Larry Brown Sports

Jeff Van Gundy says he doesn’t talk to Stan Van Gundy about the Magic, but he sure stuck up for his brother during Wednesday night’s telecast.

The Magic got embarrassed by the Knicks 108-86 and were blown out so badly at Madison Square Garden all the team’s starters got pulled early. At one point late in the game, the team gathered during a timeout but Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson were off to the side doing their thing and even laughing. That really bothered Jeff Van Gundy, who was calling the game for ESPN.

“I was watching the Magic at that time out where Dwight Howard and [Jameer] Nelson didn’t join the huddle. Last night [Andrew] Bynum doesn’t join the huddle. When did this become acceptable that you just aren’t a part of it when it’s not going well and you separate yourself like ‘this is not my problem’ or like you don’t support your teammates?” Van Gundy asked on-air.

“The least you can do is just get up,” he continued. “I don’t understand. I read that (Lakers coach) Mike Brown said he didn’t have a rule that Bynum has to get up. Should you need a rule?”

Van Gundy makes a great point. Why has it become acceptable for players not to participate in team huddles? It happens way too frequently and that’s not the way things should be. Like we said after Derek Anderson’s infamous Monday Night Football meltdown, players need to watch their body language during blowout losses. Dwight Howard is known for being a joker, but when your team is losing by 20-plus points, it’s no laughing matter.

The events that have taken place with Dwight Howard this season have been some of the most bizarre in recent NBA history. One minute, Howard was as good as gone. Whether it was via a trade or leaving in free agency, Magic fans knew they were enjoying their last days with Superman. Then in a moment’s notice, Howard was signing an agreement that stated he would not opt out of his contract with Orlando after this season. Not only is he sticking around for this season and possibly beyond, but he may actually re-sign with the Magic.

There has to be more than what meets the eye. One person who believes that is the case is Jeff Van Gundy, who said you’d be naive to think the Magic front office and Howard didn’t come to some sort of agreement.

“To me, only the most gullible fans would believe that this was about loyalty,” Van Gundy said according to the Orlando Sentinel. “I think it was about power and control. … I don’t know what they agreed to, but anybody who doesn’t think senior management and Howard have come to an agreement on either trading players to get people he (Dwight) likes or changing the coach or changing the general manager or changing the marketing of him. … Whatever they agreed to, there’s been an agreement made.

“What the Magic senior executives are doing right now is unbecoming. The groveling and begging is hard to read and watch. His (Dwight’s) opinion should matter, but the strong organizations stand for something rather than fall for anything.”

Dwyane Wade certainly agrees with Van Gundy, and I do too. You don’t just wake up one morning and decided loyalty is important to you. Dwight had plenty of time to think about loyalty, and it was clear throughout the entire ordeal that he wanted to leave for greener pastures. Obviously Orlando’s ownership did something to convince Howard they are going to fertilize their own grass over the offseason.

Photo Credit: Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Whether you are a Jeff Van Gundy fan or not, you have to admire him for not being afraid to tell it like it is.  Van Gundy is one of the most opinionated figures in basketball and has never been afraid to trash the league that has allowed him to make a living.  Jeff has even been willing to take shots at his brother, Stan, when he feels he deserves it.  At times he can get creepily carried away, but people usually listen when Van Gundy sounds off.

During an appearance on KILT in Houston Thursday morning, Van Gundy laid out a few hard truths about the current labor situation in the NBA.  Here’s what Jeff said about the NBA lockout, as passed along by Sports Radio Interviews via Deadspin.

“You know what I was thinking about today, and even yesterday, is how very few people care about the NBA lockout,” Van Gundy said. “You just don’t hear people talk. If it wasn’t on sports talk or ESPN… would anybody even know? You have to be careful if you’re both ownership and players—that you realize with the economy and so many other options with your disposable income—don’t think it will always stay like it has. It can go the other way.

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Whenever former coach and current analyst Jeff Van Gundy talks about the Orlando Magic, we pay extra close attention. Van Gundy’s brother is Stan Van Gundy who is the head coach at Orlando. Not only does Jeff speak honestly when providing analysis, but we figure his words reflect the thoughts of his brother when he talks about the Magic. As Orlando was getting ready to make its second round pick Thursday night at the draft, Jeff Van Gundy provided the following analysis of the team:

“They’ve gotten older, Rashard Lewis got older,” Van Gundy said. “Turkoglu in his second turn back did not play real well. They’ve had some injuries and some turnover. They’ve just have a lot of age creep in. I just think they have to get their chemistry right again. Clowns kill chemistry and they’ve got to get serious minded professionals who come ready to play every single night.”

