As the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals continue, one of the more interesting storylines comes off the court with analyst and former coach Jeff Van Gundy working for ABC/ESPN while brother Stan Van Gundy coaches the Orlando Magic against the Boston Celtics.
Boston dominated the first game, although a late Orlando run made the game seem close at the end.
According to Jeff, that meaningless rally might make things even more difficult for the Magic, because it provides a sense of hope that really should not exist.
"It's going to be tougher for Orlando to make its point (about necessary adjustments) after what happened," Jeff said on ESPN Radio earlier this week. And he said the same thing during the waning moments of the Game 1 broadcast on TV.
He just sees several challenges for his brother's team. They include poor transition defense and what he considers are some obvious holes in the game of Orlando's star, Dwight Howard.
"(He) has never scored effectively in the low post against Boston, for whatever reason," Jeff said. "He's not a great, bring-the-ball-to-me-and-I'll-score type of player. That's just not what he's a star at. He's a star player, but he has to dominate in the areas that he can."
What makes the Van Gundys text (it's clearly not a subtext in this situation) enjoyable is that Jeff seems comfortable making cogent and necessary points, no matter that it's his brother working the bench for what could be a team that struggles during the series. Nobody should expect piling on or unnecessary criticism, but if Jeff embraces honesty and makes solid points it'll make the broadcasts even better.
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