# The Official 2008 Draft Thread: Gallinari, it is!



## alphaorange (Jul 2, 2006)

Really wanted OJ or Westbrook but I'm OK with DG. I really believe he and Lee (provided he is here) will be a dynamite 3 and 4. Still like to pick up another 5 prospect...someone with upside. I like Robin Lopez...more of a rebounder/shot-blocker type and still improving. Now get Rubio next year.


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## TwinkieFoot (Jul 8, 2006)

*Re: Gallinari, it is!*

To be perfectly honest with you...I'm more excited about what the Nets did. I don't see Gallinari as being a big player in the future but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt to play a few seasons for us before I judge. It'll be interesting to see what we do with this team in the future.


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## Truknicksfan (Mar 25, 2005)

*Re: Gallinari, it is!*

All I can say is he better be able to do something THIS year because they passed on ALOT of talent to pick him. Well see what happens.


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## alphaorange (Jul 2, 2006)

*Nets made out, for sure.*

Like to get that big guy from somewhere. I kinda still expect some additional moves. I know the kids has some athletic limitations but he wouldn't be the first to have them and still be good. A guy named Bird did pretty well and he was slow and ground bound. NOT SAYING THEY ARE THE SAME SKILL, only that the limitations may not be as hindering as the numbers suggest.


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## TwinkieFoot (Jul 8, 2006)

*Re: Gallinari, it is!*

I really don't see it but D'Antoni thinks Gallinari will be a 4. At that position, I think he has a much better shot at succeeding because his skills are mute at the 3 spot where he'd not be athletic enough. We're going to get destroyed defensively and if that was the case, we should have just gone for Kevin Love or try and trade for Yi Jialian, Darko Milicic or Andres Bargnani who are better fits in my opinion.


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## MichaelOFAZ (Jul 9, 2002)

*Re: Gallinari, it is!*

Bust! The Knicks continue to draft with their hearts instead of their heads. I can't believe the Knicks passed on Eric Gordon. Aside from Rose and Beasley, Gordon had the most NBA-ready game in the draft. He's only going to get better over time too. If Eric Gordon had played in the Pac 10, he would have been the 3rd pick without question. With Marbury's contract coming to an end, Gordon would have fit nicely into the Knick future. Instead, the Knicks let nepotisim take over by allowing D'Antoni to draft the son of an ex-teammate. A guy who looks great on paper, but will get abused in the NBA.


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## TwinkieFoot (Jul 8, 2006)

*Re: Gallinari, it is!*

Eric Gordon is going to be a bust in my opinion but I feel as though the Knicks should have traded down. I'm starting to wonder whether the Bobcats screwed up our plans by taking DJ Augustin. I would have been pretty happy taking Augustin and the 21st from the Nets. Somehow, I felt the Nets had a deal in place because they brought in Brook Lopez when they already have Nenad Krstic, Sean Williams, Josh Boone and Yi Jianlian but were rumored to want our Italian stallion.


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## Gotham2krazy (Nov 22, 2005)

*Re: Gallinari, it is!*

Eric Gordon would definitely not have fit in New York, no way no how. But I'm kind of glad that the Knicks picked him because I'd still like for Collins to show what he could do. I also want to see what type of moves Walsh will be making in the near future, hopefully for the better. Regardless, I don't believe Gallinari should come in and start right away, I would be pissed if he does.


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## knickstorm (Jun 22, 2003)

*Re: Gallinari, it is!*

eric gordon i just got a feeling is gonna be injury plagued.......i'm thrilled with DG, i wanted a hr pick and that is what he is.....


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## USSKittyHawk (Jul 22, 2005)

*Re: Gallinari, it is!*

Sorry *** excuse for a GM Walsh allowed Coach D'Antoni to hook up this guy because he knows his father. This pick is BS, I was at the draft and we let the Knicks organization know this pick sucked! I'm sick and tired of this franchise we will continue to be the laughing stock of the NBA.


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## NewAgeBaller (Jan 8, 2007)

*Re: Gallinari, it is!*



Truknicksfan said:


> All I can say is he better be able to do something THIS year because they passed on ALOT of talent to pick him. Well see what happens.


Agreed.


