New York Knicks' Danilo Gallinari asks to guard Carmelo Anthony as Denver Nuggets come to Garden
BY Mitch Lawrence
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Tuesday, March 23rd 2010, 4:00 AM
We interrupt March Madness to bring you some March Insanity, courtesy of the Knicks.
How else to describe the decision to have Danilo Gallinari guard Denver's Carmelo Anthony Tuesday at the Garden? Anthony already has hung 50 points on the Knicks this season - more than LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant or any other NBA player.
Here's the kicker: Not exactly known as a defender, Gallinari asked for the assignment.
"I like to play against the best because that's the only way to improve," he said Monday after practice in Greenburgh. "It's a part of learning. It's a part of trying to understand where I am and what I have to do get to that level and what they have more than me. I like the challenge."
Just after the Knicks sent their best frontcourt defender, Jared Jeffries, to Houston in the Tracy McGrady deal, Gallinari went to Mike D'Antoni and asked to guard the opponent's top offensive player for the rest of the season. So that's how he wound up on Aaron Brooks late in the Knicks' loss to the Rockets on Sunday at the Garden, when Houston's diminutive guard took over the game.
"I thought I played good defense on the last three shots he made," Gallinari said. "But he made some tough shots."
Now he gets Anthony, who's a lot more dangerous than Brooks. Seven years after leading Syracuse to the NCAA title, the NBA's third-leading scorer has continued to expand his game and become more of a leader for the Nuggets. A potential free agent in 2011, he could be on the Knicks' wish list if they are unable to lure LeBron James to the Garden, and if team president Donnie Walsh only uses one maximum salary slot in July, on, say, Chris Bosh.
"You know I can't talk about that," D'Antoni said, laughing.
But it goes without saying that the Knicks would love to add a player of Anthony's caliber.
KARL OUT: Nuggets coach George Karl will miss the five-game trip that starts tonight, as he continues treatment for throat and neck cancer.
BY Mitch Lawrence
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Tuesday, March 23rd 2010, 4:00 AM
We interrupt March Madness to bring you some March Insanity, courtesy of the Knicks.
How else to describe the decision to have Danilo Gallinari guard Denver's Carmelo Anthony Tuesday at the Garden? Anthony already has hung 50 points on the Knicks this season - more than LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Durant or any other NBA player.
Here's the kicker: Not exactly known as a defender, Gallinari asked for the assignment.
"I like to play against the best because that's the only way to improve," he said Monday after practice in Greenburgh. "It's a part of learning. It's a part of trying to understand where I am and what I have to do get to that level and what they have more than me. I like the challenge."
Just after the Knicks sent their best frontcourt defender, Jared Jeffries, to Houston in the Tracy McGrady deal, Gallinari went to Mike D'Antoni and asked to guard the opponent's top offensive player for the rest of the season. So that's how he wound up on Aaron Brooks late in the Knicks' loss to the Rockets on Sunday at the Garden, when Houston's diminutive guard took over the game.
"I thought I played good defense on the last three shots he made," Gallinari said. "But he made some tough shots."
Now he gets Anthony, who's a lot more dangerous than Brooks. Seven years after leading Syracuse to the NCAA title, the NBA's third-leading scorer has continued to expand his game and become more of a leader for the Nuggets. A potential free agent in 2011, he could be on the Knicks' wish list if they are unable to lure LeBron James to the Garden, and if team president Donnie Walsh only uses one maximum salary slot in July, on, say, Chris Bosh.
"You know I can't talk about that," D'Antoni said, laughing.
But it goes without saying that the Knicks would love to add a player of Anthony's caliber.
KARL OUT: Nuggets coach George Karl will miss the five-game trip that starts tonight, as he continues treatment for throat and neck cancer.
