Kid had a decent debut, scoring 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting, to go with 6 boards and 2 dimes in the Knicks 97-94 win over Clevo in the Las Vegas Summer League on Monday.

What made Gallinari’s debut even more impressive is that he bounced back from a start that was exactly the sort of performance his multitude of detractors in the five boroughs anticipated when the Knicks picked him. Not only did he miss his first four shots but Ben Couch, NBA Vegas Summer League blogger, wrote that “He was tentative, seemingly attempting to figure out where he was on the court, getting scored on repeatedly and setting screens Euro-style, shuffling instead of holding his ground.” Shades of Frederic Weis anyone?

Not in these case since Gallinari bounced back so well that Couch, who admits to being skeptical about Danilo, wrote that “(he) looks like he could be a player.”

Obviously it’s going to take more than a decent second half in a Summer League game to convince Knicks fans that Gallinari could be a player but it’s a start.

Let me be as clear as I can be: I hate Billy Packer. I always and, unless he somehow, goes completely against type, and makes some major contribution to humanity, I always will.

So it’s with a tremendous sense of glee and relief that I greet the news that he’s left his imperious perch as CBS’s lead college hoops commentator, to be replaced by the harmless, if completely dull, Clark Kellogg.

Make no mistake about it, the airwaves will be a much better place without Packer’s incessant and unabashed cheerleading for the ACC, and ill-informed whining about non-BCS conference teams daring to crash March Madness. The only bad news about Packer leaving CBS is that he’s going to be involved in some sort of college hoops web venture, which I’m guessing will be nothing other than a way for that diminutive fuck to rake in some advertising dough.

Here’s to hoping that venture has the shelf life of Pets.Com and disappears without a trace as soon as possible.

In terms of NBA Summer League scraps, Monday night’s game between Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls and the Michael Beasley-led Miami Heat, is about as a big and anticipated as a Summer League game can get. I don’t remember the last time, guys that went 1-2 in the NBA draft squared up with each other in a Summer League game. Yet, as enticing as watching Beasley and Rose go at it would be, that still wasn’t enough to get me to sit down in front of the tube and watch Monday’s game. And I’m guessing that goes for all but the most ardent and desperate of hoopheads. After all, come November, and continuing for the following six-plus months, we’ll get plenty o’chances to watch Rose and Beasley play in games that actually matter.

Considering that the Heat routed the Bulls 94-70, it seems pretty clear that I made the right decision. However, if I’m Chicago Bulls GM John Paxson, I’ve got to be wondering if I made the right decision in picking Joakim Noah last year and trading for Tyrus Thomas two years ago, despite the positive vibes Thomas is giving off. Both players were on the floor Monday night and seemed to do little to help their side.

Chicago can’t blame this loss on Rose since, as the write-up in the Chicago Sun-Times points out, he’s had only four days of practice under his belt, which would explain the Bulls inability to get much done on offense. Being that Miami won going away, it should come as no surprise that Beasley was more impressive than Rose.

Michael Beasley getting it done versus Derrick Rose and Chicago in his summer league debut

It’s been official for a couple days now that the New York Knicks are handing over the keys to the franchise to former Chicago Bull and Dookie point Chris Duhon. In three years in the league, Duhon’s numbers are, well, underwhelming to say to the least but he does know how to take care of the rock, decreasing his turnovers per game from 1.6 his rookie year to a 1.0 last season. However, his shooting accuracy, particularly from three-point range, and playing time have decreased each season he’s been in the NBA so it’s possible that Duhon isn’t really turning the ball over less, he’s just getting less burn and teams are sagging off him because they think he can’t shoot.

Apparently, Donnie Walsh and Mike D’Antoni think Duhon’s better than his stats would indicate since he’s been target numero uno for the Knicks new braintrust since the free agent negotiation window opened. And the fact is so long as Duhon isn’t a locker room cancer, and puts forth a consistent effort every game, he’ll be a vast improvement over the Knicks “incumbent” starting point guard, Stephon Marbury. We know he’s being replaced and that he’s played his last game as a Knickerbocker but the real question is where does he go?

