you came around. Good looks, fam.

Still dont like you tho.

I don't blame you

Posted by Paladin55:

Posted by knicks1248:

Posted by Martice:

I will say that he looked like he turned the corner in the confidence department. He still looks slow out there and gets pushed around under the basket. He shoots flat footed and doesn't seem to trust his foot work.

All of these things time can heal but all in all, it was good to see the guy not look like a deer in the headlights for once.

[Edited by - Martice on 10-20-2009 11:53 PM]

I agree, I'm just trusting what I hear at this point, he ok tonight, but he's been a deer in head lights for the most part..Teams are making a conscious effort to go at him and there pretty much having there way.

I have to say that some of you folks don't seem to understand what you are seeing in terms of his D. Tonight's game finally showed him moving around on offense like he was part of the team and not just standing around hoping to get the ball, and I was happy to see that, but if you really look at what he is doing on the defensive end, it is pretty impressive. The "having their way comment" means that you are not really watching the game, but only seeing a few plays where guys try to bully him down low and, I might add, frequently unsuccessfully.

You have a 6'10" "defensively soft European" player actually playing the most aware defense of anyone on the team (as aware as anyone on the team, would be more appropriate). Some players come at him a little hard- they are testing him- but if you actually take the time to watch him play defense when he is not on the ball, you will be impressed by how he plays the angles and is rarely out of position. In case people were not paying attention, he had a number of important defensive plays in the second half. And in case people were not paying attention, you might have noticed that after he was taken out in the 4th, his man, Daniels, scored an uncontested layup with another many guarding him.

I have been disappointed with his diversity on offense up to this point, but defensively, for a 6'10" 21 year old kid coming off of back surgery, and clearly not on his best legs, who has been guarding shooting guards and small forwards, he has been much more than a pleasant surprise, and nothing he did tonight makes me think differently. I thought Pierce should have been called for an offensive foul one time, and one of two other Celtics should have been called for some rough play against him, but Gallinari is not adverse to mixing it up on D, and with another 15+ lbs, he should be fine. Eventually he should be playing a lot of PF, where he will have to bang a bit more, but not have to deal with the speed of 2s and 3s, and folks will be looking at him as one of the better defensive PFs (it ain't all about blocking shots) in the league.

Why not watch Cosmic's upload of the game and actually zone in on him when he is playing D off the ball so you can see how he does things. Not always perfect, but you will be surprised.

The fact that MDA continues to give Gallinari good minutes when he is shooting the ball the way he has tells you how much he thinks about his defense- and if you got MDA to ditch the diplomacy, and be honest about things, he would tell you that Gallinari is one of the most dependable defenders on this Knicks team- much more so than some of our homegrown veterans. Gallinari's struggles are on offense. He has looked lost in the flow of the offense. He always seems do know what is going on when he is playing defense. Watch the part of the game that most don't take the time to look at.

Its good to see other people actually watch the game!

I noticed the same plays.

And on the offensive end, he had the nice lay up off his post up of daniels. (I think)

What I saw was the Celts went at him, and they couldn't create a net advantage.

I think MDA might want to think about calling the other team out in the press, and put some pressure on the refs to focus more on the rough play against him - Sorry if I worried about the Perkins foul putting Gallo back on IR.

But MDA could help Gallo by making the refs call more fouls against the other team.

[Edited by - franco12 on 10-21-2009 07:46 AM]

Posted by Paladin55:

Posted by knicks1248:

quote]
Posted by Martice:

I will say that he looked like he turned the corner in the confidence department. He still looks slow out there and gets pushed around under the basket. He shoots flat footed and doesn't seem to trust his foot work.

All of these things time can heal but all in all, it was good to see the guy not look like a deer in the headlights for once.

[Edited by - Martice on 10-20-2009 11:53 PM]

I agree, I'm just trusting what I hear at this point, he ok tonight, but he's been a deer in head lights for the most part..Teams are making a conscious effort to go at him and there pretty much having there way.

I have to say that some of you folks don't seem to understand what you are seeing in terms of his D. Tonight's game finally showed him moving around on offense like he was part of the team and not just standing around hoping to get the ball, and I was happy to see that, but if you really look at what he is doing on the defensive end, it is pretty impressive. The "having their way comment" means that you are not really watching the game, but only seeing a few plays where guys try to bully him down low and, I might add, frequently unsuccessfully.

You have a 6'10" "defensively soft European" player actually playing the most aware defense of anyone on the team (as aware as anyone on the team, would be more appropriate). Some players come at him a little hard- they are testing him- but if you actually take the time to watch him play defense when he is not on the ball, you will be impressed by how he plays the angles and is rarely out of position. In case people were not paying attention, he had a number of important defensive plays in the second half. And in case people were not paying attention, you might have noticed that after he was taken out in the 4th, his man, Daniels, scored an uncontested layup with another many guarding him.

