June 26, 2008

Looking to upgrade their team's overall talent level, Knicks President, Basketball Operations, Donnie Walsh and Head Coach Mike D'Antoni reached across the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday night in selecting Italian superstar forward Danilo Gallinari with the sixth pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.

"We think we have an unusual package in this young man with size, shooting and ball-handling ability," Walsh said immediately following the selection. "He has the type of game that can bring people together and make them better. We are very happy to have Danilo."

A thrilled D'Antoni was in complete agreement and proudly proclaimed that the newest Knick will help usher in a new brand of Italian Renaissance at The Garden.

"He'll be a 6-foot-11 three-point shooter, runner, ball-handler and passer," said D'Antoni. "He will be tough and he will play hard and he will be intelligent. And that's how you build a team. We're starting with him, and we'll go from there. He's a good talent."

Born in Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, Italy, Gallinari turned professional during the 2004-05 season at age 15. Since then, he has developed into a dominating force as a teen-ager playing against men.

Gallinari, who currently measures in at 6-foot-9, 225-pounds but projects to grow a few more inches, averaged a team-high 17.5 points and 5.7 rebounds last season for Armani Jeans Milano of the Italian A-1 League. He also tallied 14.9 points and 4.2 rebounds in 2008 Euroleague play and was named Euroleague Rising Star for the 2007-08 season.

"He's had a lot of experience in the league he was in, which is the same league (Manu) Ginobli and others were in," said Walsh. "And he was the go-to guy on his team. He can create his own play by going to the basket, and I saw that in the games that I watched. … This guy is not afraid to take it to the basket, this guy will get the rebound and bring it down the floor, but what I saw was that they would go to him at the end of games."

Gallinari, whose nickname "Gallo" means "The Rooster" plays with great intensity, often wearing his heart on his sleeve. A superb passer with a high basketball IQ, he is also a very adept ball-handler.

"I think he's a ball mover, but I think he's got a complete package," Walsh said. "He can really handle the ball for a guy who is going to be probably 6-foot-11. I don't mean just dribble it, he can really handle it."

Still, it was his shooting that really caught Walsh's eye during his workout at the Madison Square Garden Training Center.

"When he came here, his shooting was off the charts," said Walsh. "Even though he made shots in the games I watched, it looked to me that when the game was on the line -- and he got the ball when the game was on the line -- he always took the ball to the goal. But when he was here, his shooting touch was great. And I understand that the other places he went, he was the same way."

The 19-year-old Italian native made it clear in the weeks and months leading up to the draft that New York wasn't just his top choice. To him, it meant the world.

"For me, it would be great (to play in New York),” Gallinari had said following his workout with the Knicks. "I don't have the words. For me it's a dream, so it would be great. To play in the NBA for New York would be simply incredible.

"New York is similar to Milan. The way of the street, the buildings -- it's similar to Milan. … This is my favorite city."

In Milan, Gallinari was a rock star. Over time, he is expected to have the same impact on the Big Apple.

“Milan is as rabid as New York,” said Walsh. “It's not an easy place and somebody wrote me, a guy I know over there who is a great coach, and he told me that they have billboards as big as Boeing jets with this kid on it with Armani Jeans, and all that. He's been around it, and he has a real pleasant way about it. People will like him. I'm glad we got him. He's going to be very good for our team, the city, etc."

Gallinari's connection to the Knicks runs strong. His father, Vittorio, played for Olimpia Milano of the Italian league alongside D'Antoni in the late 1970s through the early 1980s, and the two roomed together for nine years. They also won four Italian League championships and two Euroleague titles as teammates.

Still, New York nabbed the young Italian star based on his talent, not his connection to the new Knicks coach.

"Our scouts loved him, and as a matter of fact they convinced me on him,” said D'Antoni. "I know his background, and I can vouch for the kid as a person and his family and where he comes from and his intelligence. That's all very high and off the charts. His intangibles are great. But we really think that he has the potential to be above a good player, and that's what we went for. And it's up to me and Danilo to get him to his full potential and to arrive to where we think he can go."

Walsh believes that the latest Gallinari-D'Antoni pairing will lead to a basketball dynasty once again -- only this time in New York instead of Milan. Picking him at No. 6 overall was exactly what the Knicks hoped to get out of the draft.

"You see a guy's 6-foot-11, a guy that can handle the ball, a guy that plays a team game, a guy that's not afraid to go in against grown men and take it to the goal, and a guy that can shoot like this, I think you've got a good package," Walsh said.