It was the last part of his remarks that caught my attention. He’s saying that chemistry is a problem with the Magic that needs to be fixed. When he talks about clowns on the team, there’s only one person that comes to mind: Gilbert Arenas. Arenas is the same guy who talked about faking an injury to avoid being booed, and who recently live-tweeted a blind date gone wrong. Gilbert tried to change his persona and become all business last year but now he’s back to being a joker.

Now Van Gundy could be talking about newcomers like Jason or Quentin Richardson with his remark, but I’m pretty sure Arenas is in the group too. He got traded to Orlando mid-season and has a reputation as a clown. I’m guessing that Dwight Howard’s plea to have Gilbert play more won’t come to fruition after hearing this.

Ever since getting LeBron, Wade, and Bosh to join forces, the Heat put themselves in position to be as hated as the Yankees. Because of all the hate, many people have refused to give Miami the credit it deserves when it comes to the type of talent they have on their team. Jeff Van Gundy is not one of those people. The former Knicks and Rockets coach and current ABC analyst and Jennifer Garner’s daughter lover told The Miami Herald that he expects the Heat not to have just a good season, but a historically good season:

They will break the single-season win record [of 72],” Jeff Van Gundy said. “And I think they have a legit shot at the Lakers’ 33-game [winning] streak [in 1971-72], as well. And only the Lakers have even a remote shot at beating them in a playoff series. They will never lose two games in a row this year.

“They have put together a much better roster than anybody could ever have expected,” Van Gundy added. “There is now no good way to defend them. They are unguardable. They are indefensible. They are just too good and have added so much shooting and are so versatile that they will score at will.

Van Gundy also praised Erik Spoelstra, saying that the coach will have them focusing defensively as well. Look, I’ve been about as big of a Miami supporter as there is, but I think Van Gundy is getting carried away there. Is Miami incredibly talented? Yes. Have they stocked their roster beyond just the Bermuda Triangle? Definitely. But to say they won’t win back-to-back games or that they’ll win more than 72 games is just setting the bar entirely too high. With injuries alone they might not reach that mark. I do think the Heat can win a title in their first year, but it’s not a lock. Maybe Jeff is trying to psyche Miami out to give his brother’s team a better chance in the East.

Sources:
ABC’s Jeff Van Gundy: Miami Heat will break Chicago Bulls’ win record [Miami Herald]

Former head coach Jeff Van Gundy typically does an excellent job analyzing NBA games on ABC. He’s funny, he’s honest, he’s entertaining, and he breaks things down well. But there was one point during Game 7 of the NBA Finals that had me weirded out. As the ABC cameras returned from commercial showing shots of all the celebrities at the game in Los Angeles, Van Gundy went off on a tangent about Jennifer Garner’s daughter, talking excessively about how cute the daughter is and how he would offer to babysit her that night. Marc Jackson was alarmed and wanted to get his fellow commentator back on track, and Mike Breen noted that Van Gundy’s trend of that was “disconcerting.” It certainly was. It also set off this chain of amusing reaction on twitter. Check out this compilation response to Jeff Van Gundy’s comments about Jennifer Garner’s daughter:

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While ABC/ESPN doesn’t seem to think it’s an issue, Jeff Van Gundy wasted no time admitting his bias when it comes to the Magic/Lakers NBA Finals. With his brother Stan Van Gundy coaching Orlando, Jeff admitted he’ll be rooting for the Magic:

“I’m going to try to be as objective as possible, but I want my brother’s team to win; there’s no question about that.”

When Stan Van Gundy’s Magic took a 2-1 series lead over the Cavaliers, his younger brother discussed the looming potential conflict with his coordinating producer, Tim Corrigan.

“I said, ‘Hey, listen, if you guys don’t think it’s best for me to call the Finals, I’m fine with that, and I understand,’’’ he said. “I don’t want to compromise anything. They said they wanted me to do it.’’

Hmm, why is it not a surprise that ABC and ESPN, the guys who never see a foul that isn’t a “good no-call,” unafraid to put together a partisan product? I understand they deem Jeff to be part of their “top team” and that it’s difficult to just stick new partners together, but you have to make a change when this sort of thing arises. Not to say that Jeff will be openly cheerleading on-air, but when it comes to a national telecast that’s supposed to be called evenly, there’s no room for bias. Laker fans can listen to Mychal Thompson if they want homerism, Magic fans can do the same with Dennis Neumann. When it comes to a national telecast, things should be objective and unbiased. That’s pretty hard to accomplish when one announcer has already let it be known that he favors one team over another.

(via Awful Announcing)