Morning Notes

by Tommy Dee on October 2nd, 2009 at 1:31 pm
  • Spoke to Danilo Gallinari who agreed that his legs were a little tired when I noted it looked like he was flat on his jumpshot last night. He said the key, for him, is to keep shooting, and knowing that  the next one is going to drop. We know what D’Antoni said about his shooting, and quite honestly when he can catch and set it’s automatic.
  • D’Antoni wants to see more explosion from the kid and that will come with age and time. He’s not where he’d like him to be in terms of beating a guy off the dribble. The coach mentioned how he likes how Hedo Turkoglu can make plays off the pick and roll off the dribble and foresees Gallinari having a similar impact from a playmaking standpoint.
  • D’Antoni was also quick to mention Raja Bell as one of the best defenders he’d ever coached. Bell is reportedly on the block in Charlotte. 
  • Donnie Walsh really filled me in on how this system can help Darko Milicic. It’s not your classic run to the block and post up, and Darko is a good elbow to elbow big man. But he said D’Antoni, and most specifically Herb Williams, can teach Darko to want the ball more with his back to the basket.
  • Walsh and Larry Hughes had a good long discussion on the sidelines. Hughes’ role hasn’t been overly defined yet. Interested to see if he gets more work with Lee, Harrington and Duhon. 

Heading back to camp in a few hours and will have more video from the scrimmages. As always, you can follow live updates on Twitter.
  • http://twitter.com/Mike_Ock/status/4558591668 @Mike_Ock

    @TommyDeeTKB Gotta give credit where credit is due. U and Seth are destroying the other bloggers with ur training camp coverage.

  • Bart

    Just Saw the Video Harrington looks like the best player on the court, nice passes, hitting the trey good stuff. Did someone block a shot???????? WTF i almost pissed my pants good stuff Darko !! Keep playing like that and we can trade Lee.

  • Section 40

    Lee never blocked shots

  • J_Starks3

    This is by far the best blog about the knicks.

  • J_Starks3

    Walsh and Hughes conversation;

    DW: Hey Larry just wanted to tell you that you might not have any rotation minutes early on unless another GM calls and wants to know about your health but I will package you with either Eddy or Jared.

    Larry: That’s ok Mr. Walsh Wilson is a better player than I am and he should start at the 2 anyway.

    DW: Well………….that went better than what I thought. Thanks for being a soldier.

    JUST KIDDING!!!!!

    I like Larry as a good on the ball defender but Chandler fits better in this offense. The only way he gets playing time is if another GM calls.

  • HaS

    Chandler cannot play 2 guard offensively at this point in his career. I hope he can one day, but he just can’t dribble well enough right now. He can guard 2′s so he’ll get some time there probably, but Hughes is the only true off guard who is signed in camp right now.

  • J_Starks3

    In this system he can play the 2 guard. If it was a more traditional half-court, use 23 seconds of the shot clock, type of offense then yes but not with Mike D.

  • HaS

    Oh I’m sorry I didn’t know you didn’t have to dribble in this offense.

  • J_Starks3

    You don’t have to break anybody down of the dribble in this offense.