Look Who Is In The Finals

By Jon in Sports in General on June 4, 2009 8:17 pm / 1 comment

Stan Van Gundy is coaching in the NBA Finals.

Stan struggled, mightily, as head coach of the Wisconsin men’s hoops team prior to the Dick Bennett era. It was a poor fit…Van Gundy was nowhere near being ready for a head coaching job at the time, Wisconsin basketball was far from prime time, and there was a guy up the road in Green Bay that many felt was deserving of the Wisconsin job. His farewell press conference, when he announced to everyone, “This is all about money”, only accentuated the fact that he didn’t fit in Madison. It was an uncomfortable moment.

Stan fits the pro basketball game better than college. He is a basketball 24-7 guy and doesn’t seem to have the personality to mix at alumni functions. He served as Pat Reilly’s top assistant at Miami and had a short stint as head coach there before being replaced later in the year by Reilly…another uncomfortable moment. Fast forward the tape and, lo and behold, Stan Van Gundy is in the NBA Finals coaching the Orlando Magic. Perseverance.

Stan Van Gundy is coaching in the NBA Finals. Good for him. What a country.

 
 

1 Comments

  1. BigSnakeMan Mike says:
    June 5, 2009 at 2:03 am

    It also doesn’t hurt Stan that professional sports tend to be player driven much more so than at the college level. It’s no coincidence that Van Gundy is a much better “coach” now that he has Dwight Howard and Jamir Nelson (among others) to put on the floor; an advantage he didn’t have at Miami and certainly not at UW.

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