Basically Hahn asked if hes worried about him settling for too many 3s

his response was basically that he didnt want to see Gallo driving, cuz thats not his game. He wants him to shoot.

Dantoni is going to turn Gallo into a glorified Kyle Korver.

I could see his point if, when Gallo drove the ball he was unsuccessful... But hes not, hes VERY successful. He almost ALWAYS draws a foul when he puts the ball on the floor. I just don't get it. I understand Dantoni needs spacing for his precious offense to work... but you have to maximize your talent. For the first time i'm really starting to question if we can win with this coach... Let's see.

i thought it read diff...

GREENBURGH, N.Y. - Danilo Gallinari said what he admires most about Celtics All-Star Paul Pierce's game is that he doesn't go full speed the entire time, but instead picks his spots where he suddenly, and effectively, strikes. Gallinari has the same tendencies in his game: He can go several plays without being seemingly involved and then quickly turn it on.

But while the 22-year-old still has some growing to do into the role of a primary scorer and offensive focal point, the Knicks want to see him engage more and not allow the game to go away from him.

"I think he needs to be more aggressive on his catching and shooting, catching and ripping, passing the ball, going to the basket, yeah," Mike D'Antoni said after yesterday's practice at MSG Training Center. "And we talked about that. For him to go to the next level, it's not changing his game. It's changing your focus and not wait for the game to get close and now I'm going to really turn it on. When you play 25 to 30 minutes, it has to be the hardest 30 minutes you've played in your life. That will get him up one more level."

BLOG: Alan Hahn's 'The Knicks Fix'

Gallinari, however, is quick to debate this issue, saying his aggressiveness "is definitely better than the beginning of last year" and added that in D'Antoni's option-loaded system "you can have a different protagonist every game."

But the most successful NBA teams are generally anchored by one or two main guys who carry the offense. Pierce and Ray Allen do it for Boston. Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol do it for the Lakers. The Knicks have Amar'e Stoudemire, but the reason they remain very interested in Carmelo Anthony is because he brings that go-to scorer's mentality every night. Gallinari, however, doesn't believe that will work here.

"We are trying to build a chemistry together and being aggressive does not mean you have to go and take whatever your man gives you," he said. "You have to also respect your teammates . . . We have some plays that we want to go to certain players and we want to do certain things. Your defender gives you something, gives you a back door, but you don't do it because you want to stay in the play."

D'Antoni still raves about Gallinari's potential, yet wants to see him become a more effective post-up scorer. That will come in time, but right now the emphasis is for Gallinari to focus more on attacking the offensive glass.

Gallinari is the Knicks' prized possession and a player they'd rather not have to give up in a trade for Anthony, who remains with the Nuggets but is likely to be moved before the February trade deadline. Anthony Randolph, another young talent on the Knicks, has yet to find himself in this system and presently appears to be a bench player, which could diminish his trade value. Randolph has put up decent numbers in the first two preseason games, averaging 15 points in 20.5 minutes per game, but his role remains undefined.

Notes & quotes: D'Antoni made it official that Russian rookie Timofey Mozgov will start at center Wednesday night against the Celtics at Madison Square Garden. Mozgov, however, may not face Shaquille O'Neal, who did not play last night against the 76ers because of a hip issue. According to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation, the Knicks had serious internal discussions about making a contract offer to O'Neal early in the free-agency process . . . Eddy Curry (hamstring) and Kelenna Azubuike (knee) worked out on a side court during practice and did some light shooting.

I highly doubt that MikeD doesn't want Gallo taking it to the hole. He needs to do that just to get guys to play off of him a step so that he has room to shoot.

Elite wrote:I don't know if you guys saw, but it was during the post-open practice interview (can be seen on the Knicks site)

Basically Hahn asked if hes worried about him settling for too many 3s

his response was basically that he didnt want to see Gallo driving, cuz thats not his game. He wants him to shoot.

Dantoni is going to turn Gallo into a glorified Kyle Korver.

I could see his point if, when Gallo drove the ball he was unsuccessful... But hes not, hes VERY successful. He almost ALWAYS draws a foul when he puts the ball on the floor. I just don't get it. I understand Dantoni needs spacing for his precious offense to work... but you have to maximize your talent. For the first time i'm really starting to question if we can win with this coach... Let's see.

Papabear Says

If this team don't make the play-offs D'Antoni won't be here after this season. I hate D'Antoni's free for all gamble not defense teams. Nash carried D'Antoni. Hell we've got no shooters. We think we do but all are inconsistant.

Vmart wrote:I don't know why people are upset with MDA. I'm more upset with Gallo. Not wanting to play hard all the time. He wants to coast through games and defer way to much to his teammates to do all the work while he jacks up threes. All MDA said was if you are going to play 30+ minutes play them as hard as possible. Gallo mean while comes up with a million excuses to not play hard.

Not sure where you come up with some of this stuff.

If you really want to see if a player is playing hard, you watch them on D, and I have done a lot of zoning in on Gallo when he is playing D, and he puts a lot of effort into that part of the game. Guys like Lee and Harrington never gave you consistent effort on the defensive end, although both made sure that they got their touches and did their things on offense.

Not being assertive because you defer to other players or are conflicted over your role on a team is one thing... coasting and not playing hard are entirely different.

I want Gallinari to play a more prominent role on offense, but to be critical of the effort he gives a player seems to tell me that you are really being subjective in your interpretation and observations of how he is playing.

Vmart wrote:

Paladin55 wrote:

Vmart wrote:I don't know why people are upset with MDA. I'm more upset with Gallo. Not wanting to play hard all the time. He wants to coast through games and defer way to much to his teammates to do all the work while he jacks up threes. All MDA said was if you are going to play 30+ minutes play them as hard as possible. Gallo mean while comes up with a million excuses to not play hard.

Not sure where you come up with some of this stuff.

If you really want to see if a player is playing hard, you watch them on D, and I have done a lot of zoning in on Gallo when he is playing D, and he puts a lot of effort into that part of the game. Guys like Lee and Harrington never gave you consistent effort on the defensive end, although both made sure that they got their touches and did their things on offense.

Not being assertive because you defer to other players or are conflicted over your role on a team is one thing... coasting and not playing hard are entirely different.

I want Gallinari to play a more prominent role on offense, but to be critical of the effort he gives a player seems to tell me that you are really being subjective in your interpretation and observations of how he is playing.

I'm telling you like I see it and like he said it. MDA wants him to be more aggressive, because he slacking through games like he can turn it on whenever. He wants to be like Paul Pierce, and pick and choose when to play hard. What Gallo said is stupid. Paul Pierce when he was Gallo's age was bring it hard all the time. Now that Pierce is older he has to pick and choose. He gives an example of not wanting to break a play because its someone else turn to shoot. I'm sorry but that is a cop out to me if a back door play is presented you take it and the hones is on the others to see it and make it happen. SSOL is get the easiest shot possible. MDA all he is saying to this guy is take it to the next level. Next level means demand the ball and do something with it not just jack up threes you play hard the entire game. You don't f'ing pick and choose.

SOmetimes the way people see it aren't the way it is! I think it's been obvious to me since the beginning of last season. Gallo needs to gain confidence in his ball handling, because he's good at it and he's also pretty athletic. Not freakishly, but he can drive to the basket and play defense.

It's simply a matter of him gaining confidence when it comes to his driving. If he was slacking, as Paladin said, we would have seen lackluster defense, but that hasn't been the case.

Gallos play, to me, has nothing to do with D'Antoni.