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The words Carmelo Anthony was directing toward Danilo Gallinari Tuesday night were, according to the Knicks' Italian-born forward, "slang...English."
"I was talking slang, too," Gallinari added.
It was a cocksure Gallinari who volunteered to defend Anthony and then took it upon himself in the third quarter to engage the Nuggets' All-Star forward in a game of I-can-top-that mixed in with a little friendly trash talk. And while Anthony was clearly the most dominant player on the floor, Gallinari's refusal to back down resonated with his teammates and changed the game. "He was taking the challenge and I took the challenge," Gallinari said following the Knicks' emotionally charged 109-104 victory. "We played a great game. He played a great game but we won."
Anthony scored a game-high 36 points but missed his final three shots while Gallinari scored 17 of his 28 points during the decisive third quarter when the Knicks erased a six-point deficit and went ahead 83-74. Gallinari hit four 3-pointers in the period, made 5 of 7 shots and scored his 17 points in the last 8:40 of the third. "That's the moment you play basketball for," he said. "Those are great moments and for me. It was a lot of fun."
The sold-out crowd immediately picked up he back-and-forth between Anthony and Gallinari, and the building was as alive as it has been all season. At one point, Gallinari turned to the crowd and let out a primal scream after hitting a three. Anthony, who could be seen telling point guard Chauncey Billups to get him the ball, scored 12 in the third quarter and tried to unnerve Gallinari by talking to him.
Asked if he understood what Anthony was saying, Gallinari replied: "Hell yeah."
"That's basketball," Gallinari said. "Talking is a great part of basketball. If you don't talk in basketball you cannot play basketball. You've got to talk."
Anthony added: "It was just friendly. Believe me it was just friendly. I was just competing. I like him. I like him a lot. I like him as a player and as a person. He's a nice person."
...
Anthony misfired on a runner with 42 seconds left that would have given Denver the lead. On the ensuing possession, Toney Douglas hit a foul line pull-up jumper over Nene with 27.8 seconds left. "He's gotten a lot better from when he first came in," said Anthony, who spoke to Gallinari briefly after the game. "A lot of people turned their heads on him but he's turned it on big time."
Great game for Il Gallo. He got some great points and showed a little fire (which I think is overvalued). It sounds like they were having a good time with it, though.
"I really like the attitudes of eagles. They never give up. When they grab a fish or something else, they never let it go. It doesn't matter. In a book, they write they find a skeleton of [an] eagle and there is no fish. It means that the fish beat him and killed him, but he didn't let go." -- Donatas Motiejunas
31 points and 5 rebounds in a 3-point win over Boston last night. He scored 19 points in the third quarter. He banked (shot off the glass) the last points for New York last night.
“The bank shot that Gallinari hit, that was the basketball gods punishing us for not having great focus. You let them hang around, bank shots happen.” -- Doc Rivers
"I really like the attitudes of eagles. They never give up. When they grab a fish or something else, they never let it go. It doesn't matter. In a book, they write they find a skeleton of [an] eagle and there is no fish. It means that the fish beat him and killed him, but he didn't let go." -- Donatas Motiejunas
From Twitter [New York Daily News NBA Writer[/b] Frank Isola: "NBA tough guy Kevin Garnett, who has a history of picking on European players, is trying to intimidate Gallinari and his play is backfiring."
First Carmelo Anthony, now Kevin Garnett. KG's act has been tiresome for years, but now it's more pathetic that his production has dropped off.
"I really like the attitudes of eagles. They never give up. When they grab a fish or something else, they never let it go. It doesn't matter. In a book, they write they find a skeleton of [an] eagle and there is no fish. It means that the fish beat him and killed him, but he didn't let go." -- Donatas Motiejunas
Everybody probably knows already that Chris Bosh's ugly nose injury will give Bargnani a big opportunity for increasing his production on the court.
Oh, Canada -- April 7, 2010, by Marc Spears, Yahoo! Sports
....