I have been disappointed with his diversity on offense up to this point, but defensively, for a 6'10" 21 year old kid coming off of back surgery, and clearly not on his best legs, who has been guarding shooting guards and small forwards, he has been much more than a pleasant surprise, and nothing he did tonight makes me think differently. I thought Pierce should have been called for an offensive foul one time, and one of two other Celtics should have been called for some rough play against him, but Gallinari is not adverse to mixing it up on D, and with another 15+ lbs, he should be fine. Eventually he should be playing a lot of PF, where he will have to bang a bit more, but not have to deal with the speed of 2s and 3s, and folks will be looking at him as one of the better defensive PFs (it ain't all about blocking shots) in the league.

Why not watch Cosmic's upload of the game and actually zone in on him when he is playing D off the ball so you can see how he does things. Not always perfect, but you will be surprised.

The fact that MDA continues to give Gallinari good minutes when he is shooting the ball the way he has tells you how much he thinks about his defense- and if you got MDA to ditch the diplomacy, and be honest about things, he would tell you that Gallinari is one of the most dependable defenders on this Knicks team- much more so than some of our homegrown veterans. Gallinari's struggles are on offense. He has looked lost in the flow of the offense. He always seems do know what is going on when he is playing defense. Watch the part of the game that most don't take the time to look at.

I don't know if you were paying attention or not but I know I saw Marquis Daniels lighting Gallo up and even posting him up with ease. So I guess being at the right place and the right time doesn't really matter if the shorter player can still post you huh? What good is all of that length if a shorter player can post you up anyway? Well at least he was at the spot and knows where he is supposed to be. Maybe when he get's his legs he will do better.

As far as playing PF, this guy was tabbed as a guy who could play on the wings and would be a match up problem for the opposing team with his height and athleticism. You are now going to bulk this kid up and put him in the PF position which is one of the most grueling positions on the floor. This wasn't part of Gallo's game in Europe. What I see in the vids is a 6'10" kid playing on the wings and taking advantage of smaller wing players but also slower less athletic big men. The problem with that is in the NBA, these power forwards are fast!!! Faster than him for the most part if not faster, just as fast. His first step is not so impressive when you put him up against the athletes in the U.S.. So now we are banking on bulking him up and changing him to a PF that bangs and gets rebounds and plays crazy defense. This only means the guy is gonna get slower than he already is when he bulks up. Trust me, If he bulks up, he is not getting any faster and he will indeed slow down even more depending how many pounds they tell him to put on.

One last note, some may assume that this kid, with a suspect back, is gonna flourish in the PF position that requires him to continuously jump, stretch, take mad elbows and bang? If you had a bad back, which would you like to defend more? The wing or go down in the heat tank? What about having the mental make up to play down low ALL YEAR LONG?

There are so many hurdles this kid has to overcome and so many question marks it's not funny.

Man I hope what you see is really what you see because what I see is a guy that is being setup to fail. Gallo ultimately is going to be a different player than some of you envision. Now if that's a bad or good thing depends on how you ultimately envision him as a player.





[Edited by - Martice on 10-21-2009 07:23 AM]

[Edited by - Martice on 10-21-2009 07:25 AM]

[Edited by - Martice on 10-21-2009 07:29 AM]

last night you saw what he can be... drilling 3s, drawing fouls, making some things happen on D. I'm glad we got that. Who knows how long it takes him to be a consistant player, might be a couple of years but at least we got to see what he's capable of.

I just dont think any assesment is fair right now. Its just too premature. I do think its fair for people to get down on him because he hadnt shown much of anything yet, especially when other guys we passed on are playing very well. I mean thats sports.

I do think fans needed this though... some kind of reminder on why he was drafted #6. You got that last night, and against good players.

I dont' think the Knicks are interested in "bulking" Gallo up. I think they want to simply get him stronger. As he matures and gets naturally stronger and stronger from his workouts you will see less post ups and you will see him get by his man more frequently. Right now it's too easy to bump him off his drives.........But the most encouraging thing and I think the reason why the coaches are excited(because I would be too as a coach) is that even without the strenght and physical advantage of speed he is able to get to the line a lot. As a man that coached freshman in highschool and kids at the prep school level trying to make major college programs that is usually a harbinger of good things to come.

