Jeff Van Gundy sat in a purple chair in the bowels of the Garden last night and dissected what it would mean to make the playoffs with a win over the Celtics last night at the Garden.
“I’ll be happy that we clinched,” Van Gundy said, “but I haven’t always been proud of the way we played this year.”
And so it goes. When a coach isn’t proud of his team, there is something wrong. That’s how it’s been with the Knicks this season. That’s how it’s been in the East. The other day Pat Riley proclaimed that he was thoroughly disgusted by the play of his Heat. Larry Bird is upset because his Pacers have not played well recently, despite their drubbing of the Knicks Sunday.
Those coaches are upset and they have first-place teams in the watered-down East. The Knicks, on the other hand, were fighting to make the playoffs with two games left. They went into last night’s game with a 25-23 mark, a game ahead of 24-24 Charlotte for the final spot in the playoffs.
“If we play a very good game and we win, I’ll be happy we’re in the playoffs and we’re going to go from there,” Van Gundy added. “But this year, more than last year … last year for the most part I thought we played well.”
He didn’t finish his thought, as is his custom. Often Van Gundy starts to say something, is honest to the core, and then stops himself short, perhaps thinking of the ramifications of his statements.
If the Knicks finish in a three-way tie with Philadelphia and Milwaukee they would finish sixth because of the tiebreakers.
For the most part, the schedule had been kind to the Knicks, yet the Knicks still had not been able to take advantage of the situation.
Here is a most telling statistic on these 1999 Lockout Knicks: They finished the year with an 8-17 (.320) road record, their worst road percentage since they were 9-32 (.219) on the road in 1987-88.
You have to win on the road in the playoffs.
“We’re an older team, but we’re not that experienced as a playoff team,” Van Gundy said. “So I don’t really know how we’ll [respond]. Last year we played against a much worse team in Toronto [with] two games left to make the playoffs and we came out and played a great game, but you know, [that was a] different season.
“The effort hasn’t been a problem this year; other teams have improved. I think that our inability offensively [has hurt],” Van Gundy went on. “Offensively, we’re not very efficient. Everybody says defense wins; I don’t really buy that. Defense and rebounding will keep you in games, but offensive skill is what gets you over the top. That’s why championship teams are usually the best offensive teams.”
It sounded almost as if Van Gundy were placing a classified ad for a point guard or some other offensively-skilled player.
As for the Celtics, Van Gundy said, “I think they’re trying to set a tone for next year. I heard Rick [Pitino] say it and I believe it: They’re going to be another team that makes another major leap next year. The trade for [Vitaly] Potapenko, the drafting of [Paul] Pierce, [Ron] Mercer. I think they have great, great talent.”
And the Celtics have another top draft pick this year.
“If they hit it like they did with Pierce last year, they are going to be in great shape,” Van Gundy praised.
The films of the 23-point Indiana loss Sunday also reaffirmed some things with Van Gundy,
“They’re really good,” he said of the Pacers. “We defended poorly and we thought shot before pass. To win, we have to be a maniacal defensive team and a high-assist team.”
They know that; why don’t they do it?
“For the most part they’ve done the defensive part this year,” Van Gundy said. “Offensively, again, that’s the ability to enjoy consistently passing the ball. That’s the challenge.”
The playoffs, the players insist, will bring out the best in the Knicks, but Van Gundy admitted, “I think you develop a pattern as a team. I don’t think you develop a new identity for the playoffs. I think it’s just a carryover of what you are.
“That doesn’t mean you can’t play better. It certainly doesn’t mean you can’t win. Because other teams you play have their own problems; they don’t play well.”