Jack’s Blog

And he’s continuing to do it.  To think, everyone thought brother Jeff was the family’s coaching whiz.  (Actually, the true coach guru in the Van Gundy family is father, Bill - and I’m sure either of the two boys would attest to that).

Let’s break down this Stan Van Gundy character.  I’ve known his brother, Jeff, a good deal longer.  While we happen to be talking about the Van Gundy’s (in reality, I was the only one who was talking about them, but let’s say it was a team effort), it’s nearly indisputable, and I readily admit to being completely biased, that Jeff is setting the standards for color commentators.  In my mind, Jeff and Hubie Brown (another prejudicial vote on my part because I have a connection with Hubie, albeit it a stretch) are on islands by themselves when it comes to analyzing a game as it happens, all the while entertaining the viewing and listening audience while doing it.  If the island took a census, though, it also might claim Doug Collins as a resident.

Back to Stan, who by no means is the poster boy of what we thought an NBA coach would look like.  It’s relatively apparent he never played in the League and I’m not sure it would register as much of a shock if we were to find out he never played in any league (of course, he played for his father @ SUNY-Brockport).  With all the movements throughout the years, we’ve heard claims from groups such as the NAACP that a black worker has to do the work twice as well as that of a non-minority in order to merely maintain his employment.  Similarly for women, so say organizations such as NOW.

That might be true, probably is.  And in some cases, “twice as good” might be a rather conservative estimate.  Yet, if someone believes those opinions to be valid (and, while no one may really know the exact numbers, I would agree in the concept), trying to crack into such as a glory type club as the NBA, without having gone through the actual wars, . . . that’s going to be some hill to climb.  The numbers are much more skewed for coaches in the NBA, who did not play in the League.

So, his basketball career wasn’t the deciding factor in having him wind up in the professional ranks.  Based on what I’ve encountered, heard (from both coaches and players) and observed, success in the NBA comes from one thing more than any other factor.  And that trait is the ability to gain the players’ trust - and you can’t be phony about it.  That might get you through a year or two, but then somethin’s gotta give.

At one of the annual self-improvement clinics we used to hold for “our mastermind group,” (see my blog on 8/7/09) I remember hearing Stan’s brother, Jeff (when he was an assistant coach with the New York Knicks), telling us, “The best way to gain the players’ trust is to have them see you sweat right along with them.”  That was why when Jeff had a individual improvement session with one of their players, say, Patrick Ewing, he never got some kid to shag the balls for them.  He told me Patrick never said anything to him about it, but Jeff, himself, felt more comfortable by doing it that way, and, wouldn’t you know it, it wound up really gaining the trust of others because that was how he treated every player on the squad.  If specific drills or such were designed for “bigs”, then he might make adjustments, not because of “prima donna-ing,” but because that person needed a modification of some sort.  And it’s the same way for Stan.

Something else you’ll notice about SVG.  Watch how often the Magic score when they have possession of the ball, out of bounds, after a time out - independent of where the ball is inbounded.  Check on the subtle defensive changes, e.g. they were doubling the post after his first dribble, but changed to an immediate trap just to throw off the ballhandler’s sense of rhythm. 

Stan Van Gundy belongs in the NBA - and not just the league.  One more win and he’ll be where he deserves.  I’ve heard that Stan Van Gundy has a lookalike - some porno star.  Not being a charter member in the porn industry, I wouldn’t know.  It’s just that when people are expecting to see someone who looks the part of an NBA coach, but is far from it, he tends to be treated much more critically. 

Although not nearly in the same category, I imagine Stan Van Gundy agrees whole-heartedly with Martin Luther King’s statement:

“It may be true that the law cannot make man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important.”

Coaching basketball in the NBA used to be a profession men got into because they 1) loved the game and wanted to stay in it after their playing careers were over or 2) they enjoyed matching wits with their peers to see who could assemble (through the draft, trades and free agency), mold into a cohesive unit, and get a group of guys to buy into a style and play at such a high level of intensity, victory would most assuredly be the by-product.  Add to those reasons, money.

