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New Orleans Pelicans: Jeff Van Gundy Wants To Coach The Brow?

By Owen Sanborn

Jan 23, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; ESPN broadcaster Jeff Van Gundy before the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Chicago Bulls at the American Airlines Center. The Bulls defeated the Mavericks 102-98. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 23, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; ESPN broadcaster Jeff Van Gundy before the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Chicago Bulls at the American Airlines Center. The Bulls defeated the Mavericks 102-98. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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Hell, don’t we all at this point?

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ESPN’s Marc Stein dropped a random late-night Twitter bomb last night when he tweeted and later wrote that Jeff Van Gundy is interested in the New Orleans Pelicans’ head coaching vacancy.

Now, this came as a surprise to me because as of a week ago, Van Gundy disregarded the idea of taking over for his former player, Monty Williams, as head coach on the Lowe Post podcast with Zach Lowe.

However, it has obviously been on Van Gundy’s mind and utilizing the podcast forum to make a proclamation of interest a day after his friend’s dismissal was not the correct time or place.

Apparently, a shrewdly planted news leak by an ESPN colleague on a Friday was more fitting.

During his esteemed coaching career, Van Gundy has taken his team to the playoffs in nine out of 10 seasons (I did not count the 2001-02 season in which he resigned). And six of those playoff appearances came while at the helm of the New York Knicks, so it can be easily concluded that he must be a hell of a coach.

Although those late ’90s Knicks teams played a hellaciously brash brand of basketball, Van Gundy is known to be an astute practitioner of the game and would be able to adjust to a Pelicans roster that is more fluid than plump.

His New York upbringing and family ties in coaching seep out in his words and he would bring a different level of edge and toughness that his predecessor did not bestow upon the Pellies. (That is not a knock on Williams. They just have different styles of coaching.)

Maybe he can even call up his brother to help form a wall during special late-game scenarios.

Oh come on, you really thought I was going to get through a whole post on a Van Gundy brother and not sneak a good ol’ Stan Van wall cameo in there? You are crazy. That moment was and is still magical.

The deep allure of this job for Van Gundy (and every other potential candidate) begins and ends with the opportunity to coach Anthony Davis. If you listen closely, you can still hear Van Gundy gushing over The Brow while he got to call the Pelicans and Warriors playoff series earlier this month.

As sad as it is, you need at least two top-10 players or one top-five player to be a real factor in the NBA. Teams such as the Seven Seconds or Less Phoenix Suns which were piloted by Steve Nash and today’s Atlanta Hawks are nice stories with solid regular season track records (60 wins is no small feat), but once the postseason comes around, these teams tend to falter rather easily.

The last team to win a title with that kind of roster construction was the 2004-05 Detroit Pistons and it may be a long time before we ever see something like them again.

By having a player of Davis’ caliber already in place, the Pelicans have a tremendous leg up on the road to contention. The next move is to select the correct coach while filling out the roster to complement their once in a generation talent. That is what makes this hire such a HUGE fork in the road for the franchise.

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    • Just look at the Warriors with Steve Kerr for example — boy, I’m sure you guys haven’t heard that situation used an example 1,000 times — having the right coach to ooze out every fiber of talent on a roster (having a stacked roster also helps) can transform fringe contenders into powerhouses.

    Can Van Gundy potentially be that guy for the Pelicans? If I had to make a guess now, I would have to give you a big fat maybe as my answer. Don’t be too impressed by my clairvoyance.

    Alvin Gentry is another worthy candidate who had success with an over-the-hill Suns team and is now wreaking havoc on the rest of the association as a member of Kerr’s staff in Golden State. Who the hell knows what is going on with Tom Thibodeau and the Chicago Bulls front office.

    Mike D’Antoni is lying in the weeds waiting to unleash holy hell with Davis and a cast of athletic guards. There are plenty of different directions the front office can turn.

    Losing Van Gundy from the broadcast booth would be a tough loss for my viewing experience, but I have a feeling I am going to have to deal with that reality in the very near future.

    Next: LaMarcus Aldridge: Top 5 Free Agency Destinations

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