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## Deke (Jul 27, 2005)

*Re: Gallinari, it is!*

what is so special about this guy? he looks like a typical euro bust lol.


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## MichaelOFAZ (Jul 9, 2002)

*Re: Gallinari, it is!*



USSKittyHawk said:


> Sorry *** excuse for a GM Walsh allowed Coach D'Antoni to hook up this guy because he knows his father. This pick is BS, I was at the draft and we let the Knicks organization know this pick sucked! I'm sick and tired of this franchise we will continue to be the laughing stock of the NBA.


I feel sorry for Knick fans. Every year it's the same thing.
Check out the draft history for the Knick for the past decade or so.
Not one player listed below (aside from Nene, who the Knicks traded the rights away to Denver along with Camby and Jackson for McDyess and Frank Willaims) would start for 75% of the teams in the NBA. In fact, most of the players listed below did not make it past their rookie contract.

And you don't want to see the players that the Knicks left on the board when they selected highly touted players like Renaldo Balkman. :lol:

2007 - 1 Wilson Chandler 
2006 - 1 Renaldo Balkman, Mardy Collins 
2005 - 1 Channing Frye, David Lee, 2 Dijon Thompson 
2004 - 1 Trevor Ariza 
2003 - 1 Michael Sweetney, 2 Maciej Lampe, Slavko Vranes 
2002 - 1 Nene Hilario
2001 - 2 Michael Wright, 2 Eric Chenowith
2000 - 2 Lavor Postell, Pete Mickeal 
1999 - 1 Frederic Weis, J.R. Koch
1998 - 2 DeMarco Johnson, Sean Marks 
1997 - 1 John Thomas


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## TwinkieFoot (Jul 8, 2006)

*Re: Gallinari, it is!*

What makes me even more angry is the fact that the Grizzlies just managed to trade for Mayo by having the Grizzlies assume all there "bad" contracts. I would have given that team financial flexibility and our draft pick in a heart beat for a shot at Mayo. The Grizzlies would have never selected Love had they not known that the Wolves would trade Mayo. I'd say this is a terrible start to Walsh's career here in New York unless some trades are made...but I want to give DG the benefit of the doubt. LOL, who would have thought that having Isiah Thomas around might have actually worked out better for us in this situation?


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## TwinkieFoot (Jul 8, 2006)

*Re: Gallinari, it is!*

Could the Knicks be planning something with the Memphis Grizzlies involving OJ Mayo? David Lee was mentioned prominently in trade discussions earlier in the week in exchange for their draft pick. The Grizzlies just got a bunch of terrible contracts so could it be them posturing to bring in both Lee AND another player along the lines of a Jamal Crawford? 

Although Crawford is a good player he does have a lengthy contract which would mean that any "bad" contract we take back in return would be shorter than Jamal's. I wouldn't mind trying to extend Lee's contract and ship him and Crawford out for Mayo and an Antawn Walker or Marko Jaric. As much as Lee does not want to get traded, there is little he could do if he is dealt especially given the fact that the Grizzlies still retain the right to match any offer he would get on the open market. At least if they do lose Lee, they'd have Crawford to show for something.

This would allow us to understand the point of what just happened on draft day.


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## Tragedy (Dec 9, 2002)

*Re: Gallinari, it is!*

doubt they trade mayo now i can't see a player moving to three teams before he's played a game


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## Scipio (Feb 18, 2004)

*Re: Gallinari, it is!*



USSKittyHawk said:


> Sorry *** excuse for a GM Walsh allowed Coach D'Antoni to hook up this guy because he knows his father. This pick is BS, I was at the draft and we let the Knicks organization know this pick sucked! I'm sick and tired of this franchise we will continue to be the laughing stock of the NBA.


OK DG has excelled against superior competition than your college players. You really should give him a chance to show you what he can do before judging him based on stereotypes.


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## USSKittyHawk (Jul 22, 2005)

*Re: Gallinari, it is!*



Scipio said:


> OK DG has excelled against superior competition than your college players. You really should give him a chance to show you what he can do before judging him based on stereotypes.


