Another pinch hitter
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- July
- 17
I haven’t yet had enough crab dip, so here’s another guest blog from Peter Gurney, a longtime Knicks fan who’s checking in from Bedford Hills:
It was a real disappointment to find out that Gallo had been shut down for what is likely to be the rest of the summer league. Toward the end of Game 1, he was really showing the promise that Knick fans were hoping for. He handles the ball very well, and even got somebody with the God Shamgod move, a long dribble forward towards the defender, and then a quick pull back of the ball with the other hand to blow past the defender en route to the basket. His midrange jumper at the end of the game had me thinking of Dirk, but that’s getting a little ahead of myself.
Now to Summer league Game 2. The good news is that the Knicks’ first round pick, outplayed the Spurs’ first round pick … without even playing. He made as many field goals as the Spurs’ first rounder did, while managing to attempt six less. Impressive Gallo! George Hill is now a tremendous 0-16 in summer league play. I shook my magic eight ball and asked it if Hill looks like an NBA contributor. It said, “Not likely.”
The Knicks did not play well at all in this game, and even managed to lose Balkman to a severe ankle sprain. So that’s now two Knicks who are most likely out for the rest of the summer league. Chandler played well at the start, but as the game went on he
lost his touch from the field and followed up his 26-point Game 1 performance with 10 points in a Game 2 loss. Newly signed Anthony Roberson shot 4-13 from the field. He was taking a lot of defended shots instead of waiting for open looks. Maybe he was trying to prove he deserved his contract.
Some analysis on the backcourt.
Roberson is just basically a machine shooter, an Eddie House comparison is a good one, he’s just less gritty and more athletic. I don’t think anyone should expect him to be anything more then a borderline rotation guy, 5-8 minutes a night where some nights
you ride him while hes hot. However, if the Knicks expect him to be a PG and intitiate offense they’ll be in for a rude awakening.
The thing is, he might actually be best suited for small periods playing with the guy who’s supposedly being kicked off the team.
Nate is the same Nate, he had some nice moves but couldn’t finish, kind of took it easy and floated through the game. I think his playmaking skills as far as being a PG have improved but I don’t see his head for the game getting better at all. He can be a
dynamic scorer off the bench in D’Antoni’s offense, though.
The days of hoping Mardy Collins will be anymore than just a 12th man on a roster seem to be coming to an end, at least in my opinion, as he remains too slow to be a play-making PG and not athletic enough to be a shooting guard. He’s a decent 12th man but no need to guarantee a contract for him.
Overall, it was a downer of a game. At least its not November yet. Let’s hope the injuries happening in Vegas, stay in Vegas!
This entry was posted
on Thursday, July 17th, 2008 at 7:25 pm by Mike Dougherty.
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good insight, funny comments, mardy does look 2 slow to be a guard, to bad hes not 6’9, hes of been a player
Yay Peter you made it, have fun in Alaska
nice blog pete. you made some interesting points. I have to agree with you on mardy. although he may have his moments, he should probably drink a red bull or something..
nicely done mr. gurney..i definately agree with your blog. Roberson was pressing out there…I still have some faith in Mardy though. You should keep writing blogs, I know i’d read them…very insightful with a nice touch of humor.
i just wonder how isaiah could have been so far off with collins. Isaiah’s a good evaluator of talent but dam, what happened with collins?
In any case & in all seriousness…Paul Miller should be considered for a seviceable big man off the bench – for the little intangibles;existing Knick “big men” were incapable of doing last season. You know screens,picks,box outs,etc.
good job, I liked your blog! I think you were right on with Nate and Roberson, and that is funny about George Hill, 0-16? ouch! Knickfan15, Eddy Curry doesn’t exactly do the little things at the center position, but do you really think that Paul Miller would add anything to this team? If we are at the point where we want a guy on the team b/c he can set screens and box out, than our frontcourt is in major trouble!
i’m not sure what happened with collins, it seems to be a large part mental with him though, some guys just don’t have the confidence to play well. But, with Mardy it also seems to be that he’s just not quick enough and doesn’t quite have the consistant jumper that he should have developed by now.
The Knicks got a good PR hit last summer when Nate Robinson and Renaldo Balkman showed that they were above the average prospects trying to make NBA teams. So, what does it say when you lose by 16 to said average prospects? Of course, if Renaldo Balkman had not sprained his ankle, maybe, we would have won, but it sounds lame to be even making excuses like that, especially in a summer league game. The fact is that even with Renaldo and first round pick Danillo Gallinari (back stiffness) out, the Knicks had two guys in the line up that have a chance to be major rotation players, Wilson Chandler and Nate Robinson, and another, Mardy Collins, who has been on the team two years. Throw in Roberson, who just inked a two year deal, and that’s a number of players who we are counting on that were not able inject positive change in the result
So, where are we? We have two injuries already and our major prospects looked ineffective against borderline pros. Now, I like watching NYK play in July as much as the next guy but this years tournament has the potential to be as depressing as last years was hopeful.
Nice bounce back against Robin Lopez and the Suns. Lopez looked very good, btw. D’Antoni was interviewed in the second quarter and was hilarious. On Curry: (I’m paraphrasing) “We’re probably having dinner tomorrow night. We’ll have the salad.” On Chandler: “He should dominate a game like this. He has twice as much talent as anyone else out there”. On Roberson: “He hit every shot in practice and then we sign him to a deal and he misses every shot since”.
This guy obviously knows what’s going on and seems like he’ll pull no punches. He’s might get in trouble, though, the minute people start paying attention.
You make some good points Dan. I’ve noticed that about D’antoni also, he really doesn’t seem to have a filter. He pretty much says exactly what he thinks when talking about players. I think that could get him in a little bit of trouble in New York, but the fact that he’s giving the reporters material will most likely get them all on his side. That style is also liked by many players, they like to be told exactly what the coach thinks and not be messed with, the best coaches are the ones that are straight shooters and aren’t scared to hurt your feelings. Their has been too many alterior motives on the knicks the past few years and things were way too secretive. This could be a breath of fresh air!
Tom,
Thanks, keep posting here.