Van Gundy family apparently unfit to coach in NBA
>> Friday
There are officially, at this moment, no more Van Gundys coaching in the NBA. This could be temporary, as masochist Stan Van Gundy is trying to take the only path worse than retirement: the Charlotte Bobcats (In which case it would be debateable whether a Van Gundy was coaching an NBA team).
Either way, Jeff is gone. Now, there are a lot of reasons that Houston may have decided to fire Jeff Van Gundy. Maybe it's because he couldn't seem to get McGrady and Yao's games to compliment each other. Maybe it's because the Rockets blew a 3-1 series lead and failing to get to the second round yet again. Maybe Houston finally realized that any man that does this is not fit to work the clock at a high school scrimmage.
But my bet, and you can consider this super-insider information, is that he got run out of Houston for his failure to regularly utilize the great unknown weapon of the NBA.
Steve Novak played in a mere 35 games, averaging 5.5 minutes per game, and Van Gundy refused to give him a break from his bench warming role in Steve's return to Milwaukee. I like to think that my scream-til-I'm-hoarse cussing from the upper deck had a hand in Van Gundy's eventual demise.
Posts
2 comments:
I alway had a soft spot for Van Gundy back in the day for taking a Knicks team that was pretty crummy on paper, and leading them to the NBA Finals (where the Spurs handed down a four game reality check). That being said, the man did little else in NY, and that Finals run can probably be better attributed to the heart of the team, not necessarily coaching. After all, in that infamous Miami series where Alonzo Mourning grew a Van Gundy on his leg, the Knicks would have been sent home in game 5 of that first round battle if not for the lucky bounce Allan Houston's shot took. And furthermore lil' Jeff has done nothing of note since leaving the Knicks (not that the Knicks have either), but if this means more PT for Steve, I'm certainly on board.
Now, can someone trade Travis Diener, so he can play?
It looks like former Kings coach Rick Adelman is rumored to be the favorite for the Rockets gig. This would be great for Novak, as Adleman has experience with utilizing a tall shooter in Peja.
Post a Comment