Who judged him on sterotypes, where in my post did I it implied anything based on sterotypes? I didn't want his *** to begin with and that was well known on this board, and don't tell me what I should or shouldn't do. This franchise has a history of making sorry *** draft choices. This was a hook up pick and if Coach D'Antoni wasn't coaching this team the Knicks would have passed him by, and that's a fact. He can excel all he wants in the Italian league, but this is the NBA, and he is playing in NYC so he better bring it otherwise expect his *** to be booed off the court. All you hear out of Walsh's mouth is ****ing potential, they were better off trading this pick. I'm still fuming, what a sorry excuse for an organization.


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## alphaorange (Jul 2, 2006)

*Calm down*

I doubt very seriously you know this was a hook up pick "for a fact". The fact is that it's your opinion...which you are entitled to. What this kid can do and how soon he can do it at this level remains to be seen. He was rated a top ten pick and I saw him as high as #4 leading up to the draft. That would seem to indicate a lot of respect outside of the Knicks. You have stated you love IT's talent evaluation skills. Who do you think one of the scouts that raved about this kids was? Could very well have been Isiah, since he was sent to scout him SPECIFICALLY. You are expecting an awful lot out of a #6 pick. He doesn't need to be very good this year, he only needs to show he WILL be very good. We are going nowhere this year and wouldn't have been going anywhere no matter who the pick was. Booing the crap out of this young man because he's not their pick would be unfair and dumb. Why don't we see if we can break him before he ever gets a chance? OK, I get it...he's not your pick. Tell me your pick and how you'd have gotten him and how we'd be better in the long run. Hint...you may want to wait until the season has played out some.. I have a feeling there is going to be a bunch of disappointed fans around the league.


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## Tragedy (Dec 9, 2002)

*Re: Gallinari, it is!*



Scipio said:


> OK DG has excelled against superior competition than your college players. You really should give him a chance to show you what he can do before judging him based on stereotypes.


Yea, but guys who couldn't make the NBA also do well overseas so....


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## USSKittyHawk (Jul 22, 2005)

*Re: Calm down*



alphaorange said:


> I doubt very seriously you know this was a hook up pick "for a fact". The fact is that it's your opinion...which you are entitled to. What this kid can do and how soon he can do it at this level remains to be seen. He was rated a top ten pick and I saw him as high as #4 leading up to the draft. That would seem to indicate a lot of respect outside of the Knicks. You have stated you love IT's talent evaluation skills. Who do you think one of the scouts that raved about this kids was? Could very well have been Isiah, since he was sent to scout him SPECIFICALLY. You are expecting an awful lot out of a #6 pick. He doesn't need to be very good this year, he
> only needs to show he WILL be very good. We are going nowhere this year and wouldn't have been going anywhere no matter who the pick was. Booing the crap out of this young man because he's not their pick would be unfair and dumb. Why don't we see if we can break him before he ever gets a chance? OK, I get it...he's not your pick. Tell me your pick and how you'd have gotten him and how we'd be better in the long run. Hint...you may want to wait until the season has played out some.. I have a feeling there is going to be a bunch of disappointed fans around the league.


I'll clam down when I see results until then I'm a continue to rant. With that being said:
You be surprise who I know, and what I know, this was a hook up pick plain and simple. It does not even take a genius to figure that out even if you are not in the sports and entertainment field; the media outlets know the deal and some of the fans. It's funny but you were the one ranting and raving about this guy leading up to the draft and then you got the nerve tell other people to give him a chance. I also get it, he is your guy. and hasn't stepped foot on the hardwood yet but you co-signing, talk about pot called the kettle black.  As you well know I wanted Mayo and watching all this wheeling and dealing and the Knicks doing nothing really makes me mad. Do you really believe Isaiah would have picked him? Or would he have tried to grab a PG that can make an impact now? I just wish if we got the #1, or #2 pick what would Walsh would have done. I'm glad you can post so positively, but I don't time to be waiting on the Knicks and being patient with all this potential talk. My posts are full of negativity because I I've been suffering for 8 years of this BS since Ewing left. The Celtics won 25 games last year and won the NBA championship the following year, why can't we have the same mindset? Instead of the talk about patience and potential, and time for development. I got your development alright. If you like to continue to watch this team win 25 games, and continue to miss playoffs then by all means continue. A lot of New York fans are running out of patience, it's time to get things right and get this team to become competive again.


