We've seen too many stories that praise JVG. This is a more balanced one that shows a little of his dark side. http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/news/sports/features/4577/
I am tired of reading it after the first page. It's way too long. I got the idea after the first page. Man, JVG is a BAD man!!! Yeah, I think it's enough to understand JVG's "dark side" when in the first page, the article detailed how JVG being a member of the KKK, having plotted the JFK assassination single-handedly, being a cousin of Bin Laden, having invited Sadam for dinners, inventing the SARS virus, being the ring leader in the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, persuading the kids in Columbine High to killing, being behind the leaking in the nuclear plant in Ukraine, helping Iranians in their "revolution" to turn against Americans... I guess JVG is a bad man!
Dark side? Being intense to the max? I believe this fellow is what this team needs. Perhaps the next coach, circa 2008 or so will be on the Lighter Side and laugh all the way to the bank. But will he win?
Good read. Reminds me of some of Rudy's tales. Glad to see well have a coach who was as dedicated as Rudy was.
Well I am not sure if he did all those things, but I think he is capable of doing most of them. I admire his courage of transferring from Yale to a community college just for the sake of playing bball.
Parts of the article would be good fodder for the religion hangout forum. How will JVD be received in the bible belt if he bars the preachers from the locker room? Come to think of it - we have too many stoners to have a team bible study. So this won't be a problem.
Intense, driven, passionate are great. Discipline is great. That is what this team needs but ... too much of it might have the opposite effect. Many children rebel against parents that are too strict. Jeff scolding the players is a bit much. Blowing the fuses because of a couple mistakes made when they were up by 14 pts is a bit much. If the following is true, it is not so grand either: Going from Rudy's kid-glove approach to this is too much of a change. I just hope Jeff will ease off just a little bit.
"Dark" side? JVG: No, Steve: I am your father. Steve: Noooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!! It's not true! I'll never join you! My dad wasn't white! JVG: And Chamika Holdsclaw is....your sister! Steve: Oh God, I'm glad I didn't give that girl a French kiss... JVG: Join me. It is (dramatic pause, fist held before him) your destiny. Steve: What's the matter, don't you hear good? I said I'll never join you! JVG: Then you will be traded to the Clippers! Steve: Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Yeah, that article was posted during the time the board became the coaching carousel board. I actually read it and came away with a higher admiration for Van Gundy. While it does point to some possible flaws about Van Gundy, in general I think it portrays the guy in a positive light. from the article... Ask the Knicks why they've come to respect a man so different from themselves and they all speak a version of Marcus Camby's words: "Because we know how hard he works and how bad he wants to win," says the Knicks' rubber-limbed center. "When your coach is like that, it trickles down to the team. You don't just want to win for yourself; you want to play and win for your coach. You can tell by the permanent bags under his eyes -- all he does is eat and sleep basketball. We want to play hard for him because we know how much he puts into it."
Van Gundy stays up later, pounds more Diet Coke, watches more game tape. Still, his team's energy periodically vaporizes. Maybe the Knicks would fall apart without Van Gundy's whipping. They did. He left with a .500 record, the team died after that.
