…and we know you don’t care. This team is not going to trick me into watching it this year. However, I have decided that I will check in on them, as one would check in on an ailing old friend. They looked pretty good tonight, beating the Phoenix Suns, 126-99. I’ll just give my critique of Gallinari’s play, since I know the Knicks arent doing anything this year, and Gallo’s one of the few players I know will be around next year.
The Knicks and Suns entered the game with records that were the complete inverse of each other (3-14 to 14-3). Gallinari looked particularly focused on this day, starting the game with a quick dunk, and a reverse layup. After that his shot was on target the whole night. In addition, his passing and his defense were excellent. He never forces anything.
I think Gallinari stands around too much on the perimeter, passively, away from the action. Though he was calling for the ball the whole game, there were way too many possesions where he never touched the ball, even in the middle of a scorching hot shooting stretch. One play that had me yelling at the TV: In the fourth quarter, Gallinari blocked a shot to start a break and clearly shoudlve been rewarded by getting the ball back, yet the thought never crossed any of the other Knicks’ minds. The other Knicks don’t always look for him, but he also allows himself to fade into the background a little too much. It seems like the Knicks could really run their offense through him.
Keywords: Gallinari, New York Knicks
