Pierzynski 12 Posted December 12, 2005 Share Posted December 12, 2005 MIAMI -- Miami Heat coach Stan Van Gundy is resigning today, citing personal family reasons. A team official spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision hasn't been revealed publicly. The source told The Associated Press that Van Gundy's decision would be announced later this morning. Van Gundy led the team to the best record in the Eastern Conference a season ago. It's not clear who would replace him, but there are indications that former Heat coach Pat Riley could return to the sideline. Riley named Van Gundy as his successor a little more than two years ago. The Heat are 11-10 this season. Shaquille O'Neal returned Sunday night in an OT win against the Wizards after missing 18 games with a sprained ankle. Miami leads the Southeast Division by two games over Orlando and Washington. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2256435 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitesoxfan101 Posted December 12, 2005 Share Posted December 12, 2005 Wow....I knew Riley would let his huge ego get in the way and oust Van Gundy, just surprised it happened this quick. It's a shame, he's a good coach and will be appreciated somewhere else. Interesting to see what happens now with Riley taking over (which is what is going to happen). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyyle23 Posted December 12, 2005 Share Posted December 12, 2005 Eh, Im not surprised. The Heat are good, but they should have been great for the past two years. I am sure Riley has been fidgeting in his office for a while now, and finally the pressure has gotten to Van Gundy. I think that Ron Jeremy will find another job soon enough, maybe with Brother Combover in Houston. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitesoxfan101 Posted December 12, 2005 Share Posted December 12, 2005 (edited) Interesting thing is IMO the Heat win the Championship last year if Wade doesn't get hurt late in game 5 of the East Finals against Detroit. The Heat up 3-2 with a healthy Wade wouldn't have lost that series. Also remember in '03-'04, he helped develop a VERY young team (with no Shaq) that started 0-9 into a playoff team that made the 2nd round of the playoffs. Van Gundy is a good coach (best in his family) and he was a victim of a setup and Pat Riley's ego. Sad to see. Edited December 12, 2005 by whitesoxfan101 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greasywheels121 Posted December 12, 2005 Share Posted December 12, 2005 Who didn't see this coming? I don't like this at all. Funny how it happened right when Shaq comes back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyyle23 Posted December 12, 2005 Share Posted December 12, 2005 QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Dec 12, 2005 -> 09:35 AM) Interesting thing is IMO the Heat win the Championship last year if Wade doesn't get hurt late in game 5 of the East Finals against Detroit. The Heat up 3-2 with a healthy Wade wouldn't have lost that series. Also remember in '03-'04, he helped develop a VERY young team (with no Shaq) that started 0-9 into a playoff team that made the 2nd round of the playoffs. Van Gundy is a good coach (best in his family) and he was a victim of a setup and Pat Riley's ego. Sad to see. I dont know if I agree with this. the Pistons were no joke last year. Noone knows how those conference finals would have ended up. But I do agree that a healthy Dwayne Wade would have put the Heat in a much better situation to win, no doubt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitesoxfan101 Posted December 12, 2005 Share Posted December 12, 2005 QUOTE(kyyle23 @ Dec 12, 2005 -> 08:46 AM) I dont know if I agree with this. the Pistons were no joke last year. Noone knows how those conference finals would have ended up. But I do agree that a healthy Dwayne Wade would have put the Heat in a much better situation to win, no doubt. Oh the Pistons had a great team, I agree. And they might have still won with Wade healthy, but the Heat had a 3-2 lead with Wade healthy, and I think they win with him not getting hurt. At any rate, I was moreso trying to make my point that Stan got a raw deal. He is probably my 2nd favorite NBA coach right now (although I guess he's no longer a coach, haha) behind Skiles (obviously). I think he really got a raw deal, this was a setup by Riley to bring himself back from the start and this is not surprising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamTell Posted December 12, 2005 Share Posted December 12, 2005 Van Gundy sounds like a very classy guy. According to him he's been wanting to resign for the past 6 weeks or so, but Riley and the rest of the organization wanted him to be the coach still. Now I don't know if I'll believe that because it's pretty obvious that Riley wanted the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted December 12, 2005 Share Posted December 12, 2005 Stan said it was all due to family reasons. He wants to spend time with his family, not have to travel all the time. He said Pat tried to convince him to stay. Pat Riley will take over as head coach. The press conference is on ESPN right now. I don't know if Stan is just saying what he's saying or if its the truth, but Stan is one of the better coaches in the NBA. Now we see what Riley has left in him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamTell Posted December 12, 2005 Share Posted December 12, 2005 QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Dec 12, 2005 -> 10:14 AM) Stan said it was all due to family reasons. He wants to spend time with his family, not have to travel all the time. He said Pat tried to convince him to stay. Pat Riley will take over as head coach. The press conference is on ESPN right now. I don't know if Stan is just saying what he's saying or if its the truth, but Stan is one of the better coaches in the NBA. Now we see what Riley has left in him. I liked Stan Van Gundy but I have to admit I am excited to see what Riley can do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balta1701 Posted December 12, 2005 Share Posted December 12, 2005 I'm sorry, but I don't believe a word of Van Gundy's "I love my family" defense. I just don't. If you had predicted the exact second that you first heard Pat Riley might want to coach again that he would wind up with that job within a year, you'd have been 100% right. He may not have been forced out, but he has to be out because of Riley. That's the only part that makes sense to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palehosefan Posted December 12, 2005 Share Posted December 12, 2005 As a Heat fan, I absolutely HATE this. Stan is such a great guy, I truly hope he wasn't forced out. HE was the reason for the Heat's resurgance after 0-9, and HE's the reason guys want to play for the Heat again. Nobody wants to go through Pat Riley's practices, especially Shaq. This absolutely sucks, the Heat's scores will be back in the 80s/low 90s, yipee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan4life_2007 Posted December 13, 2005 Share Posted December 13, 2005 I smell bulls***. I always thought at some point Riley was gonna coach this year. I don't believe Stan's lame story for a second. More time with your family? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nitetrain8601 Posted December 13, 2005 Share Posted December 13, 2005 Oh yeah, because who the hell would want to spend more time with their family? That crazy bastard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan4life_2007 Posted December 13, 2005 Share Posted December 13, 2005 QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Dec 12, 2005 -> 09:13 PM) Oh yeah, because who the hell would want to spend more time with their family? That crazy bastard! It was heavily speculated before the season that Riley would at some point become the coach. A month ago, Van Gundy was going on and on about how he loved his job and didn't want to go anywhere. Now he wants out to spend more time with his family? Not buyin it. And I guarantee you he'll be back coaching some team in the near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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