OT: SVG/Howard ackward moment

[Hype #9]

Stan says Dwight wants him fired! This is messed up.

[video]http://www.nba.com/magic/video/2012/04/05/040512svghowardfiredreportsm4v-2057675[/video]

 

[magnifier661]

Wow I think Van Gundy is handling it well.

 

[jlprk]

Year after year, other coaches run all summer and report in shape. Howard, with Superman's body, is embarrassed to be seen with him. Here he is trying to get away.

 

[McNicholicious]

Thoughts on Van Gundy coaching the blazers next year?

 

[MickZagger]

Thoughts on Van Gundy coaching the blazers next year?

Well, he'd be an upgrade over McMillan.

 

[illmatic99]

I don't think SVG handled it all that well, but it makes me like him more that he doesn't care for all this bullshit.

 

[PapaG]

I don't think SVG handled it all that well, but it makes me like him more that he doesn't care for all this bullshit.

Which is exactly why hiring him for next year would be a mistake for any organization. The guy loses the respect of elite talent. It happened with Shaq and Wade, and now it happened with Howard.

 

[illmatic99]

It's not losing respect as much as it is him not coddling his star while pandering his every need.

 

[PapaG]

It's not losing respect as much as it is him not coddling his star while pandering his every need.

Well, that's one way to look at it. SVG's Magic leading the NBA in 3pt attemps/game the past 4 years is another way of saying he doesn't know what the fuck he's doing as a coach.

Given SVG's history, what would he do with this team? The "Sarge" approach clearly doesn't work in the NBA, even with players at an MVP level.

 

[THE HCP]

He has bumped heads with players at every stop....... at some point you have to adjust your style. Unless you are Pat Riley or Phil

 

[Tince]

Well, that's one way to look at it. SVG's Magic leading the NBA in 3pt attemps/game the past 4 years is another way of saying he doesn't know what the fuck he's doing as a coach.

Given SVG's history, what would he do with this team? The "Sarge" approach clearly doesn't work in the NBA, even with players at an MVP level.

It works when you're a proven winner. Pop is one of the biggest hard-asses in the league.

Ultimately we agree this is a players league, not a coaches league.

 

[jlprk]

He has bumped heads with players at every stop....... at some point you have to adjust your style. Unless you are Pat Riley or Phil

Or George Karl, the biggest head-bumper. He almost makes it a point to not get along with his stars, and for him, it works.

 

[MickZagger]

He has bumped heads with players at every stop....... at some point you have to adjust your style. Unless you are Pat Riley or Phil

So has Jerry Sloan and Larry Brown. Many consider them great coaches.

 

[MickZagger]

Blaming SVG for his team shooting a ton of 3's is silly. Its Howard and a bunch of one dimensional jump shooters. What do you expect? When he had Wade and Shaq he didn't have his guys hoisting a bunch of treys.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Blaming SVG for his team shooting a ton of 3's is silly. Its Howard and a bunch of one dimensional jump shooters. What do you expect? When he had Wade and Shaq he didn't have his guys hoisting a bunch of treys.

Given PapaG's man love for Nate McMillan and hatred of Stan Van Gundy, I find it appropriately ironic that in 2003-04, the Nate coached Supersonics led the league in 3-point attempts with nearly 600 more 3FGA than the Van Gundy coached Heat. Does that make Nate a worthless shitbag and Van Gundy a great coach?

Van Gundy moves to Orlando and Nate leaves Seattle and instantly Orlando jumps to second in the league in 3FGA and Seattle drops to dead last. Why? Orlando signed former Supersonic Rashard Lewis to a max. contract to be their "stretch 4" to open up the court for Dwight Howard. Sounds to me like Van Gundy was just trying to maximize the talent he was given. This season, his power forward is Ryan Anderson, who is another "stretch 4" who shoots .413 3FG%. When management gives Van Gundy players like Anderson, Hedo, JJ Reddick and Jason Richardson, what's he supposed to do, tell them to abandon the 3 and get their asses down in the low post where they will get in Dwight's way?

BNM

 

[3RA1N1AC]

whoa, easy on the logic guys, stan van blunder is a bugger faced poo poo head

 

[crandc]

I must say, it's nice to see someone other than the Blazers labeled "Team Dysfunction"!

 

[alex42083]

Sounds like Dwight opted into the one year so he wouldn't have to go to LA. He didn't want to play for the Lakers as they were going to trade Bynum, Ebanks and Blake. Crazy.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/220318/Magic_Threatened_To_Trade_Howard_To_Lakers

 

[Boob-No-More]

And evidently, Dwight Howard also got Brian Hill fired in Orlando. He's ran his last two coaches out of town and created all kinds of distractions with his trade demands. So, who is the real problem here? Is it Stan Van Gundy or Dwight Howard?