The salaries, mainly due to the $50 million dollars the Celtics offered Rick Pitino, oh so many years ago (although it was actually 1997) are out of control.  The bar was set and as other coaches had more success than Pitino, their agents (do you think agents may have an effect on the pay scale?) demanded “Pitino-type money” for their clients.  All of a sudden, the championships Red Auerbach won - with NO assistant coaches - wasn’t the goal of the coach.  The salary, perks and incentives outweighed winning by a long shot.  And getting fired became not such a bad thing, especially when the parting gifts are in seven-figures.  “Honey, there’s good news and bad news - and both of them are that I just got fired.” 

Sure, guys still wanted to win, but now, in addition to fulfilling their competitive “jones,” bigger, more lucrative, longer-term contracts - which, when financially managed properly, would set the coach (and his heirs) up for a long, long time became just as much, if not more of a factor.  The flip side of this new philosophy is the level of expectations rose in direct proportion. 

A good coach, who saw this “flip” side - up close and personal was Flip himself.  Flip Saunders was fired by the Detroit Pistons after going 3-for-3, leading the team into the Eastern Conference Finals the past three years, but losing in the Eastern Conference Finals each of the three.  True, the Pistons had also gone to the Eastern Conference Finals the three years previous to Flip’s arrival, and that, undoubtedly, was why the president of the Pistons, Joe Dumars, one of the greatest players to wear a Pistons uniform (and did so during a couple championship seasons) and one of the most respected basketball men in the league, pulled the plug.  But it was Dumars’ reasoning that was more than a little skewed.  At the press conference, he mentioned he wanted to make sure the Pistons were all “on the same page and I didn’t see that this year.”

The Pistons definitely were not on the same page as anybody who watched them this year would agree.  But no one needed laser surgery to see a main reason why they weren’t on the same page.  There was one guy on the team who never even attempted to open his book, much less worry about what page the team was on.  Rasheed Wallace is unquestionably a major talent - and it’s true that Larry Brown won a championship soon after Rasheed joined the squad.  BUT, at that point in his career, Rasheed (and it’s amazing his name can be spelled without a “T”), was trying to prove that, although he was considered one of the biggest PITA’s in the NBA (acronym for “hemorrhoid”), he could still be a big-time asset for a team trying to win it all. 

In 2004, with his fellow Tarheel, Larry Brown, as the head coach, that mission was accomplished (with Rasheed on his best behavior and when he did slip, having Larry enable him with the secret Carolina mysterious mantra or handshake or whatever it is that, most importantly, works for them).  Then, Larry Brown was fired after coming close to back-to-back’s (a la Chuck Daly, who also had a rather off-the-wall character to deal with - Dennis Rodman - although, if you’re reading this blog and didn’t know that, you must have arrived at this site by mistake - or lost a bet).  It was said Larry wore on the players and the Pistons needed a different voice.  Funny, that’s the same thing Dumars said about firing Saunders - they needed a new voice.  Maybe they ought to hire Rich Little.

Flip Saunders is a good coach (check his coaching record in college and the CBA prior to his NBA jobs) and a good man.  If Joe Dumars wanted to win a championship, he should have given Flip Saunders (or whoever’s going to be the coach) a chance and dump the highly talented, but more combustible distraction that Rasheed has become.  It’s rumored that Pistons’ assistant Michael Curry has the inside track on the job.  Does anyone in this universe who’s heard of Rasheed Wallace think ‘Sheed will have the respect for Curry that a first-time head coach is going to need, especially in a league where a team is bound to have losing streaks during the NBA season-long grind?

