Jeff Van Gundy
Younger Van Gundy’s slow, defensive-minded, skilled-seven-footer-centric style seems to fit the Nets current personnel. It’s the style that the Nets were starting to approach during their 11-4 start. (Although, it’s also the type of imprint Avery was shooting for, so maybe that’s not a good thing.) His track record with a talented big man (Ewing and Yao) should be enticing for Brook Lopez, and there’s a Reggie Evans-Charles Oakley comparison in here somewhere. He only missed the playoffs twice in his 11-year coaching career (one of those times coming after resigning 19 games into the season). Also, his guest spots at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference prove that armed with current-day advance stats, JVG2012 could be dangerous and forward thinking.
And guys: Marcus Camby is on the Knicks, so him punching Jeff again would be in play.
-Andrew Gnerre
Like Fratello, the smaller Van Gundy left the coaching gig in 2007 after a 52-30 season with the Houston Rockets. When a head coach in New York and Houston, Van Gundy only missed the playoffs once in 10 seasons (not including a 19-game stint with the Knicks that ended in his firing), and left coaching with a .575 regular season record and an even .500 in the playoffs.
Van Gundy isn’t a sexy choice (unless you ask drunk fans on NBA Draft night), and he seems to love his cushy gig as an ESPN analyst these days. But if he’s got a coaching itch, it may be worth it to Prokhorov to see if he can scratch it.
-Devin Kharpertian
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