I can't wait to hear Van Gundy in the news conference.

[Bluehorseshoe]

Either he didn't tell his team to foul during the time out so the Lakers could get off a three or he has to cover for Nelson screwing up. It should be awkward.


Did his brother even say anything about them not fouling??

[Bluehorseshoe]

Is anyone watching this idiot??? He just told the press "You make too much of experience in this game. It's just basketball. "

[SBR Lou]

ESPN News is an awesome channel man, I like how they show every player and coach until they're done..

[Bluehorseshoe]

ESPN News is an awesome channel man, I like how they show every player and coach until they're done..

It is great. I love how they don't edit anything or you'd miss some interesting stuff.

[mathdotcom]

i would have roasted my player and would bench him for the next decade

[Bluehorseshoe]

Turk just said "We lost because of our stupidness."

[SBR Lou]

LOL @ Hedo's honesty, "we lost because of our stupidness", "i'll try to play more smart sunday.."

[Bluehorseshoe]

LOL @ Hedo's honesty, "we lost because of our stupidness", "i'll try to play more smart sunday.."

You see how he wouldn't answer the question about fouling??

[NBA Hero]

i respect a lot of players.

but i hope, players and coaches will not say " its just basketball", what a stupid remark. its their livelihood, where they get their salary and everything. how can they say that. no appreciation and gratitude.

thats their bread and butter

[BobHarvey]

Hero,

Agreed. Van Gundy's remark was stupid. He was just trying to deflect some heat that was rightfully directed at him. Granted he couldn't shoot free throws for Howard with :11 seconds left but to not use a foul before Fisher's three-pointer is inexcusable. Van Gundy blaming the media for "making too much about experience" is about as dumb a remark as I can remember hearing. Fisher obviously HAS the experience.

[hoop guru]

This just stinks. All I want to see was a competitive series that was going to last 7 games. This may still go 7 games if David Stern and his hoodlum refs cheat the games like they always do. Maybe, the coach and the players were fixing the game for the lakers to win. Perhaps this was part of the script of this series. We will never know the truth.

[Chi_archie]

I've been trying to tell LOU that coaching has a BIT of impact in the games........


unreal

[BobHarvey]

Phil Jackson vs. Stan Van Gundy? Hmmmmmm.....

[Chi_archie]

double hmmmmmm


my jr high coach vs Stan Van Gundy............hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm


well at least Stan has solid facial hair

[Bluehorseshoe]

You can't blame Nelson....it was all Van Gundy.

Van Gundy: ‘That one will haunt me forever’

By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports 7 hours, 0 minutes ago


ORLANDO, Fla. – They had survived bricked free throws, botched layups and error after error in blowing Game 4 of the NBA Finals.

Somehow, someway the Orlando Magic still led though, up 87-84 on the Los Angeles Lakers with 10.8 seconds remaining. The series hung in the balance and one of the great philosophical coaching debates raged for Stan Van Gundy on Thursday night.

Do you foul the Lakers before they attempt a game-tying 3-pointer, sending a player to the line for what most often are two harmless shots? Or do you let it ride on your defense, roll the dice that a great player won’t make a great shot?

Van Gundy told his team not to foul.

“That one will haunt me forever,” the coach said afterward, shaking his head.

Left unimpeded, Lakers guard Derek Fisher(notes) caught a pass in the back court, dribbled up the right side and hit a shot he never should’ve been allowed to take. His 3 with 4.6 seconds remaining sent the game to overtime. L.A. pulled away in the extra session, winning 99-91 to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. The Lakers can wrap up the championship here Sunday night.

Van Gundy had his reasons for not fouling. He felt a foul too early would turn the game into a free-throw shooting contest and his team was hitting just 59 percent (22-for-37) of theirs. He philosophically doesn’t believe in doing it until “six or seven” seconds remain in the game.

Afterward though he was dealing with waves of second-guesses and coaching guilt.

“It was my decision with 11 seconds not to foul,” he said. “Yes I regret it now, but only in retrospect. I mean, normally to me 11 is too early. You foul, they make two free throws, [they] cut it to one [and] you’re still at six or seven seconds.”

However, the dynamics of the play changed when Lakers coach Phil Jackson mistakenly thought Orlando had a foul to give. If that was the case, then the Magic could’ve fouled without sending a Laker to the free-throw line. L.A. would get the ball out of bounds again, but with the flow of the play disturbed.

However, while the Magic had committed just one team foul in the fourth quarter it came in the final two minutes. That meant its next foul was a shooting foul.

Jackson had it wrong though and as a result said he had the Lakers take the ball out in their backcourt because he wanted to create space to avoid the hack that it turned out was never coming.

By going full court though, it took time for Fisher to bring the ball up. The clock wound down under Van Gundy’s seven-second standard, but defender Jameer Nelson(notes) did what his coach had told him.

“We weren’t supposed to foul,” Nelson said. “I should have pushed up on him a little more.”

Van Gundy was questioning everything afterward, even acknowledging that the full-court scenario could’ve changed his decision.

“When they took it full court,” he said, “I’ll have to go back and look at that.”

On the television broadcast, analyst Jeff Van Gundy, Stan’s own brother, repeatedly criticized the decision by the players to let Fisher shoot.

Statistically, NBA and college teams say the odds favor fouling before a 3-pointer can be attempted.

In the Magic locker room the players weren’t going to criticize their coach, but at least some of them weren’t going out of their way to agree with the decision either.

“I’m not the coach,” Rashard Lewis(notes) said. “I was out there trying to win the ballgame.”

“You’ll have to ask coach about this,” said Marcin Gortat(notes), who noted that in European ball they usually foul.

For Van Gundy the decision, no matter how sound his philosophy may be, will stick with him for a long time.

More.... http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slu...yhoo&type=lgns

[SBR Lou]

Somebody get the youtube of Hedo talking about the stupidness.

[Bluehorseshoe]

Somebody get the youtube of Hedo talking about the stupidness.

And you know who he's directing it to.

At the end of the article the other European player said...

“You’ll have to ask coach about this,” said Marcin Gortat(notes), who noted that in European ball they usually foul.

The dumbest part of what Van Gundy said was..."Fouling with 11 second is too early." Who says they're shooting the ball with 11 seconds??? The have to bring the ball up full court and find a shot. It's like someone who's never seen a game before.

[pavyracer]

Not to take the blame off Ron Jeremy but if you are professional player and someone is open at half court you foul him with only 6 seconds left. It doesn't matter what the coach said in time out. What is he going to do if you foul him? Suspend you? It's 75% Ron Jeremy's fault and 25% Nelson's fault for not taking control of the situation.

[Ralphie1412]

Not only did they not foul........TWO times in a row they had ZERO inbound play. Hedo took TWO off balance 3 pointers for there final 2 possesions. UNREAL

[SBR Lou]

I found it

[Bluehorseshoe]

"Our stupidness."


Did you happen to see when Howard was asked a question by a reporter from China and Howard couldn't figure out what he was saying?

"Phil Jackson said Kobe's rebound was the turning point in the game?? I'm pretty sure Fisher's three was the turning point in the game."

[RICHIE801]

Well when LA wins, Kobe DOES NOT DESERVE THE MVP give it to Gausol.