Avery Johnson getting fired was bad, Mike D’Antoni being interfered with by management during games was absurd, but this one defies credulity.  It was so apparent that the Pistons didn’t need a new voice, they needed to rid themselves of an old one - and not the one belonging to Flip Saunders.  Maybe Joe Dumars ought to heed the advice I read several years ago in a management book (and if he could get to the same page I saw this, he’d be the beneficiary of some great leadership wisdom):

“The measure of success is not in not having a problem to deal with, but in not having the same problem you had last year.”      ¼/p>

When I posed this question to a friend of mine, who’s admittedly one of the most “obsessed with NBA” fans on the planet, he said, “Hey, James Dolan is going to pay somebody $7 million dollars to do it, there will be plenty of takers.”  After I thought about it, I realized we were talking about two different topics.  He was saying there are a lot of guys out there with the ego to think they can turn the once-proud franchise around as long as the check is large enough to cover all the headaches, heartaches and turmoil that goes with it.  I was talking about someone who had the intent of coming in and making a positive difference - especially in the won-lost column.

Even then, I wondered.  So, knowing he envied that sort of income, I proposed a fictitious $7 million dollar job to him (which would be worth every penny to the employer if someone would take it) and he summarily turned it down - without even a thought.  I’m not going to describe the job (this site would be closed down quicker than he turned down my “offer”) but, suffice to say, it proved that everyone does not have a price.  So the question isn’t who would coach the Knicks but who would want to, price not being the main factor.

Let’s take an overview of the state of affairs of the current New York Knickerbocker situation.  Larry Brown, love him or hate him, is as sure a bet at rebuilding any kind of team into a winner.  Forget the championships at the University of Kansas and the Detroit Pistons.  Don’t mention all he did at UCLA and with the 76ers.  This dude made winners out of the Clippers!  I was employed as associate head coach at USC at the time and they’d work out college guys for the upcoming draft on our campus.  He would conduct the workout himself.  As far as basketball knowledge and squeezing out every drop of talent from a player (although, sometimes, maybe a little too hard), there are maybe a handful in his category.  And he couldn’t coach the Knicks.

Why else do I speak so badly about the club?  Let me count the ways:

1) They have a bunch of overrated, over-the-hill or overpaid (or a combination of those “overs”) dominating the payroll - with contracts that are “un-loadable,” i.e. nobody will even touch them. 

2) They have little or no “cap space” which inhibits free agent moves.  If I’m not mistaken, there are some luxury tax issues as well, but that’s probably the only negative a coach wouldn’t have to worry about (however, it’s why that coaching stipend is so high).

3) Many of the players with those huge contracts have egos that dwarf the dollars they make, creating a sort of dysfunctional ambience that pervades the team and causes them to play at a level somewhat below maximum sea level.  One notable exception is David Lee but he’s more of a complementary player (yet a great one at that) than one you’d build a franchise around.

4) They not only have bad chemistry, they seem to think it’s good because everybody is in agreement: it’s all someone else’s fault.  If there ever was a group of guys who had no sense of team - which is remarkable because nearly all, at one time or another in their high school, college or pro careers, played on other (winning) teams - this group is it.

One name being mentioned is Avery Johnson.  He may take it since he’s “on the rebound” but it would be a shame if he did.  It would do nothing but tarnish a (once all is thoroughly evaluated) very good coaching career he’s thusfar established.  If he takes the time to think of what he had with the Mavericks and what he’d have with the Knicks, I think he’d turn it down faster than my “gym rat” friend turned the fictional job mentioned earlier.

Another candidate is Mark Jackson who, if he took it, would be doing it for the cash only.  He’s already beloved in the Big Apple so it’s a no-lose proposition for him (although there’d be plenty of losses).  Coach that group and not win: “Hey, he’s Maaak Jackson.  Nobody’s gonna win wit dose guys - fugettaboddit.”  He’s still the tough guy guard New Yorkers yearn for, only now he’d be filthy rich, too.  As good a commentator as he is, I’d be stunned if he didn’t see the “un-winnability” of that job.

I’ve told high school students on several occasions that if they are determined not to be taught; that no matter what I do, they refuse to learn; they’ll successfully accomplish that goal.  Same goes for the majority (and certainly the key) players on the New York Knicks’ roster and their attitude toward coaching (with is nothing more than teaching - just on a bigger stage with a thousand-fold more pressure … and no tenure).   

