and wins the rising star trophy:

Rising Star Trophy winner: Danilo Gallinari, AJ Milano

Danilo Gallinari - AJ Milano A silky-smooth forward with a great shot and a solid all-around game, Danilo Gallinari of Armani Jeans Milano made instant impact on courts around the continent this season and has been rewarded with the 2008 Euroleague Rising Star Trophy in a vote of the competition's head coaches. The teenage forward, who came into the season with but two minutes of Euroleague experience under his belt, quickly became not only a top scoring threat for Milano, but a team leader. Gallinari dealt with everything that opposing defenses threw at him and wound up among the top 10 regular season performers in index rating. Besides leading Milano in scoring with 14.9 points per game, Gallinari was among his team's top three players in rebounding, steals and blocked shots. "I enjoyed myself playing the Euroleague this season, even though I would like to have played more games," Gallinari said. "I hope to play another Euroleague and reach a lot further in the competition."

The four-year old Rising Star Trophy recognizes the best Euroleague Basketball player who was younger than 22 on July 1 of the summer before the season started. Partizan Igokea center Nikola Pekovic is the runner-up, forward Nicolas Batum of Le Mans placed third and center Omer Asik of Fenerbahce fourth. The Rising Star Trophy is among several end-of-season honors awarded by Euroleague Basketball. Already announced has been the Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy, the only statistics-based award, which went to Marc Salyers of Chorale Roanne. The Best Defender Trophy is still to be awarded and the nominees for the All-Euroleague team announced. The All-Euroleague first and second teams, plus the Euroleague MVP, will be revealed at the Euroleague Basketball Awards Ceremony on May 3 during the Final Four in Madrid. The Aleksander Gomelskiy Coach of the Year Trophy and the Euroleague Club Executive of the Year are post-season awards.

Danilo Gallinari - AJ MilanoGallinari, who turns 20 in August, never looked like a teenager on the court this season. His basketball pedigree surely helped. Gallinari's father, Vittorio Gallinari, was an Italian basketball star in the 1980s and early 1990s, best known for his work on the defensive end of the floor. Vittorio Gallinari won the 1987 Euroleague crown with Milano and also played for the Italian national team. Despite missing the first two games of the season through injury, the younger Gallinari stepped right in when ready and promptly dropped 18 points and 7 rebounds in his first Euroleague game as a starter. He reached the 20-point mark the next week – the first of four 20-point games he would mark up in the regular season. Moreover, Gallinari seemed to rise to the occasion against the toughest teams, averaging 23.5 points on 53.3% two-point and 38.5% three-point shooting, 4 rebounds and 3 steals in two games against Maccabi Elite, the only team from Milano's Group B that would eventually qualify for the Final Four. He also hit the key three-pointers down the stretch to lead Milano to its only home win of the season in January against Aris TT Bank. Consistency was a big part of his success and Gallinari scored in double figures in all but two appearances all season. Gallinari is the fourth winner of the award and the third to come from an Italian club. Last season the award went to Rudy Fernandez of DKV Joventut. The 2006 trophy was awarded to Andrea Bargnani of Benetton Treviso and in 2005 the winner was Erazem Lorbek of Climamio Bologna.

How does it feel to be the Rising Star Trophy winner in your first Euroleague season?

"Obviously, it's a great feeling. It gives me great satisfaction and it's a reward for the job I did during the season with the team, and individually with the coaches. I recognize it as a great accomplishment."

What do you think of the fact that two of the four winners so far are Italian and another played in the Italian League?

"That's a great sign for Italian basketball and a good result, especially, for Italian players. I hope to see very soon that more Italian teams rise up and reach the best European level."

How did you enjoy your first Euroleague season?

"It's a very high-level competition. It's more physical, and everything is more difficult, especially going to the basket. The speed is also higher, so you have less time to take decisions. I enjoyed myself playing the Euroleague this season, even though I would like to have played more games. I hope to play another Euroleague and reach a lot further in the competition."

You witnessed a 50 Years celebration in Milan during the season. What does this anniversary mean to a rising star like you?

"It's a great sensation to play for a team like Olympia Milano, that has done so much in the past. It's an honor for me to wear this jersey and it pushes me to always give my best. I hope in the future that Olympia will again reach the kind of results they had when my father was playing."

He's intriguing. I know nothing about foreign players and I hate relying on highlights from youtube because they only show you the good. I'd be interested in ANYONE whose actually seen him in person or on TV to give a scouting report. He sounds like he could b a player though.

I haven't seen him play. I do like the write-ups. He's considered to be a good athlete with good skills and a student of the game. It's true about evaluating foreign players. You just don't have as much to go on.

There is a very good interview with him on the draft express profile http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Danilo-Gallinari-535/

Here are most of the questions he answered:

Giuseppe Matarazzo: What type of NBA team would fit you best? What kind of style? A fast team like Golden State or a slow-paced team like Utah or Detroit? What is best suited for you to play?

Danilo Gallinari: I can’t say; it’s not easy to compare them with the European systems. They’re similar, but different in structure and players. I have no preference, I believe that a player can fully fit a team independent of the style of play. He simply has to train.

Giuseppe Matarazzo: How hard is it to be the go-to guy of an important team like Milano in both the Euroleague and the Italian A1? Has it been tough having defenses key in on you all season long?

Danilo Gallinari: If they give you the responsibility, they know they can count on you, and more importantly, they believe in your capabilities. They trust in me, and I’m proud of that. Being the “franchise player” of a glorious and accomplished team like Milan is great honor. It doesn’t matter at all: for me the main thing is to repay their confidence by working hard and getting results.

Giuseppe Matarazzo: How much time does your team put into the tactical side of the game in practices, compared with working on individual skills, like shooting, ball-handling, and the like? Are you worried about the physical training you should face overseas?

Danilo Gallinari: We spend lots of time on the tactical sides in order to prepare for the matches against our opponents and to fix our game. To get better, I practice with my staff on fundamentals and physical tools whenever I can. In case I decide to face the NBA, I know I have first of all to train harder, especially in the first months, if I want to make my body ready for a higher level.

Giuseppe Matarazzo: It’s only on your physical tools that there are some doubts. There are people who say that you are not very athletic for an NBA player and that you will struggle to defend your position at that level. How would you respond to them?

Danilo Gallinari: They only make me to work harder, to improve my game in order to disprove them on the court.

Giuseppe Matarazzo: There have always been debates on your role. Do you see yourself as strictly a small forward in the NBA, or do you think you’d be able to play as a face the basket power forward in a small-ball system as well?

Danilo Gallinari: I don’t like to limit myself. Well, I play as a small forward, but surely I can adapt my game: the important thing is to play even in a different role if the coach decides that way, maybe to open the court or play in transition; No problem, I always follow my coach’s directions.

Love the kid's mentality.

[Edited by - s3231 on 04-23-2008 2:41 PM]