Billy Donovan on utilizing and adjusting the game in a way Gallinari would amplify the team offensively
Danilo Gallinari had 25 points, five rebounds and two steals in Game 6 victory 104–100 against the Houston Rockets. Thunder head coach Billy Donovan said that he watched film and observed how Rockets like to switch and found a way to get him more involved in the game.
“Today was trying to get Gallo a little bit more involved,” the Thunder coach Billy Donovan said of the Italian, per Logan Newman of USA Today. “Putting Gallo in some high-screening action, knowing that they were going to switch and then trying to get the floor spaced with Gallo in the high slot.
“We were able to kind of get the floor organized … It’s hard for any really, really great offensive player to operate effectively without really, really good spacing”
Gallinari wasn’t able to contribute a lot in blowout loss 80–114 in Game 5 finishing the game with only one point and six rebounds in 22 minutes of playing time. Last night though he was very productive, spaced the floor very well, used his deadly shot making ability in mismatches and hit a couple of threes in the third quarter to give a boost to his team when it needed it the most. He was definitely a key factor to the final outcome of the game and his services will be needed as well in Game 7 on Wednesday. He is an underrated offensive weapon for whom not many people talk as him and players like Schroder, Robert Covington, Jeff Green and so on…get overshadowed by the the big names of this league such as Lebron James, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard and others. I am not trying to compare them but I believe that some players contribute so much to their teams and only few people laud them for their skills and critical performances.