The problem might lie in the collective will of the team.  The Knicks need someone to impose his will on them because, as David Ambrose put it:

“If you have the will, you have achieved half your success.  If you don’t, you have achieved half your failure.”   And they don’t.Â

Avery Johnson got fired as the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks.  It’s a line readers will see several more times in the next few days/weeks/years/forevers, only with other names in place of Avery Johnson’s and with different team names at the end of the sentence. 

As I noted over and over, my adult life (and even a portion of my pre-adult life) has been spent in some way connected to basketball and coaching it (although never on the professional level).  I’ve seen many coaches get fired - a great number of whom I’ve known and consider close friends (Avery Johnson not being one of them - I never even had the pleasure of  meeting him).

“It’s just a part of the business,” is the standard statement made by players, general managers, owners and even coaches themselves.  Take a look at the “cold” business of professional sports.  Just a mere few years ago, Johnson was an assistant to then-Mavs’ head man, Don Nelson.  Nellie was so fond of the guy sitting next to him that he even relinquished the coaching duties for a few games during his (Nellie’s) last season (by not even attending games) so Avery would be able to gain some valuable game experience.

Johnson was touted as the “perfect fit” for Dallas.  Nelson had taken the team from a perennial lottery-pick club to one that made the playoffs on a yearly basis.  Johnson’s toughness as a player (he was a point guard on a championship San Antonio Spurs squad) and his emphasis on the defensive end of the floor would complement what Nellie had done and take the team to that magic next level all franchises (in any sport, in any age group) dream about.

And he did.  The Mavs made it to the NBA Championship, only to be defeated by the Miami Heat in six games, after the Mavs jumped out to a 2-0 series lead.  There were whispers of his being out-coached by Pat Riley - for a couple of reasons.  One is that Riley had won championships before and took advantage of his younger, inexperienced counterpart.  Another is that anytime one team defeats another there are whispers - or shouts - that the losing team’s coach got out-coached.  This sort of reasoning absolves everyone else of blame and is so easy to prove, considering all the possessions and points there are in an NBA game.  Single out a missed opportunity to call a time out (which everyone is aware stalls “mo”) or a match-up that went unexploited (as pointed out by the commentators) or a substitution error (not getting a guy out who had three fouls out of the game prior to getting his fourth - even though his replacement was squatting at the scorer’s table ready to come in at the next dead ball) or not committing a foul or committing a foul, which is it?  You get the picture.  It’s a difficult game to coach and an even easier one to criticize - especially for people who don’t know how to coach but want others to think they do.

In Johnson’s situation this season, the Mavs traded late in the year for Jason Kidd (giving up a potential young all-star point guard, Devin Harris + draft picks) and they never jelled with their new leader, arguably the best pure point guard to ever play.  Asked what the problem was after the Mavs were eliminated, Kidd said a training camp together before next season will fix many of the execution problems Dallas committed in this year’s playoffs.  An old team being a year older might be a bigger problem, but whether Kidd is right about the team becoming more familiar with each other or whether this group of players have seen their championship opportunities pass them by is something a coach other than Avery Johnson will have to figure out.

The average coaching salary in the NBA is in the neighborhood of $4 million, a neighborhood where you won’t see my car parked anytime soon.  I don’t know the particulars of Johnson’s contract but, with an owner like Mark Cuban (and all Avery had done for the franchise), I imagine he will leave with more than just some nice parting gifts.

Ironically, the way the NBA works in the case of a talented coach like Johnson (with the record he has), he’ll have another NBA head coaching job with a week of the time I click the “publish” button for this blog.  Nice work if you can get it.  It’s long been a theory in numerous medical circles that fat wallets are the leading cure for bruised egos.

It’s doubtful that Douglas MacArthur was speaking about coaching professional sports teams when he said:

“There is no security on this earth; there is only opportunity.”  Â