Timberwolf
12-13-2005, 11:35 PM
This stinks. I like Stan Van Gundy as a coach and as a person. I wanted to see him win a championship last year. I think he is pretty darn good. It's too bad it happened to him. It's nothing new though. All coaches go through it. Players get fed up with coaches for a certain amount of time and then they stopped listening. That's what happened here with Van Gundy. Players got tired of his persona and his negative attitude. It seemed most of the Heat players and that included Shaq were tired of Stan being so uptight after every game. That's the thing I love about Timberwolves head coach Dwane Casey. He knows when to push buttons or not. It seemed Stan always got on players and they got tired of it. Stan realized that so he knew that he had to leave. I don't think he was forced out or anything. I think he resigned with the fact that he lost his players and that if things were not going to get better, he would be fired. It didn't help that Riley was clearly having the itch to coach with the idea that this might be his best and final opportunity to win a championship. It was a matter of time.
Will Riley win a championship or take his team to the Finals? I don't think so. Sure they may get to the Eastern Conference Finals, but I just don't like this roster and the way it's assembled. Just because Riley is there does not mean that Jason Williams and Antonie Walker will start playing defense or stop being out-of-control ballhogs. This team does not have that chemistry. It was very stupid to dismantle the team from last season and acquire big-name players. This roster was fine as it is. I think they would have beaten the Pistons with that same roster this season. Had Dwayne Wade been healthy for Game 7, this team goes to the Finals last season. I just don't know if the roster is that good enough and I don't know if Shaq will be healthy or be dominate enough for the Heat to win it all or get past the Pistons. Riley got his hands full. I don't think it's going to work out.
Did Shaq force Stan out? I don't think so. So there were times that he was frustrated with Stan, but which star players are not frustrated with their coaches. Heck there were days when KG was frustrated with Flip, but they respect each other. It came down to this. Riley wanted to coach this team.
I hope Riley is happy and I sure hope he is successful because it's not like he was doing that great of a job in his final years as the Heat coach in his first stint. His teams choked against an inferior Knicks team in recent years and his team got swept by the Charlotte Hornets then. Van Gundy has done more in the postseason than Riley has with the Heat. It would be funny if Riley falls short again, but I hope it's not the case since I want to see Wade and Shaq get a championship together.
Stan will definitely land on his feet and maybe that it's best for him that he moved on. He was better off going elsewhere where a GM don't have to undermine him. I would love to see him coach the Nets. I think he would be a better fit than Lawrence Frank, who is starting to establish himself as a very overrated head coach.
It's too bad that it happened, but that's sports for you. Coaches are hired to be fired and players and the GM find a way to undermine the head coach. That's what happened to Stan, but he will land on his feet and I wish him well when he gets a NBA head coaching job.
Will Riley win a championship or take his team to the Finals? I don't think so. Sure they may get to the Eastern Conference Finals, but I just don't like this roster and the way it's assembled. Just because Riley is there does not mean that Jason Williams and Antonie Walker will start playing defense or stop being out-of-control ballhogs. This team does not have that chemistry. It was very stupid to dismantle the team from last season and acquire big-name players. This roster was fine as it is. I think they would have beaten the Pistons with that same roster this season. Had Dwayne Wade been healthy for Game 7, this team goes to the Finals last season. I just don't know if the roster is that good enough and I don't know if Shaq will be healthy or be dominate enough for the Heat to win it all or get past the Pistons. Riley got his hands full. I don't think it's going to work out.
Did Shaq force Stan out? I don't think so. So there were times that he was frustrated with Stan, but which star players are not frustrated with their coaches. Heck there were days when KG was frustrated with Flip, but they respect each other. It came down to this. Riley wanted to coach this team.
I hope Riley is happy and I sure hope he is successful because it's not like he was doing that great of a job in his final years as the Heat coach in his first stint. His teams choked against an inferior Knicks team in recent years and his team got swept by the Charlotte Hornets then. Van Gundy has done more in the postseason than Riley has with the Heat. It would be funny if Riley falls short again, but I hope it's not the case since I want to see Wade and Shaq get a championship together.
Stan will definitely land on his feet and maybe that it's best for him that he moved on. He was better off going elsewhere where a GM don't have to undermine him. I would love to see him coach the Nets. I think he would be a better fit than Lawrence Frank, who is starting to establish himself as a very overrated head coach.
It's too bad that it happened, but that's sports for you. Coaches are hired to be fired and players and the GM find a way to undermine the head coach. That's what happened to Stan, but he will land on his feet and I wish him well when he gets a NBA head coaching job.