Zach Lowe Summer 2015 Series: Ciao, Gallo! The Rebirth of Danilo Gallinari

Zach Lowe 2015 Summer Series: Ciao, Gallo! The Rebirth of Danilo Gallinari

I really enjoyed this article from Lowe and you can tell that Derek Lowe really enjoyed writing it.  It’s sort of amazing actually that he was able to write ten pages on a lesser known (or perhaps less remembered) player like Danilo Gallinari and include in game videos to help illustrate his points.  He also used quotes from his old coach George Karl, which really paint the picture of what kind of player Gallinari is.

Lowe doesn’t always do this but it was very cool to see him actually break down game footage and prove what Gallinari does to the spacing on the floor for the Nuggets.  In the modern NBA this is so important, because three point shooting teams have shown the ability to win a high rate.  Danillo Gallinari is definitely an intriguing player because of the versatile offense ability and the fact that he has been hurt for essentially two whole seasons, which can cause people to often forget about the sort promise he showed.

Lowe then also got to what may be considered the larger idea of the article.  Why don’t the Nuggets try to trade away their valuable players like Gallinari to try to rebuild their organization?

While the team does have a small chance of making the playoffs in the west, the team appears stuck in the NBA dead zone.  They aren’t good enough to be a contender, and they aren’t bad enough to get a top draft pick again.

Lowe gave a great in depth analysis of the Kroenke ownership and really helped explain why it is that he wants to keep Gallinari.  Kroenke wants guys that actually want be there, not guys that just want a paycheck.  And Danilo Gallinari is known as a hometown sort of player, and that he will do what the organization asks of him.

I believe the what he wants to convey to us is that he agrees with the decision from Denver management to potentially just play out the season.  After all, they don’t want to go down the same road the Philadelphia 76er’s have gone down.  They don’t want to just be a bad team, because the likelihood that they become a truly great team as a result is low and time consuming.  It’s hard to sell seats when you are starting bench players, and thats why the Nuggets want to keep their value.  Denver fans shouldn’t mind being “just okay” because the only other alternative is to lose games intentionally.