If you pay attention you also will notice an evolution in the way teams are guarding him. Let's forget all this nonsense about quickness and athletic ability and pay attention to what is occuring on the floor from a coaches perspective. Teams are making an adjustment to him and he is adapting to these adjustments. Can he continue to do this overtime? That will be the difference in being a star or being a guy that plateaus. Here is what I've seen(for what it's worth)

1.) Teams started out guarding Gallo last year with bigger players. They used guys like Zaza and Speights and Boone and Varajao. These guys tried to muscle him around and take him out of the game. I think teams had mild success bruising him defensively and on the offensive end but he quickly showed that these guys could not guard him on the perimeter. They either fouled him or he got whatever shot he wanted.

2.) Late last year and into this preseason you started seeing teams throw their SF/Sharpshooter perimeter player at him. Talking about the Kapono's and Scalabrine's of the world. Teams are still getting away with this now, but I'm telling you this will not last. These guys will not be guarding him by midseason unless forced to. This is one of the advantages of having Gallo on the 2nd team. He will develop because he will be asked to score on these guys

3.) Now teams are throwing smaller, quicker players at him that can also play a physical role and shove him around. I think defensively this is causing Gallo problems. He's getting pushed around and although his defense is solid, he does have a problem keeping up with the speed. On the positive side he can get his shot off these guys very easily. My anticipation is that midseason these guys will not be able to guard him either.

Soon enough you will start seeing teams guard him with their regular starters out of necessity. I do agree with Martice that Gallo has not shown the ability to guard these types as of yet. They are also bigger, stronger and faster and he has struggled to get by them. He gets banged around and can't get the shots he wants. Can he adjust to this??? Great question only he can answer. I do however like that he seems to have no fear of mixing it up with these types.

Posted by Allanfan20:

Gallo works very hard on the defense and is pretty good at it, but he's not going to be able to guard those quicker guys. It's putting him in a position to fail.

There's still things I am not a huge fan of, like he still takes too many threes, but I'm hoping that him taking it to the hole more will come as he gets more confident. I also want him to take that mid range shot as smaller guys are guarding him, ala Allan Houston.

With that said, I'm much more comfortable with him jacking up 3s then just about everyone else, including Nate. I'm just not a fan of jacking.

Well to be fair he went to the hole a few times last night. I think as he gets stronger he will have the ability to get by people(it's a myth that you have to be quicker than everyone else to get to the basket-see Paul Pierce). Will he try to go to the hoop? Again that remains to be seen. Allan Houston had the strength to penetrate and he never went to the hoop.

Posted by Bippity10:

Posted by Allanfan20:

Gallo works very hard on the defense and is pretty good at it, but he's not going to be able to guard those quicker guys. It's putting him in a position to fail.

There's still things I am not a huge fan of, like he still takes too many threes, but I'm hoping that him taking it to the hole more will come as he gets more confident. I also want him to take that mid range shot as smaller guys are guarding him, ala Allan Houston.

With that said, I'm much more comfortable with him jacking up 3s then just about everyone else, including Nate. I'm just not a fan of jacking.

Well to be fair he went to the hole a few times last night. I think as he gets stronger he will have the ability to get by people(it's a myth that you have to be quicker than everyone else to get to the basket-see Paul Pierce). Will he try to go to the hoop? Again that remains to be seen. Allan Houston had the strength to penetrate and he never went to the hoop.

I never said he had to be quicker. I agree that if you don't have the quickness, you can also use your strength and your footwork to do so, just like Paul Pierce. I was saying he's not quick enough to defend quicker guys and I don't think he should be guarding them.

Posted by BasketballJones:

Posted by franco12:

Its good to see other people actually watch the game!

I don't watch the games. I think it would compromise my objectivity.

thats damn near sigworthy!

Posted by Marv:

Posted by coolbeans:

Posted by BasketballJones:

Posted by franco12:

Its good to see other people actually watch the game!

I don't watch the games. I think it would compromise my objectivity.

thats damn near sigworthy!

notice how good basketballjones' posts have been since he got back from his institutionalization sabbatical.

BasketballJones is a good poster but he will never be as good as my role model JohnWallace44

Posted by MS:

I am looking at Hill and best cause he becomes David Lee with a little defense. And that's best case. Blair is playing 19 minutes averaging 13pts 9rbs for the Spurs. The Knicks are one of the worst teams in the league and have no interior defense and Hill a lottery pick can't get on the floor. This kid best case is 18pts 11rbs and that is best case. This was a wasted pick no doubt about it. You needed to go point guard and take a chance on a position we need. Not a position that we have a surplus of. Donnie Walsh get's an D for his drafting.

Everyone should be very worried about both of these guys.

a career opinion based on 10 minutes of preseason play.