ESPN.com (old but good article) : Van Gundy makes his mark in the postseason

ESPN.com : Van Gundy makes his mark in the postseason

An old article about JVG in the playoffs. I thought it was a good read despite it being almost 3 years old. Interesting are the comments by Charles Oakley and Mark Jackson who were at the time a Raptor and Knick respectively. Perhaps this is the loyalty that he rewards and the trust he has in his players showing through.

http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2001/2001/0426/1186816.html

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Van Gundy makes his mark in postseason
By Adrian Wojnarowski
Special to ESPN.com

NEW YORK -- Pat Riley has never considered himself part of the so-called coaching fraternity, the phony, back-slapping band of cutthroats pretending to be pals.

As the rest of the profession passes out praise like lollipops, Riley refuses to along with it, barely pausing to acknowledge the work of the winners within the profession.


Through the years, Riley has found the man responsible for tearing down his championship dreams was no longer the bald eagle of the Bulls, but the balding coach of the Knicks, Jeff Van Gundy. To Riley, this is predominately a profession of people deserving to be referred to by first names. Whom does Riley call coach? There was Kentucky's Adolph Rupp and his own father, Lee, and that's about it.

And then, almost two years ago, a letter was delivered to Van Gundy at the Ritz Carlton in Atlanta prior to the start of the Knicks-Hawks playoff series.

On the manila envelope, there were large letters written in Magic Marker -- a Riley trademark -- and right away Van Gundy was tipped to the identity of the sender. Coach Riley always wrote in those big block letters using Magic Marker.

What hit Van Gundy hardest was the word preceding his name on the envelope, the title, "Coach Jeff Van Gundy." For the first time, Riley called him "Coach." After a play called "triangle down" had freed Allan Houston for the winning shot in the Knicks' Game 5 victory over the Heat in those playoffs, in his most drained and devastated hours, Riley reached out to his protege to dole out his ultimate concession of respect.

Coach Riley called him Coach Van Gundy.

The contents of the letter are such a meaningful tribute to Van Gundy, it stays within arm's reach. Along with two poems his father, Bill, gave him years ago, that Riley letter still stays in Van Gundy's travel bag. This was a validation the rest of us shouldn't have needed. Van Gundy is an excellent coach, working his way to greatness. Let him get Chris Webber this offseason and watch him in the backseat of a convertible in a ticker tape parade down the Canyon of Heroes in Manhattan next spring.

With the Knicks' Game 1 victory over the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, Van Gundy won his 36th playoff game as coach of the Knicks, passing Riley and closing on Red Holzman's 54. During the regular season, he passed Riley on the Knicks' regular season career victory list. He's just trailing Holzman and Joe Lapchick now.

Van Gundy has developed into one of the great defensive minds in the game, one of the great tacticians and one of the greats at game preparation in basketball. When it comes to tournament time, his mentors, Riley and Rick Pitino, have a hard time matching his mind.

"Nobody prepares for an opponent better than Jeff," Knicks guard Mark Jackson said.

His forever-changing traps have confounded the Raptors' Vince Carter to start two straight playoffs series against the Knicks. Last year, Carter missed 17 of 20 shots in Game 1. This year, it was 17 of 22. Jackson warns people: Don't rip Carter, praise Van Gundy.

Most of all, the Knicks coach has made his name in the playoffs bringing down Riley and the Heat, forever staying one move ahead of Riley in the final minutes of games. Van Gundy is 16-4 in first-round playoff games. He'll give up his Diet Cokes sooner than he'll give up court advantage with a Game 1 loss.

"In the playoffs the team gets a chance to prepare for you more, and they know every set that you are going to run," said the Raptors' Charles Oakley, an ex-Knick. "They (the Knicks) know every set that we've run, and they're calling it out before we get to half-court. We don't know their sets as good as they know our sets.

"They understand better and I think Jeff presents it to them in way and drills it in their head all year."

Long ago, Riley taught him the most important lesson of all: There's no cardboard cutout for the model of a successful coach. He can be big or small, black or white. He can have slicked back hair or a balding pate. The Knicks understand Van Gundy makes it to his office by 5:30 a.m., most mornings, watches tape until he's bug-eyed, and always will give them the best chance for victory.

They don't have to love his dour self, just respect his relentless genius on their behalf. He's always under scrutiny for his distant relationships with his best players, Latrell Sprewell and Marcus Camby. Yet, it's strange, isn't it, that he seldom gets the credit for the fact these two have played the best basketball of their lives in his system?

Had Riley or Phil Jackson made a winner out of Sprewell, a fighter out of Camby, they would be praised to the ends of the earth. When Van Gundy does it, well, it must been despite him.

Now, Riley is on the brink of losing a first-round series for the third straight year, an old assistant named Paul Silas doing it to him this time as Charlotte's coach. The Knicks won't get a chance to make it four straight on the Heat, won't get a chance for Riley to be reminded the hard way again: It's Coach Van Gundy, always "Coach" to him.