BNM

 

[tlongII]

SVG would be a horrible choice for coach here. What kind of idiot goes public and states his team's best player wants him fired? That is the epitome of stupidity in my opinion.

 

[PapaG]

Given PapaG's man love for Nate McMillan and hatred of Stan Van Gundy, I find it appropriately ironic that in 2003-04, the Nate coached Supersonics led the league in 3-point attempts with nearly 600 more 3FGA than the Van Gundy coached Heat. Does that make Nate a worthless shitbag and Van Gundy a great coach?

Van Gundy moves to Orlando and Nate leaves Seattle and instantly Orlando jumps to second in the league in 3FGA and Seattle drops to dead last. Why? Orlando signed former Supersonic Rashard Lewis to a max. contract to be their "stretch 4" to open up the court for Dwight Howard. Sounds to me like Van Gundy was just trying to maximize the talent he was given. This season, his power forward is Ryan Anderson, who is another "stretch 4" who shoots .413 3FG%. When management gives Van Gundy players like Anderson, Hedo, JJ Reddick and Jason Richardson, what's he supposed to do, tell them to abandon the 3 and get their asses down in the low post where they will get in Dwight's way?

BNM

2003-04 has literally nothing to do with Van Gundy's teams consistently leading the league in 3pt attempts/game during his Orlando stint.

Just very odd. It's like you see a post by me, and your brain automatically makes you start posting about Nate. I'll remind you again that I posted after Nate's firing that it was time for him to go, but I don't think it will matter.

 

[jlprk]

Maybe it's because you often redirect threads by out of the blue, bitterly bringing up a McMillan comparison to the non-McMillan subject of discussion.

 

[Boob-No-More]

2003-04 has literally nothing to do with Van Gundy's teams consistently leading the league in 3pt attempts/game during his Orlando stint.

Maybe, maybe not. But it does prove that Van Gundy matches his system to his personnel and doesn't try to force the players into an ill-fitting system. Given a roster full of guys like Rashard Lewis/Ryan Anderson, Hedo Turkoglu, JJ Reddick, Jameer Nelson, etc., what's he supposed to do? He lead his team to the NBA finlas with Dwight Howard and a bunch of role players - mostly soft 3-point shooters. He made the most of what he was given, and that's all you can expect from any coach.

Just very odd. It's like you see a post by me, and your brain automatically makes you start posting about Nate. I'll remind you again that I posted after Nate's firing that it was time for him to go, but I don't think it will matter.

It's nothing personal. I'm just comparing and contrasting two coaches, one you like and one you don't, and trying to understand the differences. Coach A's teams used to lead the league in 3FGA and he only made it out of the first round once in 11 years, has a regular season winning percentage barely above .500 (below .500 in his most recent job) and a losing record in the post season. Coach B's teams have made it past the first round in 5 of his 6 years as a head coach, has a .644 regular season wining percentage and a .573 winning percentage in the playoffs. Yet, coach A is considered, by you, a great coach and coah B is a "flaming shitbag".

Just trying to understand the "logic" and "reasoning" that would lead to such an unobvious conclusion.

BNM

 

[Boob-No-More]

SVG would be a horrible choice for coach here. What kind of idiot goes public and states his team's best player wants him fired? That is the epitome of stupidity in my opinion.

Interesting discussion by guys who cover the NBA for a living.

It's interesting that the comments on Van Gundy's behavior range from neutral to positive, but the opinions on Dwight Howard's behavior are universally negative.

A few select comments:

Steve Aschburner: "Howard, on the other hand, has been wrong, big, throughout his mess. He doesn’t seem to know what he wants and is coming across as a complete phony."

Fran Blinebury: "Nothing about Dwight Howard has changed since the trade deadline fiasco. He is 26 years old going on 16"

John Schuhmann: "Dwight Howard is clearly in the wrong. Beyond his obvious immaturity is the fact he doesn’t realize that Van Gundy is one of the best coaches in the league and a huge part of the Magic’s success over the last few years. They’re the only team that’s been in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency each of the last four seasons, and you don’t do that without a great coach. And I’m fine with what Van Gundy did Thursday morning. When he’s asked a question regarding him and Dwight, he shouldn’t have to pretend that everything’s peachy."

Scott Howard-Cooper: "Good luck finding anybody who thinks Stan Van Gundy was wrong. More likely, he is being celebrated, especially by peers who have always wanted to do the same thing: Not cover for a star player. The unusual amount of straight talk even by SVG standards probably made him a hero. (And it won’t get him fired, either. That would have happened anyway.)"

BNM