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I'm sure it's been thought of a lot recently and probably said, but Van Gundy is the biggest diff this season from past ones. I really believe that he is the best coach this team has had...including when Daly was here. It's hard to not be conditioned for disappointment and for impending collapse during games, choking etc. I'm starting to expect that unless we've dug a terrible hole for ourselves that we will find a way to get it done...that's something which this team hasn't been able to do since the you-know-who years. Sure, the talent is there with Dwight, Hedo, Lewis and all (of course SVG has a lot to do with Hedo), but you get the sense that they will, in fact find a way to win instead of the other way around. How many times last year did we piss games away in the last 2-3 minutes of games? With that guy we may have won 6-7 games more and maybe gotten to the second round last season.

There are 2 main reason Orlando is a lot better. The SVG factor and the Shard factor. IMO the SVG factor is about 65% for the improvement, and the Shard factor the other 35%. I think Hedo's huge year is a combination of both, with more going to SVG for finally allowing him to play to his strengths.

SVG is a great coach but people are SEVERELY underrating what shard has done for this team, Dwight, and Turk.

agreed. We won 12 games more than we did last season.

SVG: 7 wins
Rashard: 5 wins

I include Hedo's improvements with SVG, since SVG basically gave Hedo a bigger role and trusted him. I credit SVG with Hedo's MIP Award. Of course there are other factors, and both factor in the other's contributions as well. But that's how I'd break it down if going with the simplest numbers possible.

I'll keep this short:
If the NBA playoffs were determined only by coaching, we'd be in the NBA Finals. Because Flip, Doc, Mike Brown, Eddie Jordan, Woodson and Mo Cheeks (who I'd say is the 2nd smartest coach in the East behind Stan that's in the East playoffs) are not better than Stan.

There is no one reason why this team improved from last year. It was an entire team effort.

but its obvious that youre an idiot.

I completely agree. in fact, I was just pondering this very subject. Van Gundy has been slept on by all the league, pundits, and analysts. (its the magic, what else is new?) but everyone that reads this post just think for a minute about what our offense looked like last year. How many terrible possessions? How many shot clock violations? How many turnovers? Itd be 8 secs on the clock before we even got into our play. SVG has been huge for many reasons, mainly gettin Hedo to play out of his mind, and the rashard signing helped. Also, I LOVE the play he runs for dwight that he used to run for shaq. The high screen/roll with a quick pass to the weakside, and while the defense rotates, a quick pass for Howard deep in the paint. His temperment is great too, pushing the players, but also being cool enough to let them know he has their back and be respected, feared, and liked. Byron Scott deserved it, but SVG should have been in the top 3, he is truly a top coach in this league.

Coaches do not win games the players do. Coaches make calls...substitution and prepare the team for what the opponent will bring. Based on that I will give Stan an "A". But I will not say he "added" several wins to our team when we are a completely different team in terms of starters. Only 3 of 5 returned and our bench got a face lift. Give SVG the team we had last year...yeah I think he would have gotten us a couple more wins. End of story.

rurouniad wrote:Coaches do not win games the players do.

Agree. BUT Coaches lose games. Check out Docs brilliance in games 3 & 4 if you need a perfect example. Keeping Ray Allen single covering Johnson throughout the entire 4th period last night -- absolutely brilliant.

Big players hit big shots and win big games -- but they only are in that position if they have a coach that puts them in that position.

You have never coached anything if you believe a coach can't win a game yet lose a game at the same time.

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From Today's O-Sen:
Stan Van Gundy is a perfect fit for the Orlando Magic

Orlando sure feels a lot better about itself today than it did last week or last month or for the last 12 years.