Transcript of the complete June 11 press conference

Leslie Alexander
Opening comments:
We are excited today to announce the hiring of Jeff Van Gundy as the head coach of the Houston Rockets. I spent a lot of time with Jeff, and CD (Carroll Dawson) did also, and what came out is the attributes are just fabulous. Hard work and dedication are really at the heart of his being. Winning, winning, winning is what motivates Jeff, and that is what motivates the Rockets. Houston is a city where fans and the media want people to succeed. I know you all will root for Jeff and the Rockets. I am sure your cheering will be rewarded. We are going to have some great, great times. I think we have great players and a great atmosphere here. I think Jeff will take us really far. We’re thrilled, thrilled, thrilled to have him here. With great pride, I want to introduce Jeff Van Gundy to the city of Houston.

Jeff Van Gundy
Opening comments: I am honored to have the opportunity here with the Rockets organization, with Mr. Alexander, Carroll (Dawson) and obviously a nice nucleus of players. I want to try to help build upon the foundation that Rudy did such a masterful job (of establishing) here for so long. Obviously, those are big shoes to fill. His excellence here will drive me every day to try to live up to the standard that he set. I just want to say once again, I am honored to be here and am looking forward to a lot of success in the near future.

On what made up his mind to take this job:
JVG: I think that is hard to quantify. You can’t quantify it into one single reason. I think you know when you meet people and you see a situation that is a good fit. This, to me, is a good fit. It is an organization that is committed to winning and winning big. I just feel that this is what is right for me at this time in my life.

On what was going through his mind when he finally came to the city of Houston:
JVG: No big, major decision is easy in life, particularly when you’re talking about moving. But again, I was overwhelmed with the kindness of everyone that I came into contact with here and the opportunity to win. It just felt right, and when it feels right, even though it’s hard to pick up and move to a new place, the city of Houston was beautiful, the people were very kind and obviously, the organization is first class. So, that made it the decision that was right.

On getting back to coaching after taking time off:
JVG: Well, I wasn’t convinced about that as I was going through the year. I had enjoyed my broadcasting with Turner very much. Marv Albert, Mike Fratello and everyone at TNT - Mike Prose, the executive producer - were nothing but great to me. It was an enjoyable experience. Yet, as you reach the playoffs, that’s the time when you really miss the competition, and I did miss the camaraderie, as well. So, I wasn’t going to go back into coaching - I wasn’t desperate to get back into coaching. It had to be the right fit, and I think I found the right fit here. So, I knew when this opportunity came about that it was right for me.

On describing himself as a coach:
JVG: I always find it very difficult to describe myself. It seems like I’m in therapy when I do that. I want to win. I’m going to do whatever it takes to try to win and maximize the potential of the players - play to their strengths, stay away from their weaknesses. I think all good things in basketball come from the foundation of hard work and unselfishness at both ends of the floor. I don’t think there has ever been a guy that I have coached who cares about the team, cares about the results and puts in the work necessary to win, that won’t enjoy playing on a team of mine. I expect it to go well with players. You are always going to have ups and downs. There is no smooth sailing in the NBA or any professional sport. Chuck Daly once said, “The job of a coach is to fly the plane through the turbulence of the regular season and land it in the playoffs.” That is what I hope to do.

On how high he has set the expectations for next year:
JVG: I have not studied the team, yet. I need to go back and look at every game, watch every possession and talk to, obviously, Carroll, his staff and the players. But I think the only goal that is worthwhile in this league is to pursue a championship. You may not reach that every year, obviously, but you need to strive each year to be a championship-caliber team with championship-caliber players. That is what we will try to do here from Day 1 - like they have in the past.

On how difficult it was to weigh his other options:
JVG: Washington is a terrific job. The Wizards job - I think Mr. Pollan has got a great situation up there. They are going to win soon. He’ll get a very good coach, because he is a good owner. They’ll have a good team, but for me, I just - again, I can’t quantify why necessarily, except that from Mr. Alexander to Carroll to the people I met here, I just felt it was the right fit for me. I’m going to try and help these players get to where they want to get to - back into the playoffs and to win a championship. Again, I think that is the only worthwhile goal.

