Van Gundy charms the local media
Stan Van Gundy erased any misconceptions this reporter might have had about him with an engaging media session before tonight’s Game 2. Van Gundy stood and answered questions for about 20 minutes, talking about his local ties and the path he took to become an NBA head coach. Van Gundy was the head coach at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell from 1988 to 1992.
“I enjoyed those years at Lowell,” said Van Gundy. “You get a very tough brand of kid there. They play very, very hard. I loved the guys I coached there, and it was a good four years.”
He’s currently the coach of one of the NBA’s best big men in Dwight Howard and has led his team to the Eastern Conference semifinals, but Van Gundy said he actually used to have more fun at the collegiate level.
“You get to make a lot of mistakes out of the limelight,” said Van Gundy. “I’ve always sort of marvelled about the guys who’s first head coaching job is in the NBA, where every mistake you make is magnified…I didn’t used to worry about anybody watching.
“That’s to take nothing away from this. This is a great experience. But quite honestly, you can’t match the fun you had at those lower levels.”
“I don’t know if it’s ‘white-guy-from-Duke’ or what,” said Van Gundy. “People have really had a laser-like focus on his defense. And I don’t remember hearing that in the Bulls series, like ‘Can Ben Gordon guard Ray Allen?’ Ray Allen got 51 in one game…but when it’s J.J. it’s like this huge deal. From what I’ve seen of Ray Allen’s time in the league, I would say a lot more guys can’t guard him than can. You don’t get to where Ray Allen is because a lot of guys have been locking him down, and all of a sudden J.J. Redick is like the one guy in the world who can’t guard him?”
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