It should come as no surprise that Walsh and D’Antoni have been trying to rid themselves of Marbury since minute one of their new jobs. And it should come as no surprise that they have found no takers for Starbury. That a player with his natural gifts can’t find a single team willing to take a risk on him shows what a monumental headcase Marbury is.

Since they can’t trade him, MSG will most likely ante up and buy Marbury out of the remaining two years on his contract. Even then, with teams having to give nothing in return to acquire him, it seems unlikely that any NBA squad would want Marbury. Could he end up going the way of Latrell Sprewell, who famously declined a $30 million contract renewal offer from Minnesota following the 2003-04 season by stating that he’s “…got my family to feed,” and vanishing from the world of hoops. Doubtful.

Marbury, like virtually every other pro ball player in the world, has burned far fewer bridges than has Spree so has still has some options. Even if they aren’t necessarily in the NBA.

Given his proclamation last summer that he would play in Italy when his Knicks contract expired, I’d be willing to bet that Marbury ends up playing in Europe. Somehow it doesn’t seem right that a guy who’s made such a hash out of his NBA career should be able to hop across the pond and bag a couple million Euros as a reward for his petulance but that’s what’s going to happen.

If I’m Starbury, better believe I’m telling my agent to dial every Italian league team with cash to burn. And better believe I’m going to be watching Chris Duhon with immense interest. Guy doesn’t have my talent and has yet to show he can run a team but he’s Walsh and D’Antoni’s man.

Wonder if Starbury gets the last laugh this time around.

Disney World really is the place where dreams come true.

It was at Mouse Central when I got the text message: O’Shea is gone. I stared at it for about five minutes, unsure if I wanted to believe it or not. Because I was at the Happiest Place on Earth, I wasn’t keeping up with news of any kind. So, to be sure, this came as a shock. I needed details. Where did he go? “Bryant.” My initial reaction was, “and Stratton?” This isn’t even a joke; it really was what I thought. At the risk of sounding like a terrible sportswriter, I hadn’t heard of Bryant University.

You likely haven’t heard of it either, 2008 marking the first year of Division I play for the Rhode Island school. But… really? O’Shea left Ohio to go to a neophyte D-I school that won’t be in the NEC for another four years and is ineligible for postseason for the same period of time. Everyone in Bobcat Nation heard about how much he disliked Athens and pined to return home. Any job in the New England area that became available soon had his name linked to it. Even places like Quinnipiac and Brown seemed to attract his interest. I didn’t believe it. Surely he wouldn’t take a step down just to move back home, right? Who would do that?

Well, as it turned out, he would. While the move seems a bit like a slap in the face, we’re too busy smiling to notice the sting. We were free. Free from the frustrating losses, the impotence on the road, the unfulfilled promise. While most teams in the MAC would love to win 79 games in four seasons, it seems like underachieving to us because we saw the potential for so much more. Think about it: How often did Ohio seem like a viable threat? They would look like world-beaters for one game then completely disorganized and uninterested for the next two. They were a cinch for the middle of the conference every year. They weren’t able to play competent defense for more than three minutes.

What made it all the more worse is we saw those flashes of brilliance. When he really focused his energies and knowledge, Ohio could beat just about anyone. The 3-0 record against the ACC, nearly toppling Florida and UK in 2005 were no coincidences. The man has talent. The maddening part is he didn’t feel the need to employ that talent 30 times a year, just for the “big” games. He didn’t feel Eastern Michigan was as important as Maryland. He didn’t seem to realize that you have to prepare fully for every opponent, that bad losses can be more harmful than big wins are helpful.

He didn’t have his players’ respect, and he didn’t have the respect of the other coaches in the league or even that of his assistants. He was a man, essentially, on an island. He put himself there, and no one desired to visit him there.

So, yeah. We were happy to see him go. If he really wanted to be home that badly, bless him. We had bigger things to worry about, such as who would now steer the ship. John Rhodes? Great guy. Fantastic guy. Super assistant. Not the man. I love him, and I want him to forever be a part of the program, but he just wasn’t it. The great thing about new Athletic Director Jim Schaus is his track record of hiring basketball coaches. The man knows his stuff, and he has as many contacts as anyone. I had full confidence we were going to find the right man, and we were going to find him quickly.