On his coaching style translating from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference:
JVG: I think winning crosses all boundaries. So if you win, it’s all good. If you lose, there is nothing good about it. I think there is no sense comparing and contrasting, because in the end, all you want to do is have a good team you can be proud of, that wins big and conducts itself correctly. You’ve had that here for a long time with Rudy. I can’t tell you how much I’ve admired him. He set the standard very high here. I want to make sure I live up to that and, again, try to build on what he has done here so well for so long. As far as style, until you study the team and until you can really pinpoint strengths and weaknesses, it is hard here to say what you have. But you do have a great core of talent players - young and need to mature to win. When you talk about Steve (Francis), Cuttino (Mobley) and Yao (Ming), obviously that’s a team that has a chance. That’s all you really want in this league is an opportunity to have a chance to compete.

On what surprised him about Yao after his rookie year and how much upside he sees in him:
JVG: He’s got seven-foot-five of upside. That’s a lot of upside up there. He’s a remarkably skilled post man who, what I am most impressed with, seems like he’s a great teammate. He’s not spoiled by all that you get in the NBA, so he seems like he’s just a - I don’t know him personally, but he seems like he’s a very talented, caring, good teammate. Obviously, if he continues to progress, he is going to be a special player in this league.

On if he plans to go over to China before the season begins:
JVG: I don’t know. That’s a good question. I haven’t thought about that.

On the circumstances that caused him to leave the Knicks and what the difference is now to get back into coaching again:
JVG: Well, New York - I was there as an assistant coach for 6 ½ years and the head coach for 6 ½ years, so it was 13 great, great years. I couldn’t have been treated better by that organization. I was blessed to have coached some special players - Patrick Ewing, Larry Johnson, Latrell Spreewell, Allan Houston, a lot of great, great players that touched my life. Then, like anything, all good things come to an end. That came to an end, and now I went into broadcasting. I enjoyed the time off and liked it. Then when this opportunity presented itself, like I said, I just felt it was right. So, I’ve been very fortunate. I’ve always been in good situations with good people, and that will continue here I’m sure.

On determinations about his assistants, staff and Patrick Ewing:
JVG: I’ll talk to people. I have a good idea of where I want to go. Some people are under contract; some are not, so that will be for a later time.

On if there are things he has seen already that he wants to change:
JVG: No, I don’t know of anything I want to change. I think obviously, the strength is in the core of Steve, Cuttino and Yao. I think Eddie Griffin and Mo Taylor have done a great job at the power forward. (Kelvin) Cato had a great year last year. I think Moochie Norris always gave us trouble in New York. (James) Posey I think is an interesting player in that he is a little bit different. He is very high energy - a slasher/cutter. I don’t know too much about (Bostjan) Nachbar or some of the other younger players I didn’t mention, but there is a good core. But to say that what I’m going to change - there is nothing specifically. I just want to learn as much as I can over the next few months so that I give them a confident plan in September and October that they can follow and be successful with.

On if he has changed much as a coach from what we saw in New York:
JVG: Well, what did you see? I’d have to ask what you saw first? A maniac who sometimes after losses looked like I was under interrogation - yeah (he said with a laugh). Yeah, that. See, no one wants to come out and just say it - that I looked like hell, but I did. I know. Some people just don’t look good in clothes. It’s hard to say why. In New York, all those Armani and other type of clothing people used to call me up and used to try to pay me not to wear their clothes. I don’t know. I think this is probably as good as it’s going to get.

