After Missing The Entire Season, These Videos Of Danilo Gallinari Playing Basketball Again Has My Brain Going To Dangerous Places

Boston Globe. Getty Images.

All year I've tried my best to try and convince my brain that Danilo Gallinari doesn't exist. Once we learned in late September that he tore his ACL, I figured it was best for my mental health to just pretend the Celts never even signed him. Lord knows we never get the truth when it comes to injuries/recovery from this team, so with each passing update I did my best to pretend like they didn't even happen. 

Now after all this time, I feel myself becoming weaker and weaker with this, and it's a direct result of two videos that came out today

By now, you should know the drill. Enjoy

It truly is a shame we were robbed of enjoying this song throughout the season, only this time with Celts highlights involved. This shit should have been blaring from the top of Old North Church in the North End whenever Gallo did anything on the court. Sigh.

Now I might be wrong here, but I feel like this is the first time we've gotten any sort of footage of Gallo actually playing basketball. No, I wouldn't exactly suggest these clips have the intensity of a playoff game, but it's certainly the most I've ever seen Gallo do during his rehab/recovery. The team has been consistent and hasn't even really entertained the idea that Gallo might be back at some point, but I can't help but sit here and watch these videos and not have my brain go to dangerous places.

I know, I know. It's crazy. We just saw Danny Green come back from his ACL injury 264 days after his surgery, and if Gallo somehow follows a similar timeline, that would bring us to the second week of June. We all know what takes place during the second week of June correct?

Some may see those videos and suggest that there is no way Gallo has the quickness or foot speed to defend in a playoff series. My response to that is what type of player did you think Gallo was before he got hurt? He's not out there for defense, he's out there to shoot/playmake. You don't have to be fast to do that. I'd say before today and my watching those 2 videos, I would put it at a 99.9999999% chance that we did not see Gallo until next September/October. 

But now? I'm ready to adjust that number to 99.5%. I have allowed there to be a sliver of hope that if somehow the Celts are fortunate enough to make it to the NBA Finals, we might just see it. If this is how Gallo looks in mid April, what might he look like after another 2 months of training/rehab? Good enough to stand in a corner and knock down corner threes perhaps? I don't think you can rule it out, look at those videos again!

Realistically, if the Celts are going to need to dip into their 4th/5th big, I'd feel much more comfortable with someone like Mike Muscala. He on some level can give you a lot of what Gallo can from a shooting perspective

and he's certainly faster/better/rebounder/just as bad defensively in isolation.

Still though, we waited all year to see what Gallo looks like in this offense playing with this type of talent. His fit is perfect. So while the chances are still very very very very very slim that it happens, I don't think we can keep it at 0% anymore. 

Just think of the possibilities of Mazzulla Ball, which we know has been proven to be successful, getting to add a career 38.2% three point shooter who has been above 40% in 3 of the last 4 seasons. Please God let this happen. I need it.