Danilo Gallinari of Italy is showing signs that he was worthy of being the sixth pick in last summer's NBA draft.
Gallinari has appeared in two games for New York after missing three months with an ailing back.
He had nine points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals in more than 16 minutes on the floor to help the Knicks (16-24) defeat the Chicago Bulls 102-98 on Monday.
The 20-year-old Gallinari hadn’t appeared in a game since an October 31 loss to Philadelphia.
"You gain confidence by playing,” Gallinari said. “The more minutes you have, the more feeling you get on the court and with your teammates.
"I need to be aggressive and that helps to win games.”
Whenever Gallinari checks into the game, there is a huge buzz in the Madison Square Garden crowd and the fans are showing a lot of support for the youngster.
However, Gallinari has given a thumbs-down to the music the Knicks play whenever he scores a basket.
The team’s long-time public address announcer, Mike Walczewski, tried to use a thick Italian accent on Monday and said over the tannoy "Daneeelo Gal-lin-ar-ay" before Italian songs "Volare" or "That's Amore" were played.
"I need to talk a little bit with them about that,” Gallinari said, “because it's not so good, the pronunciation. I will talk about that.
“As for the music, no, not so good."