Saturday, June 28, 2008

Danilo Gallinari, 19 yr old from Milan, Italy Drafted at #6 by NY Knicks New Coach D'Antoni

The ANNOTICO Report

 

Danilo Gallinari's hometown is Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, Italy. He is 6' 9" and is expected to grow another inch, and plays small Forward for  Armani Jeans Olimpia Milano.

 

Gallinari  is considered the most talented player in Italy and the next rising European star who will leave his mark on the NBA.  Gallinari has not officially decided his future as far as next year is concerned, but he already shows the maturity of a veteran. His work ethic, as well as his incredibly versatility, has him regarded as a top ten pick in this year's draft. "I'm under contract for two more years with Olimpia Milano", Gallinari says, "but I have a clause that allows me to get out for free this year if want to leave for the NBA". Gallinari weighs his words carefully, we will know his decision and his future only in 2-3 weeks. While we wait, let's get to know him better.

 

Despite playing on an underwhelming team It's becoming increasingly usual to see Danilo Gallinari producing almost at will regardless of who he goes up against. His skill repertoire, knowledge of the game and physical gifts propose a devastating equation that hardly anybody can consistently contest. Just consider that he lived in the 20+ point mark for five games in a row, combining both the Euroleague and the Italian Lega. The run includes a defeat against the Israeli powerhouse Maccabi Elite Tel Aviv, where Gallinari carried his team's offensive load with 27 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals, and the comfortable victory over Scavolini Spar Pesaro, that only required him to spend 26 minutes on court, but was still enough to come up with 20 points and 6 rebounds.His superb slashing ability was responsible of much of the damage he caused on his opponents, both in the form of layups/dunks and forced fouls that sent him to the stripe multiple times.   &nbs p;    http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Danilo-Gallinari-535/

 

Other Italians like  Manu Ginobli has starred with the Phoenix Suns, although picked at #57 in 1999, Andrea Bargnani  was the #1 pick of the Toronto Rapters in 2007, but despite his outstanding play, the Rapter fans are only tepid. Marco Belinelli drafted  #18 by the San Francisco Warriors in 2007 has had limited playing time. Kobe Bryant is Honorary Italian, as his Father played in the Italian League after his NBA career, and Kobe spent the ages between 6 - 13 in Italy

 

Gallinari Set for Pressure of Playing in New York


The Associated Press

Friday, June 27, 2008

GREENBURGH, N.Y.: Sure, New York will be tough. Danilo Gallinari believes he is ready, since there was plenty of pressure playing in Milan.

Especially since he wore the same number as a giant of Italian hoops - who now happens to be his coach.

Gallinari proved to be worthy of wearing Mike D'Antoni's No. 8 back home, and hopes to win over the fans that jeered him on draft night when he dons a Knicks jersey with the same number next season.

"I think it is two different worlds," the 19-year-old Gallinari said Friday at the Knicks' training center. "There is a lot of pressure in Milan and a lot of pressure in New York. So I'm going to different places, but same place."

And not an easy one. Fans at the draft booed loudly when the Knicks took Gallinari on Thursday with the No. 6 pick, and that was nothing compared to what he'll hear if he doesn't produce right away next season.

"I think Danilo and I and Mike understand that he's going to have to answer all those questions by how he plays, and understand that he's a young player like all the other rookies and it'll be gradually better," Knicks president Donnie Walsh said.

Walsh said he got a strong recommendation from former coach Isiah Thomas after a European scouting trip, citing Gallinari's poise in crunch time at such a young age.

"Basically at the end of games, they gave him the ball and he made the plays," Walsh said. "For a guy that's that big, that's unusual."

Playing under D'Antoni should help Gallinari adjust to the NBA. D'Antoni was a star player and championship-winning coach in Italy, where he was once a teammate of Gallinari's father, Vittorio. On the phone after the pick, D'Antoni began the conversation in what was still pretty good Italian, Danilo Gallinari said.

"He played so many years in Europe and Italy, so he knows where I am from, where I come from, and he's probably the right guy to help me, the right coach to help me," Gallinari said.

Gallinari doesn't know D'Antoni well, but certainly knows of him. And when he showed up in Milan as a teenager and asked for No. 8, Gallinari was constantly reminded that "Mike D'Antoni is a legend in Milan."

"Some pressure about that," Gallinari said.

Unlike Kobe Bryant, who used to wear No. 8 in honor of D'Antoni, Gallinari's choice of the number had nothing to do with his new coach. He picked it for his birth date - Aug. 8, 1988.

The Knicks believe Gallinari will be a good fit in D'Antoni's system because of his outside shooting ability. Listed at 6-foot-8, though Walsh said he's closer to 6-10, Gallinari shot 40 percent from 3-point range last season for Armani Jeans of Milan, averaging 17.5 points in Italian A-1 League play.

D'Antoni's offense depends on having shooters at every position, and Walsh recognized the Knicks didn't. Perhaps when he bulks up, Gallinari can be used as a perimeter-shooting power forward, the way Shawn Marion was under D'Antoni in Phoenix, where he developed into an All-Star.

Gallinari and Walsh both said a doctor told them the forward could grow another inch, perhaps making him as big a threat on the interior as he is from the outside.

"And he's a very, very good shooter," Walsh said. "So I think the combination of being able to take it to the goal and then shoot from the outside, for a guy that big I think is going to be a pretty lethal combination once he gets the strength and all that."

 

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