This was on the Rocket site at Fanhome. Hi, Im a Knick fan & may turn into a Rocket fan soon, Ha-ha. If some of you guys have doubts about JVG, dont. Hes the smartest coach you will ever see. If you have watched him on TNT, you know he's teaching you every second that he talks, We all know about his defensive ideas, which are top of the line. You dont have to worry about his offensive philosophy because he never had a young Yao or an athletic point guard. He will go up tempo if he has to and I think he will. He expects everybody to perform at the highest level possible, if you guys have any players lacking energy, thats is, lazy..he will bench that player until he realizes Van wont take that stuff. His practices are harder than most games. Ha-ha. Are you guys worried that Steve Francis and Mobley will not like JVG? Dont be, because he is very loyal to his top guys (LJ, Ewing, Sprewell, Oakley, Camby) and he gets a lot of loyalty back from his players. They will be right by his side until his career is over. He protects the players from the media, whenever a NY tabloid starts pointing fingers at Ewing or Houston, he would back them up, no matter what. JVG is the most down to earth coach, he drove a beat-up, crappy 90 Honda Civic until it blew-up at the airport. He has a Mercedes SUV the Knicks bought him as a present but he dosent use it, I think his wife does. His suits come from Kmart and Wal-Mart. Pat Riley once took him to get an Armani suit once, JVG looked at the price and said "time to go to Kmart" . He also comes with a lot of stories, like the time he was holding Zo's leg for dear life and the time he got walloped by Marcus Camby or when he benched his entire starting team for all of the first quarter( except for the first 3 minutes) for lacking defensive intensity. The best moment was in the eastern conf. finals 1999, the Knicks were 8 seed, JVC was at the end of his contract. A lot of the media, fans and management were having thoughts about not getting him back. But with about 3 min. to go and we knew we were heading to the NBA finals, you started to hear a chant of Jeff Van Gundy(clap, clap, clap) Jeff Van Gundy (clap, clap, clap) then the arena camera had a shot of his wife crying like a baby, then we knew they wanted to stay in NY . I know this is a long post and Im sorry. I hope you guys do win a championship with him, He will lead Houston to the promised land once again. But he is a New Yorker at heart and I hope he will come back to us, I dont know how and I dont know when. Good luck to your team.
This is a pretty good one too. It seems like everybody from New York has nothing but good things to say about Jeff Van Gundy. The only people that are trashing him are a few people on this site who are not from NY and only think of him as the guy dangling on Alonzo's leg. If the people of New York love him this much I have a feeling Houstonians grow to love him also. Welcome to Houston Jeff!
I am glad to hear that JVG is a humble person. This augers well for one that is humble and a diciplinarian. He is one to be admired and supported.
The Honda story is true, the guy is about as down to earth as they come. His loyality is unbelivable, but it can be detremental. When Andre Miller was coming out of Utah, the Knicks and Cavs had a draft night deal lined up to bring Miller to the Knicks for our pick (#15 i think) and Chris Childs. JVG protested wildly about losing Childs, and because of this, the deal fell through. There are other stories, like the Knicks keeping Eddie Robinson under wraps one summer, with the intent of signing him, but JVG again protested, and wanted to bring in David Wingate, which he did, and he was signed instead. Robinson then signed with Charlotte and was a decent player before he signed his big deal with the Bulls. Another well known Knick rumor was that after the 1997 season, Portland offered Brian Grant and Jermaine Oneal for Ewing. Knicks were ready to pull the trigger, but again JVG protested, so the deal was nixed. JVG is mad loyal to his veterans, he loves his players, like brothers. You play hard, you train hard, you listen and you learn, and you get his respect and loyality. It doesn't suprise me that this Latrell to Houston crap has started already. No doubt JVG will want some of his guys around, so don't be suprised. From all reports, he loved Kurt Thomas as well. Anyway, good luck, you just got the best defensive coach in the NBA.
that kmart story really true? they sell suits at kmart? From what I see on TV, his suits are actually pretty nice. I don't see him in plaid suits or anything too cheap looking.
man if the knicks had O'Neal and B. Grant right now, they would win the east ... heck even might win the whole thing now, being that all of their talls are like 6'10'' and under with the exception of Doleac.
Ewing was a 22 and 12 guy back in 97 so they were right to keep him. Remember Oneal in 97 was a rookie and was 5 years removed from being a good player. Grant was also unproven.