I’m going to look as good as I can here today, and then it is going to be all downhill - bags under the eyes, that worried look. But I’ll be fine. I never quite feel as bad as I look, so that’s a good thing. You do miss the misery some, though. The misery is part of what you miss - that pit in your stomach every day of the year about what could go wrong and trying to find solutions to problems. The great thing about broadcasting is that when you’re done with the game, you don’t go back to the hotel and worry about the result. The problem is that you don’t have that elation that you feel after a great win or after a great playoff series victory. So, it is some part that you do miss the misery. The challenge I think is here, obviously. I miss the competition, and certainly you miss the camaraderie of a team and a coaching staff. So there are a lot of reasons to get back into coaching - a lot of good ones.

On what these last few weeks have been like for a guy who has had to work his way through the league:
JVG: You said work through, I think in many ways - luck through. I think in many ways, luck is a big part of my situation. I got to come out of college and work immediately for Rick Pitino - who is one of the great coaches ever - and then go to Rutgers and work for Bob Winslow, who is a heck of a coach. Then I went to the Knicks right away. So I was a high school coach for one year, a college coach for three and then by good fortune, Stu Jackson hired me with the Knicks and I was very fortunate. So, these last six weeks, I haven’t been as interested in my next job as a lot of people were. I was just trying to enjoy myself some. So, it was fine. I was flattered and was humbled by the interest, but as I said before, I wasn’t desperate to necessarily get back into coaching because I wanted to make sure, just like I had with the Knicks, that I had the right fit. This one, to me, just seemed right for me.

On what it is about him that enables other coaches to see things in him:
JVG: I don’t know. I come from a coaching family. My dad coached for 40 years. My brother, obviously, has been very successful many places, but now down in Miami. So I have been able to tag along a lot and learn a lot. Then I got with some great coaches. I think that probably the best experience for me was coaching that one year in high school. I had a pretty good team, but anybody who has ever had a coach’s son on their team knows that they are difficult to deal with, as I was - that I had all the answers. After four weeks of coaching in high school and being the head coach, not only didn’t I have the answers, I didn’t even know what the questions were. Nothing humbles you like having your own team. I learned a lot about what I didn’t know then, but that was very good experience for me.

On if we’re going to be seeing games in the 80’s (point range):
JVG: We’re going to try to keep those other teams in the 80’s - (the fans) can be sure of that. We’ll try to get ourselves up in the 100’s or 90’s, though. You know what I think is interesting? I think everybody, when you come down to it, would like to say that every game is going to be an exciting masterpiece. But the bottom line is that you’re trying to win the game. The way you have the best chance to win a championship is to be a balanced team - have good balance between offense and defense; on offense have good balance between a running game, a post-up game, a pick-and-roll game, an isolation game; defensively be able to effect a game in a number of different ways so that you can win a game in as many ways as possible. If you limit yourself to only being an offensive team or only being a defensive team, it becomes much more difficult to win at the highest level. So what I hope you will see is a very well balanced team.

On his role on the team in regards to personnel decisions:
JVG: I think, like any good organization, you have great communication between your General Manager and your coach. I was very fortunate in New York to work for two great guys in Ernie Grunfeld and Scott Layden, and here working with Carroll - if you can’t work with him, I doubt you can work with anybody. So I just have to get used to all his sayings. “The Daddy” has imparted a lot of wisdom on me in the past three weeks. He taught me that “you all” is singular and “all y’all” is plural. That’s a good start for me.

On how much he knows about Houston:
JVG: Well, I didn’t know much about it, other than I didn’t like my last experience here in 1994. That was a tough one. But when I came here to look around, it was beautiful. The city was pretty. The areas to live in were very nice. Everybody tells me there are a lot of restaurants. I haven’t gotten there yet. It’s very, very nice for what I’ve seen. Very nice and very friendly - which is good.

On leaving the broadcast booth and not being right all the time anymore:
JVG: Well, if you listen to my broadcast partner (Mike) Fratello, he was never right. I was just fortunate that I always seemed right because of what he was saying. That was the greatest part about being in broadcasting - you could just give your opinion, and you don’t have to live with the result. When you’re down there (coaching) in the heat of battle, now that’s different. That’s why I was always so supportive of coaches, because I knew how difficult it was to make a decision on the fly. I’ll be right, hopefully a lot. I know I’ll be wrong, but the main thing is when you’re wrong you learn from it and hopefully not repeat the same mistake.

