Stan Van Gundy on Josh Hart, Knicks vs. Pacers series

The New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers will get their second-round war series going starting on Monday, May 6, with a contest played inside Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, NYC.

Basketball sidelines don’t mean the same for Stan Van Gundy these days as they did just a few years ago when he was still coaching teams across the League. SVG is now sitting on a comfortable chair analyzing games and cashing checks from TNT.

Van Gundy, who will be part of the broadcasting squad for Games 1 and 2 between New York and Indiana, spoke to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post and shared interesting information about two particular topics.

SVG on Josh Hart’s fit in New York

Van Gundy coached Hart while both coincided in New Orleans following the Anthony Davis trade that sent AD to Tinseltown and Hart the other way around.

SVG sounded like he was absolutely sure Hart would thrive in a major market such as New York once he eventually got there.

“I think what anybody who coached [Josh Hart] and played with him would say is, you knew he would never be afraid of the moment. There are guys out there who don’t want any part of it when we get down to the biggest times and the biggest games.

“Josh was never going to be a guy who was afraid of that. I actually think he lived for it. Josh was always great when you played the best teams, when he got the matchup with the best players.

“You never had to worry about him. He’s such a competitor. Where your concerns were with Josh when you’re playing a team not so great, or guys with injuries, or you’re up 18 with nine or 10 minutes to go, there would be mental lapses and things like that. But throw that guy into the biggest games against the biggest teams.”

In an interesting nugget buried into Bondy’s story for the New York Post, Van Gundy told the beat reporter that Tom Thibodeau asked him for some information and background on Hart, highlighting his “competitiveness.”

At the end of the day, SVG made it sound like Thibs was always going to trade for a dude like Hart no matter what.

“I think they knew they wanted him anyway. It was just me sort of confirming that Tom would love him.”

Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images

SVG on the ECSF, Knicks vs. Pacers

Bondy had a long piece published in the New York Post in which he asked a few questions about the upcoming matchup between the Knicks and the Pacers as they fight for a place in the Eastern Conference Finals.

You can read Bondy’s and SVG’s full takes on the series over the NYP. Here are a few quotes from Van Gundy’s takes.

On the Brunson vs. Haliburton matchup...

“First of all, you’ve got a matchup of two of the really elite point guards. Different types of players, for sure. But two of the absolute best.”

“Jalen had a 40-point game against Indiana. Haliburton had a 23-assist game against New York. I think we’re in for some great guard play.”

On who the Knicks should use to guard Haliburton...

“I think [Donte] DiVincenzo. He guarded him during the season. And did a pretty good job. I think you’re going to see pretty much what you saw at the end of the Philly series [against Tyrese Maxey]—DiVincenzo and McBride.”

“I think Anunoby will start on [Pascal] Siakam, and then Hart will guard him, too.”

On who the Pacers should use to stop Brunson...

“Brunson is a major challenge in everything.”

“The problem is, if you’re going to double Brunson a lot, you’re in rotation when New York’s shot goes up so it gets even harder to block out and you’re not a good rebounding team anyway. And now there’s not bodies on anybody.”

On who will impose the pace of the second-round series...

“New York will run more than people give them credit for. But Indiana really wants the pace up.”

“I think New York will want it a little slower in large part because of depth. I think that’s a big Indiana advantage.”

“To me, it’s a fine line because New York is good in transition and they want to run. But they’ve got to pick their spots. They want to run on rebounds and certainly on turnovers. But they don’t want to be in an up and down, run-and-shoot type of game with Indiana.”

On how the Knicks will adapt to deal with a floor-stretching big in Myles Turner...

“Shooting centers who can stretch the floor give the Knicks a problem in the pick-and-pop game. And I think Haliburton and Turner are a very, very good pick-and-roll combination.”

“Tom’s never really wanted to switch his [center] much. He’ll do it when he puts [Precious] Achiuwa there but not so much with [Isaiah] Hartenstein or Mitchell Robinson. That’s been a tough one for them.”

On New York’s main advantages over Indiana...

“New York does it to everybody, but they’ve absolutely worn Indiana out on the glass during the season. New York is a great offensive rebounding team. I think that’s probably New York’s biggest advantage going into the series.”

“[The Knicks] are one of those teams that finds a way to win. They won the first two games against the Sixers with Brunson quite honestly playing poorly. And then he becomes the best player in the world to close out the series.”

”Other than maybe their rebounding, they’re just not reliant on any one area of the game to be able to win. They’ll find different ways. They just compete, they’ll never go away.”