“As silly as this may sound, with Chris going down,” Raptors point guard Jarrett Jack(notes) told reporters in Cleveland, “it creates an opportunity for somebody to step up.”
That somebody could be the same somebody the Raptors might have to lean upon should Bosh leave this summer: Andrea Bargnani.
Hedo Turkoglu has been a disappointment since signing a $53 million contract last summer and Jose Calderon’s production and minutes have decreased this season. Bosh’s departure would give the Raptors some salary-cap room to sign another free agent – or bring back a package of players in a sign-and-trade deal – but the team’s best chance to sustain any type of success may have to come from within. At 24, Bargnani is still young enough to reach some of the potential the Raptors saw when they made him the No. 1 overall pick of the 2006 draft.
“Because of where we play, we don’t get the attention of other teams and everything,” Bosh recently said of Bargnani. “Nobody sees him. Nobody knows him.”
Standing 7 feet with a feathery 3-point touch, Bargnani drew comparisons to Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki. When the Raptors drafted him out of Italy, their hope was that Bargnani would form a nice complement to Bosh at the power forward and center positions.
In selecting Bargnani, the Raptors passed on Portland Trail Blazers power forward LaMarcus Aldridge and now three-time All-Star guard Brandon Roy. While Bargnani made the 2007 rookie team, he hasn’t averaged more than 17 points or made an All-Star team. Bargnani’s playing time increased over the past two seasons after the Raptors replaced Sam Mitchell with Jay Triano as coach and he has tried to expand his game.
“In my first year, I was just a jump shooter,” Bargnani said recently. “I’m trying to get a little bit better in the low post because they started to put that small guy on me. So I have to do something different.”
Bargnani has considerable work ahead of him if he ever hopes of becoming a dependable go-to player. It will be something of an accomplishment if he can even help steady the Raptors during Bosh’s absence long enough for the team to clinch a playoff spot.
Bargnani didn’t get off to a great start when he made only eight of his 22 shots, including just one of his seven 3-point attempts, in Wednesday’s loss to the Boston Celtics. When Bosh missed seven games last month, Bargnani averaged 15.2 points and just 4.8 rebounds during that stretch. Gone were the wide-open 3-point looks he received while playing alongside Bosh.
“It’s tough,” Bargnani said. “It’s difficult to score. It’s the first time that they double-team me. I’m not used to it.”
Triano also recently admitted Bargnani “hasn’t really shown a lot” of leadership ability, and that’s understandable. He’s young and English isn’t his first language.
“It will take some getting used to because he would be the primary scorer here,” Bosh said recently. “Everybody goes through a rough period. I’m sure if it happened, he’d have a learning curve to go through. He’d get over it. He’d be fine.”
Bargnani, like everyone else connected to the Raptors, obviously hopes Bosh stays.
“He’s the one guy I feel great playing with,” Bargnani said. “It would be sad if he leaves. I would be upset if he leaves. I play good with him.”
And if Bosh does decide to leave? If he has already played his final game with the Raptors?
“If he goes,” Bargnani said, “someone else will come.”
Perhaps. But a lot more will also be expected of the guy the Raptors had hoped would give Bosh a reason to stay.
That's a great vote of confidence from Bosh for Bargnani. Bargnani obviously "has his work cut out for him."
"I really like the attitudes of eagles. They never give up. When they grab a fish or something else, they never let it go. It doesn't matter. In a book, they write they find a skeleton of [an] eagle and there is no fish. It means that the fish beat him and killed him, but he didn't let go." -- Donatas Motiejunas
Gallinari helped New York beat Washington yesterday, scoring 24 points (4-6 from three), 8 rebounds. New York will try to be the "spoiler" in Toronto's play-off quest on Wednesday, when Gallanari might get matched up against Andrea Bargnani. Clash of the Bambinos!
"I really like the attitudes of eagles. They never give up. When they grab a fish or something else, they never let it go. It doesn't matter. In a book, they write they find a skeleton of [an] eagle and there is no fish. It means that the fish beat him and killed him, but he didn't let go." -- Donatas Motiejunas
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