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## USSKittyHawk (Jul 22, 2005)

One more thing Dog, if this kid comes out and does his thing, I'll sit down at the table and wait for you to serve me my humble pie. I'll eat it, alongside a nice tall glass of water.


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## Da Grinch (Aug 17, 2002)

outside of wishing the knicks could have gotten in on Bayless (Dont the blazers always seem to capitalize on these things come draft ?) i think the knicks did ok , DG looks like he can play and is big enough to play the 4.

i cant wait for summer league , eddy and nate are supposed to play so the knicks should win whatever league they are in.


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## Damian Necronamous (Jun 10, 2002)

What the hell are the Knicks going to do with all their small forwards?

Danilo Gallinari, Quentin Richardson, Jared Jeffries, Wilson Chander, Renaldo Balkman

Jeffries, Chandler and Balkman are basically all the same player...trades have to be coming.

Will Gallinari start? If he doesn't, Knicks fans will be pissed.


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## Damian Necronamous (Jun 10, 2002)

*Re: Gallinari, it is!*



Tragedy said:


> doubt they trade mayo now i can't see a player moving to three teams before he's played a game


Technically, Darrell Arthur has been on four teams already.

New Orleans, Portland, Houston, and now Memphis.

Brendan Haywood also got the draft caps of Orlando, Cleveland, and finally Washington on draft night.


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## E.H. Munro (Jun 22, 2004)

*Re: Gallinari, it is!*



USSKittyHawk said:


> Who judged him on sterotypes, where in my post did I it implied anything based on sterotypes? I didn't want his *** to begin with and that was well known on this board, and don't tell me what I should or shouldn't do. This franchise has a history of making sorry *** draft choices. This was a hook up pick and if Coach D'Antoni wasn't coaching this team the Knicks would have passed him by, and that's a fact. He can excel all he wants in the Italian league, but this is the NBA, and he is playing in NYC so he better bring it otherwise expect his *** to be booed off the court. All you hear out of Walsh's mouth is ****ing potential, they were better off trading this pick. I'm still fuming, what a sorry excuse for an organization.


Your hate for the Italian Scallion is palpable.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

> Another point that might make some Knicks fans wary is that Isiah Thomas played a role - albeit small - in the Gallinari decision. Walsh dispatched Thomas to Europe in May to watch Gallinari and he came back with a glowing report.
> 
> "The kid won't back down," Thomas said.
> 
> ...


How about letting him play first ? Those stereotypes are incredibly annoying. Giving someone the label of soft because of his nationality doesn't make any sense at all. Knicks fans also booed a guy named Dirk Nowitzki at the 1998 NBA Draft, guess he turned out to be a pretty good player. Gallinari is not the problem, it's the Knicks that have made piss poor decisions this decade and therefore everyone is down on every decision until they are actually competitive again.


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## Scipio (Feb 18, 2004)

*Re: Gallinari, it is!*



Tragedy said:


> Yea, but guys who couldn't make the NBA also do well overseas so....


And guys who do very well in college suck in every professional stage so what is your point? Sure there is the possibility that DG will be a bust but he's not a skita level pick. HE's proven he can play in Europe at young age so NBA is the next logical step and he has the tools to do well. Booing him because of the poor decision made in the past few years is just plain stupid. As it is stupid to imagine NY had a shot at Rose, Mayo or Beasley and boo DG because of that.

Give the kid a chance.


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## knickstorm (Jun 22, 2003)

i thought people respected isiah's eye for talent? well he loved this kid


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## TwinkieFoot (Jul 8, 2006)

knickstorm said:


> i thought people respected isiah's eye for talent? well he loved this kid


LOL, I'd love the pick also if I was being paid some $8 million a year and had the chance to still be fired by the guy who was brought in to take my spot. From what we hear, Isiah is a pretty vindictive guy so who says he'll really voice his displeasure about the guy's game if he knows we're making the wrong pick? 

This of course is purely hypothetical, so I'll take a wait and see approach on DG. It's not like we needed immediate help on the talent front anyway, so he'll have enough time to do so.


