Van Gundy making his presence felt
NEW YORK — Jeff Van Gundy has maintained a low profile while working for the Celtics as a senior consultant of basketball operations this season.
When practices and shootarounds are opened to the media, he’s often sitting off to the side, by himself or with another member of the front office or coaching staff. He has declined all interview requests related to his new position, preferring to operate on the periphery.
But coach Joe Mazzulla said that Van Gundy has been “unbelievable” as a resource and sounding board.
“One of the best things he does is he’s just a great listener,” Mazzulla said. “And so you don’t realize how long he’s been in the NBA. You don’t realize the playoff series that he’s been in, the experiences that he’s had, because he waits for the opportunity to come up and almost waits for you to ask him. So he’s very patient. He’s a great listener. And then just a guy that you can bounce ideas off of.
“He’s been around a long time, he’s coached a lot of great players, so you’re able to look at the perspective of not only how he handled team situations, but how he handled individual player situations because of the talent that he’s coached. He’s been a great addition to the staff.”
Van Gundy coached the Knicks from 1996-2001 and the Rockets from 2003-07 before beginning a career at ESPN, where he was part of the network’s NBA Finals broadcast team for years. Van Gundy was part of a sweeping series of layoffs at ESPN last June and joined the Celtics during the offseason.
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, who was Van Gundy’s assistant in New York and Houston, said his close friend was a valuable addition to the Celtics.
“Jeff has always had great passion for the game,” Thibodeau said. “I think he’s a great asset to their organization just because of all the experiences that he’s had. And even though he wasn’t in coaching, he really was in coaching when he was doing broadcasting. He’s always been involved with not only the pro game, but a lot of college programs as well. So I think it’s great. Whatever he chooses to do he’ll be great at, and he’s in the game and loves the game.”
Steadily rolling along
The Celtics have been remarkably consistent while surging to the top of the NBA. They have not had a three-game losing streak all season, and won their eighth straight with Saturday’s 116-102 victory against the Knicks.
In addition to simply having very good players, Mazzulla believes the steady play has been a result of a stable mind-set.
“I think they’ve matured,” he said. “I think they’ve taken care of the things that we need to constantly work on. I think the guys do a really good job of honing in on, ‘Here’s what’s important tonight, here’s what’s important for the next five games or a month from now.’ If you can live in that space of having that understanding, it kind of gives you a little bit of room to work with. I think the guys have been great with their open-mindedness, but they haven’t lost their competitive nature. I think that’s important.”
Staying healthy helps
The Celtics have also gotten a boost from maintaining unusually good health. They once again had their full roster available Saturday, and the Knicks have pushed into contention in the Eastern Conference despite a rash of injuries.
New York was still without starters Julius Randle (shoulder), OG Anunoby (elbow), and
Mitchell Robinson (ankle).