But… man, did I expect that to take just a couple days? He had John Groce signed, sealed, and delivered in half a week. Incredible. We went from Captain Can’t Give a Crap to one of the brightest, hottest assistants in the nation. Forget a home run, that’s Bobby Thompson-esque. The praise from all corners in the basketball world was staggering: We had a guy everyone is sure is going to succeed. Is it possible he’ll fail? Sure, but I’ll take the odds on this. His work at Ohio State is impressive, and Thad Matta was preparing him for helming his own program. He may not be here for more than a few years, but if he’s gone quickly, it means he’s done great things for us in all likelihood.

I’ve gone from slightly dismay to out-and-out excitement for the coming season. I’m looking at the game at the Cintas Center with great anticipation. I suddenly believe my Bobcats are capable of anything.

19-year old French wing Nicholas Batum with the 25th pick in the first round is the official sign that we’ve passed to that part of the NBA draft where teams can officially just pick names out of a hat or from the yellow pages or randomly out of Facebook or from wherever. Somebody’s got to come up with a drinking game for this part of the draft.

Drink every time a team picks a player you never heard of? I’m going to try it. I should be drunk by 11.

With this pick they just acquired in a trade with Denver and they took one, but it’s not somebody I know anything about. French center Alexis Ajinca looks, well, tall, and probably has a great pallet but I don’t know if he brings much more to tobacco country than that.

Guess that’s why they think he might stay in France for a year or two.

Spindly 7-0 center JaVale McGee, the Wizards have, well, made the type of non-descript pick that befits a franchise that could disappear immediately with few people caring or noticing.

Player that has a chance to make a, well, minor-to-middling impact this season. If he can give the Phoenix Suns 8-to-10 minutes a game of rebounding and D, then this will be a pretty good pick for the Suns.

Has moved ESPN’s draft coverage from merely awful to unwatchable. Come 9:00 PM EST, I’m out and over to ESPN2 for the MLS Thursday Night Primetime scrap between FC Dallas and Houston.

He could supply some instant O off the bench, which is definitely something the Portland Trailblazers need. Not only that, but Rush was the best player on the board, which makes this a pretty good pick for a side that could improve significantly this season.

Taking 6-11 Rider big Jason Thompson at numero 12 could be a bit of a reach for Sacto but with a frontline that consists of Brad Miller and Mikki Moore, Thompson’s a good fit. Don’t be surprised if he’s one of the few guys picked outside the top five that starts next season.

Is that he isn’t Jamaal Tinsley, who’s one of the NBA’s primary knuckleheads. Bayless being picked by Indiana certainly marks the end of Tinsley’s time as an Indian Pacer.

That are giving the Nets C’s and D’s for picking Lopez in the ESPN online poll? Just goes to show that most people who inhabit ESPN’s “Sportsnation” are complete imbeciles.

Rod Thorn and the New Jersey Nets braintrust to do the smart thing. Taking Brook Lopez is exactly that, and at 10th, it’s a steal.

Should Bruce Ratner ever get the Barclay’s Bank Arena in Brooklyn built, I’m looking forward to watching Lopez man the interior for the then-to-be Brooklyn Nets. Can even picture him swatting away plenty of Danilo Gallinari’s shots.

That Charlotte’s given up on Raymond Felton?

Who wishes the draft was still being broadcast by TNT? Chuck, EJ, Kenny “The Jet,” and Craig Sager were so much more fun to watch then the self-important, overly-serious group ESPN as put together. Even Jeff Van Gundy’s wry wit is in hiding.

Joe Alexander’s a good story and has shot up the draft board meteorically, but is really the best player the Milwaukee Bucks could’ve gotten with the 8th pick? The answer to that question is no.

But he’s going to eternal mess that is the LA Clipper so he’s pretty much irrelevant until his contract expires in three years.

That Donnie Walsh, Mike D’Antoni and the rest of the Knicks braintrust wanted to hear lots of boos because they picked Italian forward Danilo Gallinari. I don’t know much about Gallinari’s game but I do know that he’s got to have a brass pair and Rambo-like guts to sit there with Steven A. Smith, as the knucklehead Knicks “fans” reign down the boos.

Gallinari or Lopez?

Guess it depends on how much they want the fans at the WaMu Theater to boo them.