Gallinari’s Injury Will Mark Downfall of D’Antoni

I wanted to believe that Mike D’Antoni would enjoy a grace period with the Knicks. And with the team at 4-3, having shown flashes of up-tempo brilliance and brio, he deserves one. But since New York makes no sense, the Knicks make no sense, the media there makes no sense, and the combination of all three does nothing but bring evil until the world, I’m afraid the skies may darken soon. According to The New York Post, Danilo Gallinari’s rookie year could already be over:↵↵⇥D’Antoni finally admitted he was concerned the Knicks’ 20-year-old forward could have surgery that would end his rookie year. At the very least, D’Antoni said Gallinari could be on the shelf for a couple of months, if rest is prescribed. There’s been no official timetable as Gallinari’s MRI was being reviewed last night by a battery of doctors.↵⇥
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↵⇥“Yeah, I’m worried about it at this point,” D’Antoni said when asked about potential surgery. “We’re just going to do what’s best for him. He’s 20 years old. We’d love for him to play in the next two or three weeks, we’d love for him to play in the next two or three months, but he’s got to be 100 percent well. From that point, we’ll see. And I don’t know when that point will be.”↵↵So what if Gallinari hasn’t been central to the Knicks thus far. He’s new blood, a player who positively screams D’Antoni-ball, came up through the European ranks like Coach, and also, has an Italian name. The new status quo is fine, but the future? This puts a major damper on it, or at least the chance it’ll rear its head this season. This when the Knicks could’ve drafted ... I don’t know, Darrell Arthur, Joe Alexander, JaVale McGee, D.J. Augustin, or Donte Greene. Any of them might have made this new regime happy, with so thoroughly reeking of D’Antoni. And now, Gallinari will immediately be branded a bust, the system will be a failure, the road ahead will stagnate and blister, and by next year, it’s Flip Saunders time!↵