Che ne pensate di questa bella recensione su Gallinari postata al suo arrivo su un sito di tifosi dei Nuggets???
A me piace molto soprattutto quando sfata i luoghi comuni sul Gallo e quando sottolinea come fosse mortificato dal gioco di D'Antoni:
Hi everyone!
I'm not exactly new here, as I lurked around this board a bit in the past (mostly a few years ago ... don't remember if I ever posted; can't even seem to remember my old SN ... do you delete inactive accounts here?), as I do around many NBA teams' boards (somewhat related to my "job" - there's also a reason why I always LOVED the Nuggets, but let's not go there now

).
Anyways, I'll write you a "review" about Gallinari, a player I've been following quite closely, ever since I saw him in an Euroleague game a few years ago ...
GALLO "REVIEW":
To me, he's the most talented Euro that has been drafted since Pau Gasol (in 2001 or so ... meaning in the last 9 drafts). Yeah, more talented than the likes of Bargnani, even Tony Parker ...
Comparison: in his prime, I think he should be a 6'10 (or 6'11) SF/PF version of Ginobili.
The closest comparison would be a Manu-Turkoglu mix.
All-in-all, I'll be very disappointed if he doesn't make at least a couple All-Star teams. Yeah, he's THAT talented.
Let me start by addressing a few MYTHS about Gallo:
1) 2nd coming of Skita
First of all, Skita was a PROJECT even in Europe! He wasn't just an NBA-project, he was a project even when he was "playing" for Benetton! Same for Darko ... I remember people in Europe being shocked when both were drafted as high as they were drafted.
Gallo, on the other hand, was basically the LEADER of his Euro-team (a team that also played in the Euroleague), when he was only 18, playing with mostly 10 years older guys! He was already one of the best players in Europe, and had he stayed one more year, I believe he'd be the undisputed best player in Europe.
2) He's a 3pt specialist
That's VERY wrong! And also funny, actually, as he was never even known for his shooting in Europe!

His biggest strength was driving & also getting to the line.
Then when he got drafted, he injured his back. First they rushed him back, then he had a surgery. As you probably know, a back surgery is one of the injuries that requires the longest recovery. You basically can't do much for a long time, so when you come back, you're just not at full strength, not even close (conditioning, strength etc.).
Because he severely lacked the mobility, D'Antoni started using him as a 3pt specialist (a crucial part of his system, as there were no other true shooters to spread the floor). He started well and got this reputation of being a 3pt specialist.
This year, he got his mobility, conditioning & strength back, and he improved quite a bit. HOWEVER, due to the Knicks' system, D'Antoni still mostly kept putting him in the corner to stretch the floor. You can see it with his FG attempts. For his career, he's been shooting MORE 3FGAs per game than 2FGAs, which is truly RIDICULOUS! [image]
Fun fact: when he was drafted, scouts had 3pt shooting as one of his WEAKNESSES!
3) His shooting percentages are bad
Another misconception created due to the fact that people mostly just look at FG%, without really considering much else ...
As I mentioned above, more than HALF of his career FGAs are 3pt attempts, so obviously his FG% will look much much worse than it is in reality.
Secondly, he's a VERY efficient scorer, with a 60 TS%, mostly due to his insane ability to get to the line almost at will (it really is his no.1 skill & weapon).
So all-in-all, he's just a very efficient player, and you can see that even if you just look at his PPG (16), compared to his very low FGA (10.6) and usage rate.
4) He's a bad defender
He was mostly put on the opposing team's best scorer! That should tell you everything ...
Obviously, that still doesn't mean he's a great defender, as the Knicks don't really have anyone better, however, he's still much better than people give him credit for. His feet are much quicker than it looks ... He was occasionally even put on opposing PGs, like Nash!
5) His numbers are inflated due to D'Antoni's system
Another misconception, as it's actually the other way around. Yeah, there's MANY players that get their numbers inflated in such systems (sadly Chandler is probably one of them, even though I like him), however, Gallo thrives in half-court sets, the total opposite of such systems ... He'll never reach his full potential in faster-paced systems (yeah, I know, sadly that'll also be a disadvantage for him in Denver).
Even Kevin McHale (who scouted Gallo A LOT in Italy) said that Gallo won't be himself until he gets in a half-court system. But it is what it is ...
STRENGTHS:
1) Driving & getting to the line
Truly his biggest strength and it's not even close.
2) Scoring efficiency
60 TS%.
3) Team-player
Almost too much ... he takes a submissive role too easily.
Almost always makes the extra pass.
4) Winning mentality
Will perform the best in clutch & in bigger games.
5) Good handle for his size
He lost a bit of his amazing handle in the last couple of years (I doubt it's because of his back ... it's mostly because he grew a bit, like 2 inches), but it's still quite good for his size.
6) Quickness for his size
Looks very awkward, but he's actually very deceptively quick for his size.
7) Works hard on defense ... takes pride defending top players
His father was a defensive specialist in Europe. Good to see he shares some of the same mentality.

Great off-hand
9) Great court vision
Great vision, however, he needs to improve the accuracy of his passing. He often makes awkward passes, sometimes too hard to catch for his teammate ...
WEAKNESSES:
1) Passiveness
His biggest disadvantage ... at times he's just too passive! He very often takes a submissive role, which creates a level of inconsistency. His favorite player is Paul Pierce, and he said a couple of times that he likes picking spots when he goes off.
However, unlike Pierce, he just doesn't have the ego needed for that. If his teammates take a dominant role, he'll just submit to them, let them get theirs without saying a word ... even when he needs to!
2) Motivation
He's a much better player when he's properly motivated (vs. top teams, on national TV, or after someone smacks/elbows him). He really needs to have a coach to constantly push him to his limits ... light a fire under his ass every game. D'Antoni was too much of a players coach for him ... isn't GK quite similar? :-/
3) Hitting/missing wide-open shots
He sucks at hitting wide-open shots! Like seriously, he'll keep hitting the most unreal shots over people (3pt shots over people, created out of nothing), but missing the majority of the wide-open ones (at least this year).
On the positive note, though, he's too good of a shooter to not be able to fix that. IMHO he's just thinking too much when he's open ... He just needs to relax.
Also, a while ago someone mentioned that his shot doesn't have the same "backspin" anymore, ever since his wrist problems started (beginning of this season). He's probably thinking too much, trying to get through it ... but that's a thing that should be solved over time quite easily. His FTs are great, and he's also hitting shots when he doesn't have time to think (the tougher ones over people), so it's just a matter of getting comfortable again.
4) Questionable rebounding
His rebounding isn't AS bad as his numbers indicate, simply due to the fact that he was mostly guarding perimeter players and standing behind the 3pt line on offense. Oh, D'Antoni even put him OUTSIDE when opposing teams shot FTs (since SG Fields was obviously a better rebounder).
However, he's still far from a good rebounder, obviously. I do think he can bring his rebounding on Melo's level with time, which would be good for SF, but bad for PF.
5) Post-up game
He basically never used post-up in Europe (he had an amazing handle for his size), he mostly even played a SG-like game, so we'll see if he can develop a decent post-up game or not. Time will tell ...
6) Back ???
It looks like it's TOTALLY healthy, but you know how it is ... back injuries always leave a question mark. If it's warranted or not.
7) He REALLY loved NY
Hopefully it doesn't affect him too much.
Shouldn't be a problem when he realizes Denver is not some "redneck-shit-hole".

Also, don't you guys have an Italian community?