Jeff Van Gundy, who could be a candidate for the Knicks manager vacancy if the club does not hold Mike Miller, spoke fondly of the teams he coached as assistant and head coach (1989-2002).
“Surely you’re disappointed,” Van Gundy said when asked about the Knicks’ loss to the Bulls in the 1993 Eastern Conference finals. “But the only thing I would say, the disappointment is not in the team, in the group or in the effort. Because the Knicks teams of the 90s – that continuous group that had some changes along the way – the only thing you could count on is professionalism, playing incredibly hard, practicing as champions and giving yourself to the group.
“So I was disappointed with the results but I was never disappointed when I coached that group both as an assistant and as a head coach – I was never disappointed by the effort. They gave everything they had for the cause and, really, what else did can beyond that? “