“I’ll tell you and I hope I’m not getting ahead of myself, but he’s really good,” D’Antoni said. “Like today, he just goes over to Herb [Williams] and tells him [a player] hasn’t had a shot the last six times up, call something for him. He automatically knows.
“He’s stronger than I thought,” D’Antoni added. “He’s more athletic than I thought. And he shoots the heck out of it.”
Gallinari’s toughness quotient has pumped up D’Antoni’s spirit. D’Antoni questioned it during the winter when he saw a tape of the Milan standout.
“He can bang,” D’Antoni said “When he takes a hit, his expression does not change, He got clobbered and was right back in his face. He doesn’t get fazed by it.
“He’s got a chance to be really special,” D’Antoni added. “Toughness and being more athletic that what I thought [were] two questions from watching film. Until you see him.”