If the C's win Game 6, is Van Gundy gone?

[CDawg834]

This Magic team continues to choke in big moments, and now their cornerstone player has basically thrown the coaching staff under the bus.  It begs the question, if the C's win Game 6 in Orlando tomorrow night, does GM Otis Smith make a move and fire Van Gundy?  What about a Game 7 loss in Boston?

I would say "yes" to the first question, and "maybe" to the second.  What do the rest of you think.

And on a side note, am I wrong, or is Jim O'Brien perfect for that Orlando squad?  Super athletic big man who can get outside the paint on D, and a bunch of oversized guards who love to jack up 3s all game, seems like his dream roster.

[BudweiserCeltic]

No way he's gone.

[Fafnir]

I don't think so. He'll get another year. After that all bets are off. This is assuming that ownership doesn't let Dwight Howard "fire" him just yet. I think their management is smarter than that.

[youcanthandlethetruth113]

I say it's too tought to predict, but I think we can call agree that Otis is going to have to think about it. I mean, first Shaq's comments, then Gortat agreeing with Shaq's comments (to a foriegn paper or something), then the ultimate choke job the Magic are doing...have a nice ponder over it this off season Otis!

[CoachCowens]

This Magic team continues to choke in big moments, and now their cornerstone player has basically thrown the coaching staff under the bus.  It begs the question, if the C's win Game 6 in Orlando tomorrow night, does GM Otis Smith make a move and fire Van Gundy?  What about a Game 7 loss in Boston?

I would say "yes" to the first question, and "maybe" to the second.  What do the rest of you think.

And on a side note, am I wrong, or is Jim O'Brien perfect for that Orlando squad?  Super athletic big man who can get outside the paint on D, and a bunch of oversized guards who love to jack up 3s all game, seems like his dream roster.

Howard won't like OBrien's offense any better.

[Who]

No, I don't think so.

SVG is the best coach for the job. That team could find itself in huge problems (relatively speaking = 55 win non contender type problems) if they let him go.

[Eeyore III]

Yes, if they lose the series, he's history.  I bet they can him anyway.  He's worn out his welcome.

[Redz]

The Magic are going to be the 80's Milwaukee Bucks

a good team that's not as good as the Celtics or Sixers (substitute Cavs)

[CDawg834]

It just seems like they are already tuning him out, and history has shown that once you lose the locker room, you usually don't get them back.  Unless a vet like Battie can act as the "elder statesman" and get them on track, I don't see it working out much longer.

[crownsy]

No, I don't think so.

SVG is the best coach for the job. That team could find itself in huge problems (relatively speaking = 55 win non contender type problems) if they let him go.

I think as mentioned in another thread, that jim o'brien is the best man for the job.

That team was built to play for jim.

[CDawg834]

No, I don't think so.

SVG is the best coach for the job. That team could find itself in huge problems (relatively speaking = 55 win non contender type problems) if they let him go.

I think as mentioned in another thread, that jim o'brien is the best man for the job.

That team was built to play for jim.

TP Crownsy, I thought I was the only one who thought of Obieball when I saw how their roster is put together.  There are people out there who think Obieball was horrible, but that's probably a debate for another thread.

[fairweatherfan]

I don't think they fire him, but I think he's on very thin ice, especially if they blow another lead. 

I agree with whoever said in the game thread this is the weakest championship contender they've seen in some time.  The Magic definitely have championship talent and at times have shown championship execution, but they have shown no championship heart.  Rightly or wrongly a lot of that's gonna go on the coach, but I think it's more due to the lack of a leader late in games. 

You don't really see anyone talking to other players on the court like Pierce showing Baby how to foul late last game.  Nelson may be a big help in this regard next season, and I think they'll give SVG the chance to win with his full squad.

[Kuberski33]

Not immediately, but Howard's comments last night officially put the noose around his neck.  It's only a matter of time.

In the NBA whenever it comes down to superstar player vs coach, the coach is always the one who goes.  Plus it's pretty obvious from both the body language of the players when he's talking to them and from comments of Donny Marshall and the guys on TNT that his players can't stand him.

Assuming his contract isn't an issue like with Dunleavy in LA, he'll be gone by the end of 2009.

[nickagneta]

I think while the decision will be made to replace him, I think they will hold off until the beginning of next season. Reason being that if they lose Turkoglu and Gortat and they start out slow, they can replace him then rather than firing him, starting slow, and putting all this pressure on a new coach questioning why he is not getting the team to gel.

Well, that's just one scenario and maybe I'm having a senior moment but I think the Orlando management takes a lets wait and see approach and bring him back on a short leash. They'll have enough on their plate this off season without having to deal with a coaching decision as well.

Eventually, I think he's gone before not too long as I think he has lost the team.

[jgod213]

There's no trust left in that locker room.  As Doc would say, Howard, Turk, and Lewis all want to play "Hero Ball" in the 4th quarter becuase they don't trust the offense or eachother to make the right play.  SVG deserves the lions-share of the blame because he NEEDS to make a point of exposing our undermanned and undersized big-men - feed Howard!

However, blame needs to go to the GM here as well.  Everyone thought trading for Alston was a great fix for losing Nelson, but Skip has been exposed in the playoffs.  He's a shoot-first player who doesn't really run any sets outside of the Howard pick-and-roll.  Jameer might not be a pure point guard either, but that team sorely misses his grit and decision-making.  Otis Smith needs some blame for not adequately filling those shoes.

Finally, i think Howard needs some blame here as well.  He's always the 1st one you see and hear from when things are going well, but when things go south he blames others and mopes.