Danilo Gallinari spent the majority of his rookie year frustrated with a back injury that had him on the sidelines more than in the game (discuss Gallinari).

And when Gallinari was in the game, he played only sparingly.

The sixth-overall pick of the 2008 NBA Draft participated in only 28 games last season, but did average 6.1 points in his roughly 15 minutes per game.

With high praise come high expectations
With his second season coming up, the 21-year old is feeling the pressure and is welcoming it.

“I feel people want to see something from me,” Gallinari admitted. “I will tell you, I want to see the expectations. I want to feel the pressure because that’s what makes you a really good player.’”

And with coach Mike D’Antoni doling out high praise for the 6-10 forward from Italy before training camp commences Tuesday, the expectations will come strong this year:

“(Gallinari is) the best shooter I’ve ever seen,” D’Antoni said. “I’ll put him with anybody.”

Gallinari did shoot surprisingly high percentages for a rookie, 44% overall, 44% from three and missed only one free throw in 27 attempts.  Shooting stats normally improve after the first year, so you can see why D’Antoni is excited about his second year player.

“He’s got a great feel about the game, he passes the ball well, he’s a much better defender than anybody gives him credit for.”

D’Antoni did back down a little later in the press conference, “I don’t want to oversell it, which I will always do.” said the Knick’s head coach, “But (Gallinari will) give us something we didn’t have last year, and that’s perimeter shooting that might be the best in the league.”