Wait… What exactly just happened?
June 28, 2008 – 1:20 pmSo, all BS politically correct answers aside, how long did the current Knicks regime know they wanted to draft Danilo Gallinari?
Did Mike D’Antoni and Donnie Walsh know they wanted Gallinari before they sent Isiah Thomas across the pond to scout in Europe?
Does Isiah deserve any credit should Gallinari become a NY favorite at any point down the road?
So take this guy Isiah Thomas, easily one of the 50 greatest players of all-time, but also easily the worst Knick in all my decades of being a Knick fan. Isiah Thomas deserved to be severed from the organization once and for all after dual 23-win and 33-win seasons as commander in chief of basketball operations in New York, but the team owner James Dolan made sure that did not happen.
I never wanted to see his face in Madison Square Garden ever again, but that is just me. There are those who absolutely love him, mercilessly defend him and despite being male would love to bare his child. Whatever.
In comes Walsh, who has already fired Isiah once in Indiana at the behest of Larry Bird, but has always said glowing things about Isiah while he was fowling things up something terrible in New York. You simply can not deny, the Knicks have been the laughing stock of the NBA the past four years under Thomas, and for that matter, the prior four years under Scott Layden.
James Dolan, the great businessman that he is, tells Walsh that Isiah must stay on in some capacity because he likes his good buddy Isiah so darn much he just can’t stand to think of the Knicks without first thinking of Isiah. To James Dolan, the one simplistic equation he will never get out of his one simplistic mind is:
Knicks + Isiah Thomas = NBA Championship
Somehow. Some way.
Hearing all this from the emperor Dolan, Walsh then brings in D’Antoni to coach, and very shortly thereafter, Isiah is sent to watch Gallinari play euroball as a scout. Most of the MSM thinks it is a wild goose chase Thomas has been sent on, because Isiah Thomas is well known to dislike European basketball players. Yet when draft day comes around, who do they get but one of the only Euros in the first round, and the only Euro in the lottery, Italy’s Danilo Gallinari.
Is this whole thing just some kind of Isiah Thomas public relations damage control? Is that what the Knicks have become to ownership, a means to reputation management for the one New York Knick that never was?
“Again, you haven’t been proud here since ‘73.”
Good idea Dolan, let’s keep that guy.
I have no problem with the pick of Gallinari, but i have a problem with articles now being published associating Gallinari’s name to Thomas’ name. If the draft pick turns out to be a success, Thomas will take credit for it and add it to his resume of “draft steals,” but if it ends up being a flop, then Walsh and D’Antoni will take the hit? Sounds like more public relations garbage to me.
You might say, why are you still writing about Isiah, and I couldn’t agree more. I’d love to forget about it. We should all have by now. We should all have years ago. The fact is, he’s still here with the Knicks, and by all accounts, he shouldn’t be, based on the track record.
6 Responses to “Wait… What exactly just happened?”
Knicks were tracking Gallinari last summer.
By knicksdefense on Jun 28, 2008
Gallinari has plenty of potential.
By knicksdefense on Jun 28, 2008
KnicksD
Despite our divirgence of Opinion on some matters do you really believe that Danillo was merely a way to sell the fans on the Idea that Thomas is truly out of any and all influence in MSG? If so why would the welcome a chorus of boos when Gallinari’s name was called.
In a way suggesting that Gallinari is some form of cover is as insulting to the Kid Gallinari, as saying he got the job b/c of his connections with D’antoni.
This kid will be going summer leauge then to the Italian national team where he will likely be scriminaging against the best players in his nation, and then against some of the best players in the world.
That says alot to me. It means he is not afraid of failure of facing the best, and of forging himself as a player and person in that process.
I’m rooting for the rooster. I want the kid to prove all the naysayers wrong b/c it is what’s best for this franchise. Not b/c it deep cover or PR for Zeke.
Anyhow. Where are your sources for these conspiracy theories?
