Former New York Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy looked back on his time coaching against Michael Jordan and the Bulls in the nineties.
Former New York Knicks assistant and head coach Jeff Van Gundy talked about his time coaching at Madison Square Garden in the 1990s when the Knicks met Michael Jordan and the Bulls four times in the playoffs.
Van Gundy thought the hardest part for the Knicks was not trying to stop Jordan, but also scoring on the other end of the floor.
"“The hardest thing for us, in those games, to try to come out with a win, was being able to score enough against their great defense,” Van Gundy said on ESPN’s First Take on Tuesday. “They had great size at every position. They were tremendous defensively. We had a hard time rebounding the ball, particularly when we were doubled-teaming Jordan. And third, in critical games we lost in the playoffs, our free throw shooting portrayed us.”"
Of course, the Knicks best opportunity to win a championship with Van Gundy on the bench was during the gap in time when Jordan was trying his hand at baseball in 1994 and 1995.
"“I’ll take you back to ’94. The thing I regret most is, in the regular season, we got swept by Houston,” Van Gundy said. “We both ended up with, I think, 55 wins, and they got home court advantage. So anybody that tells you a regular season game is not important, knows nothing of what they talk about. That one regular season game cost us home court, and ultimately the [championship].”"
Van Gundy’s memory is a little off on the particulars, as the Knicks finished the 1993-94 season with 57 wins, one shy of Houston, who finished with 58. But to his point, the Knicks lost both meetings with the Rockets that regular season, which obviously proved the difference in their records, and cost the Knicks home court in the NBA Finals.
It’s impossible to say how the series would have turned out under different conditions, but the Knicks took a 3-2 series lead back to Houston for Games 6 and 7. They lost both games, letting their title hopes while Jordan was away from the NBA slip away.
Looking back, Van Gundy still considers those nineties Knicks teams as champions, despite never officially winning the trophy.
"“Those Knicks teams were fantastic defensively,” Van Gundy said. “We just didn’t have enough offensively against elite teams. Down the stretch of those games in the fourth quarter, it was really hard for us. But I have nothing but respect for those Knicks teams. Those Knicks teams gave everything they had for the pursuit of a championship. And that’s why, in my eyes, they will always be champions.”"
The Knicks first met Chicago with Jordan in the lineup in 1988-89, the season before Van Gundy arrived. They lost five playoff series against His Airness. The only time the Knicks beat Chicago in the postseason during the nineties was in 1994 when Jordan was retired.
Van Gundy worked as an assistant for New York, first under Stu Jackson, and later Pat Riley. After a brief stint under Don Nelson, he took over the head coaching reins in 1996, his first win a surprising blowout against the 72-10 Bulls.
The former Knicks coach has seen his name come up in rumors linked to the Knicks job. He recently said that he is open to coaching in the NBA again, at the right spot and right time. He last coached in the league in 2007 with the Houston Rockets.