2000-01 RECORD: 37-25
By Dr. Jack Ramsay
Special to ESPN.com
Pat Riley and Jeff Van Gundy are both excellent coaches who extract the maximum from their players and play an identical defensive game. But without Alonzo Mourning all season -- and now without Eddie Jones -- Riley has worked with more limited resources, getting more out of less than Van Gundy. It's miraculous that the Miami Heat are 12 games over .500.
When Mourning went down before the season, everyone expected the Heat to go in the tank and maybe not even make the playoffs. Most people thought they would be around a .500 team. Instead, the Heat are holding the third spot in the Eastern Conference.
Riley coaches the same way all the time. He settles on a very basic game. The key to the Heat's strength is its team defense. They don't allow penetration, give great help defense on the weak side, and keep the ball out of the post by fronting the post man. The Heat excel in transition, don't give up many fast breaks and hold their own on the boards.
Offensively, Riley finds the best way for his players to score and consistently gets them the ball in optimum situations. He only has four scorers -- Jones, Tim Hardaway, Brian Grant and Anthony Mason -- and gets points out of each one. Riley also plays with the league's smallest front line -- Grant, Mason and Bruce Bowen. And off the bench, he uses two players who have been around forever, A.C. Green and Dan Majerle, and Anthony Carter. Riley settles on a rotation and wins with it.
This is the type of season that really shows Riley's greatness as a coach.
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2000-01 RECORD: 36-25
By Eric Karabell
ESPN.com
Not to say anything bad about the job Riley has done, which has been remarkable considering who he doesn't have, but Van Gundy has done a brilliant job with what he does have. Riley knew from Day 1 that he wouldn't have Alonzo Mourning. Van Gundy has gone through stretches this season where Marcus Camby has been out, he's had to deal with the Glen Rice situation and his point guards have not done a great job.
Camby has been better than expected when he's played, but he's already missed more than a dozen games, leaving undersized Kurt Thomas as the center. Brian Grant isn't a center either, but Thomas doesn't have Grant's ability. Still, the Knicks win. With Rice, he isn't happy with being a reserve, hasn't played nearly up to expectations, and yet -- Van Gundy has gotten 12 points a game out of him.
Van Gundy doesn't make the personnel decisions, like Riley does, so he has to deal with what he has. Charlie Ward and Chris Childs, and now Mark Jackson, are less-than-average offensive players. Larry Johnson might be the worst starting four in the league. Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell were All-Stars, but each are shooting way below career marks from the field. Still, the Knicks win.
It's obvious that Van Gundy learned nicely from Riley, but Van Gundy has managed to consistently win with less talent that Riley has. That's even true for this season, where the Knicks have used a pair of swingmen to get themselves a clear playoff spot. That's why Van Gundy gets the vote.
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