Fans Always Sad to See Van Gundy
Today, on ESPN's Mike and Mike in the Morning, the key question was sent Stan Van Gundy's way...
What is it like being Orlando's second choice?
He's used to it by now.
His coaching career been one in which fans are always sad to see him. It all started with Division II UMass Lowell. They won the 1988 D-II championship under the leadership of Don Doucette. Following that season, Doucette left, and Van Gundy was named the head coach.
Fans were depressed.
Four seasons later, Stan Van Gundy moved on to the University of Wisconsin. He replaced, as a D-II nobody, former NBA coach Stu Jackson. Jackson was only 32-25 in his career at Wisconsin, but consider this: prior the Jackson, the last Badger coach to finish their Wisconsin career above .500 was Walter Meanwell.
He retired in 1934. I'm going to assume Wisconsin fans weren't too happy to see Jackson leave.
Of course, now Stu Jackson is the NBA Senior Vice President of Basketball Operations (and has been in some controversy of his own).
Van Gundy later went on to become an assistant coach under Pat Riley. When Riley retired abruptly prior to the 2003-2004 season, Van Gundy was named head coach.
Toss up: a coach with four championship rings (at the time) or a Ron Jeremy lookalike?
You guessed right... and Miami HEAT fans cried
(A little off-topic, but in doing some research for this article, I visited Van Gundy's coaching profile on NBA.com. I noticed that every time the "Heat" were mentioned, the entire name was capitalized. I went to the official website, and an article was titled "HEAT History." The name is actually supposed to be capitalized! But then I search some website like ESPN and every-article-about-the-"HEAT"-I've-ever-seen and they are the "Heat." Thankfully, Wikipedia is there to set things straight. Who says Wikipedia is unreliable? Not I!)
Now, Stan Van Gundy is the head coach of the Orlando Magic.
Did you know that he wasn't their first choice?
Maybe it wasn't an understatement for Stan Van Gundy to say he is "used to it."
Although he has always emphasized defense first, Van Gundy also stressed the importance of teamwork and shot selection on the offensive end, he might be going in a different direction in Orlando. Van Gundy also spoke of the direction he wants to take the Magic. The most interesting (and exact opposite of that link I just posted) change is that he wants to have a fastpaced offense (but not Phoenix fast). This will be accomplished by building around the key guys (EDIT: guy).
In addition to that guy (could he have been throwing Darko and Jameer Nelson into the mix?), Van Gundy will focus on the supporting cast. That is, the offensive rebounders and shooters. Conveniantly, they have one of the best shooters in Travis Diener (OK, J.J. Redick). Of course, Dwight Howard is one of the best offensive rebounders in the NBA.
I thought one of the interesting things Van Gundy mentioned was the need for athleticism and versatility. Trevor Ariza is incredibly athletic, versatile... and misused by Brian Hill. But what this really makes me believe is that cap money (which was applauded by SVG) will be used on one of the these players. Gerald Wallace is probably fits the bill as much as anyone in the league.
Stan Van Gundy, although not always the trendy choice, is successful. Cheer up, Orlando, you got a good coach.