By Orange and Blue on Jun 28, 2008
Call me an elitist snob, buy your knowledge of the English language is so poor that I can’t have any faith in your basketball analysis either. You make George Dubya look like a linguistic expert.
“..mercilessly defend him…” You can attack someone without mercy, but it doesn’t make much sense to defend someone without mercy.
“…would love to bare his child…” I believe you mean “bear” his child. “Baring” his child could get you in trouble with the vice squad.
“…while he was fowling things up …” LOL Was he importing chickens?
By Peter on Jul 3, 2008
Points well noted Peter, thanks. This is an informal sports blog, not a major publication with proofreading editors. I’d go back in and make the edits myself, but since most people got the gist of what I was trying to write about in the first place, I think I’ll just take the chance that a flamer such as yourself will find another blog to nit-pick and criticize.
Put the grammar whistle away and talk Knicks basketball, or shut the fuck up.
Of course you were too cowardly to put a real email address, so I have to address your punk ass directly on this blog. I will not again waste my time writing to non-Knick fans (I deduce this based on your comment which had absolutely nothing to do with the Knicks).
By knicksdefense on Jul 3, 2008
Gallinari was a well known prospect before sending Thomas overseas. He had a somewhat storied career, had a good bloodline, and competed against grown men at a early age with some degree of success. Not only do I think they wanted Gallinari before Thomas’ trip, but I believe they wanted him more than anyone except Rose/Beasley/Mayo.
Got to go to July 4th, I have to put out a post I did on another site to which I received no good answers. My hypothesis is this- that not only did the Knicks want him at 6 when they realized they could not trade up, but they actually used the pre-draft reporting to influence the decisions of Seattle (Oklahoma) and Clippers. So here it goes…
This has been bugging me since draft day. I have been unable to find anyone who has commented on or speculated about the ESPN reporter (a female) who on draft night, before any picks had been made as far as I can recall, came out of the Knicks’ draft room and announced that “the Knicks have found their point guard.” Since the Knicks passed on Augustine and Bayless, I had assumed that the reporter was talking about Westbrook. Yet the Knicks and Walsh had been tight to the vest in terms of announcing their intentions, and the more I considered the incident, the more I doubted the truth of what they had told the reporter because it was inconsistent with their draft policy.
I had assumed that the Knicks had Westbrook # 1 on their board, assuming that Mayo didn’t drop, and Gallinari as #2. I also had read that the Clippers were thinking about moving up and that Seattle and Memphis might have been thinking of moving down. I have to assume that if Seattle picked Westbrook at 4- they really wanted him. I had also assumed that the Clippers were looking at Bayless or Gordon, but I do know that they also had Gallinari in for a workout, and this might have given the Knicks the idea that the Clippers were willing to trade down to get him.
So here is my hypothesis: Is it possible that the Knicks wanted Gallinari all along, and not Westbrook, and the Clippers really wanted Gordon #1 (Bayless #2), but thought the Knicks might take Gordon (Or perhaps the Clippers really wanted Gallinari all along and assumed the Knicks would take him?)? With this in mind, the Clippers might have originally talked to Seattle about a slot swap, with Seattle thinking that they could pick up Westbrook at 7 since they thought the Knicks wanted Gallinari. The Knicks on the other hand, if they really wanted Gallinari, might have thought that the Clippers could take Gallinari as a reach in a trade to 4. The Knicks, by telling ESPN that they had found their point guard, therefore froze Seattle at 4, because Seattle would have believed that the Knicks would take Westbrook, the player they actually thought enough of to take at 4, and would have taken at 7.
Is there something here I am missing? The key for me is the draft night announcement, and how it might fit in logically with what the Knicks wanted and how the draft played out. I actually wanted Gallinari, so I am quite happy, but the reporter’s comment has stuck with me.
I know that this is all a bit confusing, but does anyone have an ideas on this or another explanation on why the Knicks might have been so open with the ESPN reporter?
By Paladin55 on Jul 4, 2008