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## TwinkieFoot (Jul 8, 2006)

croco said:


> How about letting him play first ? Those stereotypes are incredibly annoying. Giving someone the label of soft because of his nationality doesn't make any sense at all. Knicks fans also booed a guy named Dirk Nowitzki at the 1998 NBA Draft, guess he turned out to be a pretty good player. Gallinari is not the problem, it's the Knicks that have made piss poor decisions this decade and therefore everyone is down on every decision until they are actually competitive again.


We didn't boo him because of his nationality (at least most of us). New York has a large Italian population, so that definately was not a motivating factor. The reason we booed is because he's a draft pick, LOL. When has a draft pick not been booed at the Garden? LOL.

As for Dirk, I'm still not a fan of his game. People tend to overrate him either because he's a scorer or because he's European or both. Most "experts" tend to build up these lofty expectation of foreign players and they generally fall flat on there face in our game. Aside from Dirk, what European player is exactly anything more than a complimentary/role player? The only example of a European franchise player is a guy that has given a MVP award in a year he sucked in the playoffs and got kicked out in the first year. He followed up this stellar performance by playing beneath himself and getting his team (a clear favorite) kicked out the playoffs in the first round again. There's a reason they traded for Jason Kidd and it's not just because he obviously made them a better team off the bat.

As for DG, I'll wait and see and pray that he becomes an excellent player.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

TwinkieFoot said:


> We didn't boo him because of his nationality (at least most of us). New York has a large Italian population, so that definately was not a motivating factor. The reason we booed is because he's a draft pick, LOL. When has a draft pick not been booed at the Garden? LOL.
> 
> As for Dirk, I'm still not a fan of his game. People tend to overrate him either because he's a scorer or because he's European or both. Most "experts" tend to build up these lofty expectation of foreign players and they generally fall flat on there face in our game. Aside from Dirk, what European player is exactly anything more than a complimentary/role player? The only example of a European franchise player is a guy that has given a MVP award in a year he sucked in the playoffs and got kicked out in the first year. He followed up this stellar performance by playing beneath himself and getting his team (a clear favorite) kicked out the playoffs in the first round again. There's a reason they traded for Jason Kidd and it's not just because he obviously made them a better team off the bat.
> 
> As for DG, I'll wait and see and pray that he becomes an excellent player.


Yeah, I know that you guys are booing pretty much everyone of your picks, but it's still kinda unfair. I would rather boo whoever is responsible for making that decision. 

Gallinari is not a franchise player, I don't think anyone has stated that opinion before the draft. The problem is that noone who was picked after him is projected to be a franchise player either. Of course someone could and most likely will turn out to be a better player, but that happens all the time. The Weis comparisons are absolutely laughable though, Weis is a stiff big man, Gallinari is a forward who is agile and mobile. When it's all said and done I'm pretty confident to say that you won't be disappointed with him.

As for the second half of your post, Dirk is the only one who can be considered a franchise player although this is also debatable because others have set the bar so high. Still, whether you think he is a Top 5 (which I don't), Top 10 or Top 15 player it's pretty hard to argue that he has been on a team that has won at least 50 games for eight straight years and won 67 games with a roster that was hardly spectacular. What hurts his reputation more than anything is that they gave away the Finals in 2006, if the Mavs had not everyone would be a raving about a unique talent, a (white) European to lead his team to the top and stuff like that. Now he is soft, a loser, overrated and not clutch which is not being put in perspective. So while he hasn't achieved that people also wouldn't hate as much if he wasn't close. 

Gallinari is a tough kid who will not be indimidated by the boos although he will need some time to adapt to a city like New York and with so many hopes and expectations it will be tough for him to make an immediate impact other than playing hard. It's a first step of many that need to follow to turn this franchise around.


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## TwinkieFoot (Jul 8, 2006)

croco said:


> Yeah, I know that you guys are booing pretty much everyone of your picks, but it's still kinda unfair. I would rather boo whoever is responsible for making that decision.
> 
> Gallinari is not a franchise player, I don't think anyone has stated that opinion before the draft. The problem is that noone who was picked after him is projected to be a franchise player either. Of course someone could and most likely will turn out to be a better player, but that happens all the time. The Weis comparisons are absolutely laughable though, Weis is a stiff big man, Gallinari is a forward who is agile and mobile. When it's all said and done I'm pretty confident to say that you won't be disappointed with him.
> 
> ...


