New York Post no Gallinari fan
July 22, 2008
Marc Berman recently published an article at NYPost.com saying that “Knicks have Gallinari doubts.” Give the [New York] people what the people want! We [bloggers and journalists] all know that a good headline is everything! - at least Berman’s right about this.
If you keep reading his article, you will find out that the Knicks in fact don’t have any doubt about Gallinari’s impact on the team.
“The thing I really liked what I saw from Danilo, he looked to make other players better,” the Knicks president said during a guest stint on the MSG Network telecast yesterday. “When he’s out on the floor, he has a sense of the game already to make his team better. I would’ve liked to seen him play for the entire length but I saw enough to feel good about.”
Oh right, I get it - the Knicks have doubts that Gallinari will play one-on-five like their “old” superstars of the past. They fear that he’ll actually play team basketball.
Since Marc himself did not find a real basketball reason for the Knicks to have Gallinari doubts, he talks about Gallinari’s physical condition.
Gallinari’s summer league raises questions on whether he’ll be durable enough to withstand the NBA’s physical pounding, at 6′10″, 227, as a rookie.
I really wonder if Marc thinks basketball just comes as a god-given gift in Europe, and that you don’t need to practice at all overseas. Yes, the NBA season is something like 80+ games. Now in Europe, Gallinari and every other player plays once a week for their domestic league, once a week for Euroleague games and once a week for domestic cup games. On top of that, each team practices twice a day for eight months. Add up the games and you end up with at least 8 or 9 games a month, times eight months equals … just abut 70 games a season.
Do you think Mr. Gallinari knows what physical pounding means…?
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Published by Tobias · Filed Under European basketball, Italy, NBA, center, national teams
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4 Responses to “New York Post no Gallinari fan”
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Euroleague 2008/09
To be fair, aren’t the same questions are always raised about the skinny American kids coming out of college? And not rightfully so? The NBA game is presumed to be more physical than American college (and also Euroleague) play. The games are longer, the fouls are harder, and any rookie will run into the rookie wall. Even Dirk, who may be the most successful European player in NBA history, had an awful rookie season that seems to justify the current stereotypical knocks on even top Euroleague talent.
That said though, that Gallinari bit in the NY Post article is worthless. It’s an example of poor sports journalism, for sure.
I actually think he would do pretty well.
However he could have trouble playing PF for a while - if he is going to be a PF he will need to get stronger.
Should be fine as an SF though.
at the moment it’s looking like Galinari and Wilson Chandler will play the 2 forward spots. Question will be how much Gallinari handles the ball…the Knicks starting point guard will be Chris Duhon, and Gallinari might be a better “point” player than him.
The nba season is 6 months not including post season, 82/6 equals 13.6 games a month, sometimes 4-5 games a week. Not including constant practice and roadtrips. With busts in Darko and Bargnani, it’s hard it trust single digit draft european big men, his BMI isn’t ideal at 23, so he needs more muscle. Face it, the NBA season is longer and more grueling with more games.