On if he has had a chance to talk to any of the players:
JVG: I haven’t yet, but I hope to very shortly. I talked to Glen Rice before I took the job for about 45 minutes, and he was very helpful. I had the opportunity to coach him in New York. When you have the chance to coach somebody and then ask them about a situation, I think that is very helpful to you in making a decision, and Glen was terrific in helping me clarify some things about the situation.

On how much of a difference the conversation with Rice made:
JVG: It wasn’t like it was a make-or-break thing. It was a conversation that made you feel much more at ease that what you think you saw and what you think you see in the talent in the team and people that run the team is actually true.

On if he has had the chance to talk to Rudy again since his visit last week:
JVG: I haven’t, but I would hope I would have the chance to tap into his expertise a lot. I hope he feels very, very comfortable with me being hired. I hope he feels comfortable coming around as much as he would like. Again, I can’t state enough that he set that bar so high that it is a standard that I am going to work diligently to try to reach the standard he has set here for coaching excellence.

On if he is looking at any of the Rockets old assistant coaches:
JVG: I want to talk to everybody. I have, like I said before, not only for Rudy but his staff. Jim Boylen, I tried to actually hire in New York a few years back - CD (Carroll Dawson) outbid me and broke the bank, so Jim stayed here. I have great respect for him. Larry (Smith), I have great respect for. It’s hard to stay with one organization for a long time. Then, on Mike, Melvin and Dean, I have not had the opportunity to sit down with them yet, but I will hopefully in the very near future. Like I said, I have great respect for all that was accomplished here and all those people that put a lot of effort into it, so I would love to sit down and talk with them.

On his thoughts about the new building:
JVG: The building was beautiful. I think the building itself is a great thing, not only for Houston, but for the players and coaches to be in one place where you know you are coming to work is terrific. I think the fans will obviously love that the new building has so many more amenities to it. We need to establish a home-court dominance right away. That is the first step towards being a really, really good team - is to really be a dominant home team.

Leslie Alexander
On the other candidates and what set Van Gundy apart:
I liked everybody. As Jeff said, really this was the perfect fit. We met for many, many hours and we talked. Carroll and I both just liked him very much for all of the things that he brings to the team.

Carroll Dawson
On his assessment of the situation:
This is a very exciting day. This whole process, as you can tell, has gone pretty well. Jeff and I got along from the start, as we started talking - exchanging basketball philosophies and everything and his ideas. As you know, we think this franchise is in a good position right now. (Van Gundy) seems to recognize that. He thinks he can, as he said, go to people’s strengths that we got, help them improve their weaknesses and go from there. We have a young team that needs a coach like him - that is fundamentally sound. You have all heard me say this for a long time, and that is one of the reasons I am glad that we could get this done today - we were looking for the best fit. Without a doubt, I think we got the right guy. I think he is going to be very happy to be here, and I think the team is going to be very happy to have him coaching. I know that with the integrity, the character and the coaching ability he has got, he is the right guy for this job. There is no doubt about that in my mind.

On the difference between Van Gundy and Tomjanovich’s philosophies:
CD: Well, everybody is different. You can’t find any coaches in this league that are exactly alike. But I think as far as being able to talk to players and get the most out of them, they are very similar. Everybody has a little bit of a different philosophy on offense to defense. That’s what Mr. Alexander and I went through with all of the coaches that we talked to in that one week - the philosophies of how they looked at winning. There are a lot of different ways to get to the championship. There is no one special way. It was interesting to me to just talk to everyone and see how they thought you could do it. Jeff is a little bit different. He found ways that worked for him over the years, just like the rest of us that have been in coaching all our lives, and found a way to win. It may not suit everybody, but if you coach to your personality and be true to the team you’re coaching, then you’re going to be okay. (Van Gundy) is well equipped. There are always going to be differences, but this is a good fit for this team.