Perhaps your right about Dirk. I know most NBA fans are generally fickle (and I might not be an exception). I was one of the Mavs supporters in 06 when they made the Finals because I hated the kind of hype that Heat team got and not the biggest fan of Shaq and his antics. I actually was one of the people that felt they got robbed by refs and deserved to win. As much as my respect grew for Dirk since then, there is no excuse for the way he's been performing in the playoffs. The regular season is nice but you do not ever get a MVP award for the crap he's been doing in the playoffs; he might be one of the worst selections for the award.

As for Gallinari, he has one thing Dirk does not and that's aggressiveness. Despite being a toothpick, he does seem to not shy away from contact which is a very good sign. I'm curious though, what sort of team do you believe we need to build in order to maximize his abilities? You seem to know him as a player and I noticed you live in Germany, so I figure you'd know much better than your average NBA fan. What kind of personnel would we have to look to bring in that is already in the NBA?


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## alphaorange (Jul 2, 2006)

*I can answer you..*

He will need shooters to spread the floor maximizing his ability to take other big guys off the dribble while giving him a target when the doubles hit. We will also need a rebounding/shot blocking center to take some of the heat off his liabilities inside.


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## TwinkieFoot (Jul 8, 2006)

*Re: I can answer you..*



alphaorange said:


> He will need shooters to spread the floor maximizing his ability to take other big guys off the dribble while giving him a target when the doubles hit. We will also need a rebounding/shot blocking center to take some of the heat off his liabilities inside.


The problem is that many of the top tier shot blockers are either completely unavailable to us and can't score at all on the other end of the floor. Even if we did have the kind of player that did block shots, I think it would do very little for us improving our team defensively if we're going to look like Phoenix Suns-lite.

Brad Miller certainly does not fit the aforementioned description but I think he'd be a fit. If something along the lines of a Brad Miller, John Salmons (maybe a draft pick?) trade for Curry, Collins and filler came along, I'd consider it despite us losing out on a ton of young talent. Miller and Salmons are fits and free up cash in the process. Maybe even Marbury, Curry, Collins for Miller, Salmons, Moore and Kenny Thomas (and hopefully a pick).


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

TwinkieFoot said:


> I'm curious though, what sort of team do you believe we need to build in order to maximize his abilities? You seem to know him as a player and I noticed you live in Germany, so I figure you'd know much better than your average NBA fan. What kind of personnel would we have to look to bring in that is already in the NBA?


I agree with alphaorange although I don't think it's a good idea to play him at the 4. He will struggle defensively in his first year anyway like most rookies do and you don't want him to be eaten up by much stronger players inside. I wouldn't say he is a bad defender, but he lacks the experience and has only mediocre lateral quickness. 

The Knicks should definitely not build around him as I don't expect him to be someone who will carry the load offensively all night long and over the course of 82 games and more. As long as the roster is this depleted you should just focus on getting young players with potential who also have the desire to play defense and in a team concept. Gallinari is a player type who can adapt to any style which is also why I wouldn't try to focus and/or construct the team depending on what he is going to be. Your desire to win games is certainly as distinctive as anywhere after the recent years, I just don't think this is going to happen in the next one or two seasons. It's going to take some time to sort out the cap situation, get rid of bad contracts, bring in more talent and build a team that wants to play defense.


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## knickstorm (Jun 22, 2003)

TwinkieFoot said:


> LOL, I'd love the pick also if I was being paid some $8 million a year and had the chance to still be fired by the guy who was brought in to take my spot. From what we hear, Isiah is a pretty vindictive guy so who says he'll really voice his displeasure about the guy's game if he knows we're making the wrong pick?
> 
> This of course is purely hypothetical, so I'll take a wait and see approach on DG. It's not like we needed immediate help on the talent front anyway, so he'll have enough time to do so.


nah, if isiah wanted to be vindictive, he'd use his influence to piss off D'Antoni, so he would've gone to DOlan who has a man crush on isiah for some reason, and lobbied for someone another than gallanari.


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