The problem with the lineup of Douglas, Hughes, Gallo, Harrington, and Lee is that the frontcourt has one player who can play okay defense in Harrington.
The question here is not Chandler Vs. Gallinari. Gallinari is not a small forward. The question is Harrington Vs. Gallinari. Harrington was benched for Gallinari, which was a big mistake. Gallinari is a perimeter PF or maybe even a center like Okur, but he needs to get his muscle going.
As I predicted in the hang your ass thread, D'Antoni is doing everything he can to prove Gallinari is worth the pick at #6. But why? Why not let the kid get the minutes he earns behind Harrington who is better than him at this time? Maybe steal a couple of Lee's minutes too? The way D'Antoni is playing him is to the detriment of Gallinari and the team. He is making Gallinari "The Man" before he pays some dues. He should be bringing him along carefully. D'Antoni is throwing this kid to the wolves. More teams are going to body up on him at the line and force him to put the ball on the floor and he is much less effective at that style at this moment. As the losses mount Gallinari becomes the goat and New York destroys the confidence of yet another promising young player.
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The starting lineup should be Douglas(Yeah!), Hughes (Yuck!), Chandler (Uhg!), Harrington (Bleh.), and Lee(Eh.). Bring Gallinari off the bench as the shooting specialist. He should have to win the spot from Harrington, not have it handed to him over a player who is obviously better at this point. Gallinari can't play any D, he doesn't grab boards and he is an okay passer. At least Harrington will occasionally go to the hole with some ferocity and grab some boards, and he isn't a total matador on defense. If Curry's fat ass ever makes it to the court, then they may even have an inside/outside game with he and Gallinari.
The rebounding deficiency of Gallinari is partly D'Antoni's fault. Gallinari can really shoot. We all get it. But at 6'11" you gotta get this kid near the basket every now and then so he can grab a board, hit a layup or a short-range shot, etc. Develop his game more so he isn't a one-trick pony. If the Knicks wanted a player strictly to gun 3 pointers, there is a whole laundry list of players that we could have targeted who are proven at that 1 skill. D'Antoni has to bring more out of Gallinari than to just have him jack 3s and long range 2s.
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Anyway, this season is a lost cause no matter what. Last season I had guys telling me they would rather have Duhon than Jason Kidd! 
. The fact is Duhon did not "burn out" last season, he simply became the player he has always been after playing better than he ever had before for a few months. A blip on the radar. Now we see the real Duhon. It isn't his fault. He is what he is. A backup. No need to shred him. Instead, shred D'Antoni for handing the keys to him and falsely pumping him up.
And if D'Antoni wants to start Gallinari, then I want to see Douglas start and Hill get 20+ minutes per game. I'd rather lose embarrassingly while playing the youth than lose embarrassingly while playing a weird mix of players who are already thinking about where they are playing next season. That is just about the same thing I wrote in the LB season. The more things change, the more they stay the same...
P.S. I don't like D'Antoni.
oohah
