Nowitzki impressed with Gallinari

ORLANDO, Fla. - Danilo Gallinari is gaining more and more attention from star players around the league. Previously, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant have come away impressed with the 21-year-old Italian and Wednesday the player he is most compared to, Dirk Nowitzki, said he was "very surprised at how he already developed."

"I think he had a tough year last year with all the injuries, but he's going to be all right," said the Mavericks' Nowitzki, who watched Gallinari's 27- point, 10-rebound performance in the Knicks' blowout win over the Suns at the Garden on Tuesday.

"I mean, he's got an unbelievable stroke," Nowitzki added. "He looks like he's comfortable with the guys, his English has gotten better, so the sky's the limit."

Nowitzki struggled as a 20-year-old rookie in the lockout season of 1998-99. He averaged 8.2 points and shot 40.5 percent from the field that season. Afterward, Nowitzki admitted he considered giving up on the NBA and going back to Germany. Gallinari's numbers were equally unimpressive (6.1 points, 44.8-percent shooting) in his rookie season, which was marred by a back injury that resulted in season-ending surgery in March.

Nowitzki came back to have a strong second season (17.5 points per game) and went on to earn MVP honors in 2006-07. Gallinari went into last night's game averaging 13.9 points. Gallinari, like Nowitzki did, needs to develop more lower body strength to be a more effective player.

"I think in the beginning it was important for me to just keep learning; keep my eyes and ears open, learn from the veterans and if he does that - he's got a couple veterans around him - I think he's going to be all right," Nowitzki said. "But I'm really impressed with what he's been doing this year."

With Kimberley A. Martin