Mar
15, 2001 NBA
BASKETBALL FAN EDITORIAL - - - - -
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Van
Gundy: Mediocre At Best By
COREY WOODS
Let
me start this latest article off by saying that I don’t believe that Jeff
Van Gundy is a very good coach. I have held this theory for many
years now. Van Gundy’s Knicks are perennial championship contenders.
He led them to the Finals one season, where they lost to David Robinson
and the San Antonio Spurs. The problem with Van Gundy is that he
doesn’t make adequate use of his talent. First, have you noticed
how well Othella Harrington has played since he got off the bench?
Of course he can't do anything helpful while riding the pine, which if
you haven’t noticed, has been his home since being acquired from the Vancouver
Grizzlies for seldom-used point guard Erick Strickland. He is a legitimate
6' 9" banger with a nifty little left-handed jump hook. This is unlike
LJ, who is probably closer to 6' 5" than 6' 7". The Knicks have played
much better since Kurt Thomas and Harrington have gotten playing time.
It's one thing if Lavor Postell, a rookie, doesn't play. The backcourt
is already loaded with premier players. I still believe though that
Postell would have gotten some interest around the league around the time
of the trading deadline, because I know that he can play in the NBA.
I also don't like to see any player buried on the bench when they could
be somewhere else at least trying to prove their worth. The idea
of Harrington not playing is ridiculous. He is a veteran who has
proven that he is a solid NBA player. However, he wouldn't probably
have even gotten the chance had the injury to LJ not happened. Knick
fans know that this is not the first time such issues have taken place.
A few years back, a player by the name of Marcus Camby was acquired from
Toronto for Charles Oakley. Camby was immediately buried on the bench
because Van Gundy didn’t share former Knick GM Ernie Grunfeld’s vision
about making the Knicks a faster, higher scoring squad. Van Gundy
has this Pat Riley thing about him. Riley is loyal to a fault.
He stuck with John Starks in Game Seven of the Finals back in '94, and
Starks responded with a two for eighteen performance. Riley spent
years trying to win an NBA title with P.J. Brown, Voshon Lenard, Jamal
Mashburn, and Dan Majerle. He finally realized this past off-season
that those players couldn't get the job done. Van Gundy happens to
be the same way. He allowed Patrick Ewing's pride to nearly kill
the Knicks in many games, instead of trying to de-emphasize Ewing's role
in the offense. He has also still allowed LJ to monopolize most of
the minutes at the power forward, even though it is obvious to even the
most casual observer that Johnson is a shell of his former self.
Van Gundy has better rebounders and low-post threats on the bench in Harrington
and Thomas. The Knicks are a much better team with Harrington.
Then, I hear a whole bunch of media sportswriters talking about how without
Johnson they lose a perimeter threat. Yeah, right. Do you think
opposing teams really fear LJ going out there to put up the trey?
Let me set the record straight. LJ has hit his share of clutch three-pointers
in the playoffs, but his outside shooting is not a weapon New York should
be looking to utilize consistently. The Knicks have plenty of perimeter
shooters in Glen Rice, Allan Houston, Charlie Ward, Latrell Sprewell, and
even Mark Jackson. What don't the Knicks have? Rebounding.
A major problem for the Knicks for many years now has been a severe lack
of offensive rebounding. Yet despite all of this, Van Gundy still
sticks to his eight-man rotation garbage, while watching the Knicks get
killed on the boards. And don't even get me started on how the only
team worse offensively than the Knicks are the impotent Chicago Bulls.
Van Gundy as a coach is well prepared, smart, and a very hard worker.
The evidence is each dark bag under his eyes, which look as if he's hiding
two small children. All of this unfortunately though, doesn't make
him that great of a coach.
