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Training Camp Notes: Day 1, Evening Session

Day 1 of training camp is finished, and I just got to watch about an hour of five-on-five scrimmaging. I did a couple interviews which I'll probably post very early tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I'll type up these notes for y'all and tell you what I saw:

Eddy Curry- You've probably already read it elsewhere, but Eddy appeared to aggravate his injured right calf while grabbing a rebound. He limped off the floor about ten minutes into scrimmages and didn't return. He said it's just a strain and he's day-to-day.

Danilo Gallinari- Gallo kept moving well in the full-court scrimmages, and continued to show off his offensive repertoire. He wasn't all that active off the ball, but after a catch he wasn't just settling for jumpers. There were a couple nice fakes and dribbles for short jumpers, a spinning lefty layup (that rimmed out), and a couple vicious dunks, including one complete facial on Jordan Hill (prompting David Lee to put his thumb to his forehead and yell "The Rooster!"). As for the jump shot, Gallo wasn't quite as automatic as he'd been in practice. He missed a few early, and angrily ripped the bandage off his right hand following one brick. It's not like he was shooting poorly, though. Anything less than perfection from the field surprises me when it comes to Gallinari. I did get a chance to see the cut on his hand up close and it ain't no scratch.

Alan Hahn mentioned to me earlier that he envisions Gallinari as more of a shooting guard than a forward, and he might very well be on to something. On defense, Gallo spent a lot of time guarding the likes of Joe Crawford, and on offense he pretty much chilled outside the arc and waited for a pass. Sounds like a two-guard to me.

More player notes after the jump...

Star-divide

Wilson Chandler- Chandler, meanwhile, seems to be fancying himself more and more a forward. He caught plenty of passes at the perimeter, but didn't just hoist up threes. Wil attacked the basket at times, swung the ball at others, and shot when he was open. That's a good sign from someone who's been accused of being a bit of a chucker.

Larry Hughes: Speaking of which, Hughes forced more than a couple threes and just couldn't connect. He was also a little lazy with his passes. But hey, go get 'em tomorrow, Larry.

Jordan Hill- Hill's game looks very much like it did in summer league (duh). He runs the floor well and generally knows what to do with the ball. It's when he goes up to shoot that problems emerge. His takeoff is slow, indirect, and sort of feeble, and he got his shot armpit-blocked more than once. The flipside of it is that he'll probably draw a lot of fouls.

Toney Douglas- Toney's shot looked much nicer than it did in Vegas. He swished a couple threes, and tried out that righty floater as well. He obviously wasn't handling the ball nearly as much as he did this summer, but looked steady and confident when doing so. Toney also stuffed a Gallinari jumper, which would be awesome if it weren't blasphemy.

Al Harrington- Al looked his best this evening. His jumpers were falling, but he didn't rely solely on that. Instead, when faced with a mismatch, he would bully his defender right down to the rim. Sun Yue, for instance, just didn't have a chance.

Sun Yue- Give Sun credit, though, for being pretty goddamn silky with the ball His form looked solid, and his handles completely defy his size. I'd guess that one of the reasons he hasn't made it quite yet (besides the aforementioned weight disadvantage) is that his English isn't great, and he keeps pretty much to himself throughout these things. At first glance, though, I'd say he's got a shot.

Joe Crawford- I'd be able to tell you more about Joe Crawford's performance if I hadn't been admiring his beard (which is now cut short) the whole time. Might have to solicit some grooming tips.

Jared Jeffries- I'm not gonna jump to conclusions, but let's just say a whole pod of seals died this evening.

David Lee- At this point, we pretty much know what to expect from Lee. He does appear to be making a more concerted effort to block shots, though. I also saw him nail 4 of 5 threes in practice.

Nate Robinson- Nate is, as you'd expect, the most animated and energetic player on the floor. He talks to everybody, including teammates, refs, and himself. That said, I didn't get many notes on Nate's play. I'll key in on him next time around.

Chris Duhon- Same deal. Threw a couple nice passes off the pick-and-roll, but I didn't get much else.

Darko Milicic- Darko set a lot of picks, but wasn't getting his touches when he rolled. It was frustrating for both of us, because we both wanna know if that jumper's gonna fall in a game setting. For his part, Darko took it in stride and didn't shred any clothing.

Lots to do. Get at me in the comments, on Twitter, via email, or by carrier pigeon if you've got questions for the players or general curiosities to share.

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Day !

Well I hope it get’s better than this. We need to be 500. Gallo will play some 2 and chandler will play alot of 3. Stay tuned

by nucray1 on Sep 29, 2009 9:02 PM EDT reply actions  

so

are we looking at a starting line up that has gallinari at the 2!!? i love it! harrington stays on the floor lee stays at 5 wilson the 3 and the goose?!!

i think i really love that!!

twitter.com/aighttho

by stingy d on Sep 29, 2009 9:13 PM EDT reply actions  

hmmm

They should try that line up in preseason,
1 duhon
2 gallo
3 chandler
4 harrington
5 lee
Sorry but I enjoyed Lee playing center last year, outsized but a step ahead

by Jay Jordo on Sep 30, 2009 9:06 AM EDT up reply actions  

forgot to mention

i saw a tall white man and was all like “that’s austin croshere” but then i was like “nah.” and then frank isola was like “yup, it was” in his latest post.

by Seth on Sep 29, 2009 11:34 PM EDT reply actions  

Al Harrington

is getting ready for a big year.

by gbaked on Sep 30, 2009 1:39 AM EDT reply actions  

dude, I love this blog.

great stuff

Danillo as SG? I dont like that. His quickness, handle and shot will exploit forwards more IMO.

He seems like he might be a tweener, in a very strange sense of the word.

At SG he cant be defended on his shot/post combo. At PF he cant be defended with his drive/shot combo. At SF we might have some trouble out there.

I guess it doesnt matter where hes listed as playing. If he can guard 2s then that opens things up. If opposing coaches struggle to match up with him then hes doing his job

by NoLayupRule on Sep 30, 2009 12:09 PM EDT reply actions  

If Gallo plays the 2

Then I hope that we’d play zone or something, because he’s get scorched by just about anyone on D. Knicks have never been confused for a defensive juggernaut, but I think that lineup would get scored on at will.

"But when he saw it, he just put his hands up and they couldn’t give it to him. It just fell to the ground, I-I don’t, you know … So, that showed me he had great experience..." - Jeff Van Gundy

by Anthony Bonner's Subpoena on Sep 30, 2009 12:44 PM EDT reply actions  

From what I've heard

Gallo defends smaller players very well and has good lateral quickness. Now, whether or not he could defend Kobe, I don’t know, but I think you are assuming that because he can shoot that means he can’t defend.

by fuhry on Sep 30, 2009 1:04 PM EDT up reply actions  

i wouldnt be surprised

if wilson chandler and danilo switch on d depending on the matchups. aint no two guards in tjis league thats gonna body chandler.

twitter.com/aighttho

by stingy d on Sep 30, 2009 6:38 PM EDT up reply actions  

Ask this question please

Hey, Seth, can ya ask Al Harrington if he ever played in Paterson NJ, at the courts at the corner of Rosa Parks & Montgomery? I play there occasionally and some guy was talking about how Al used to ball there…just curious if its true.

by Kupe on Sep 30, 2009 12:50 PM EDT reply actions  

This is a very good blog for Knicks info……Keep up the good work!!! This is my first time checking this blog, but it will not be my last….I am very impressed. Thanks to Hahn, I would have never known about this blog. Lots of great info and insight…

by zdiddy on Oct 1, 2009 1:34 PM EDT reply actions  

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