No wonder why Stan Van Gundy hasn't won an NBA playoff game in 11 years. The slovenly former head coach kept ripping the Celtics for running out the clock at the end of their series-ending win over the Nets Monday, even though seemingly every other team would do the same thing. That's standard operating procedure, especially since the Celtics were without Jayson Tatum, who fouled out after being whistled for an invisible offensive foul.
Van Gundy criticized the Celtics more for playing smart than Scott Foster for trying to sway the outcome. How ridiculous.
When Kevin Durant nailed a floating jumper to make it 109-108 with 1:28 left in the fourth, Marcus Smart methodically took the ball downcourt to set up the Celtics' half-court offense. It was the wise move: the Celtics were nursing a one-point lead and couldn't afford to turn the ball over.
Yet, Van Gundy inexplicably wanted them to speed up.
"Boston is playing really slow right now," he said. "It's like they think the clock is gonna run out. They're walking up into their sets, they're running the shot clock down. They haven't even started their offensive possession yet, and we're at '12.'"
Smart was fouled shortly thereafter, and Jaylen Brown drove to the hoop for an easy basket on Boston's next possession. That put the Celtics up 111-108 with less than one minute left. Then Smart pulled down a defensive rebound, and once again, slowly took the ball past half court. The simple basketball strategy made Van Gundy incredulous.
"You don't need to run the clock down here," he said. "How you're gonna win this game is if you get buckets. You're making it easier on Brooklyn by starting your offense at '7.'"
The Celtics, of course, scored plenty of baskets on the way to their 116-112 win and series sweep. It's amazing that Van Gundy, who's coached in the NBA for more than 25 years, failed to recognize simple basketball strategy.
Instead of analyzing the game, he seemed to be trying to will the Nets to victory. How else could you explain his bizarre hero worship of Blake Griffin, who didn't score a single basket in his 18 minutes of play.
"You have a very tired Blake Griffin on the floor," Van Gundy said late in the fourth. "You've gotta remember: this is a guy who didn't play much in the second half of the year, and they're asking big minutes out of him. This is a lot to ask right here. He is really winded out there right now. But he'll continue to compete. That we know."
Griffin may have competed, but didn't make a tangible impact. Still, Van Gundy was full of praise for the lumbering forward, right down to the end.
"Blake Griffin inspired his teammates with the effort in taking charges, his communication defensively," Van Gundy said. "That's what a leader does."
Yeah, and an NBA analyst is supposed to understand how the game works. Van Gundy's performance behind the mic was certainly not inspiring.
