One of the few people in the Pelicans organization with a history with Stan Van Gundy in the NBA is guard JJ Redick. Drafted by Orlando in 2006-07, Redick spent the first six seasons of his career under Van Gundy, going from seldomly-used rookie and sophomore to sixth man and spot starter by their final season together.
Nearly a decade later, the two reunite in New Orleans after the Pelicans agreed to a deal to make Van Gundy the new head coach on Wednesday. Even prior to his hiring though, Redick spoke glowingly of Van Gundy recently. Appearing on “All The Smoke” three weeks ago with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Redick spoke about Van Gundy (h/t Will Guillory).
“The one thing I will say, though, is…there is no perfect coach. I think Stan probably had a bigger impact on my career than any coach I’ve played for. Doc as well because Doc was the first coach who looked at me as a starter and gave me more of a role on offense. But Stan (is) probably the best coach I’ve played for in the NBA…I always felt like, in a a playoff series, I felt like Stan was going to get us a win. He was going to make an adjustment or come up with a gamplan in game three or game four or even steal one in game one like ‘I’m going to do this and they’re not expecting it’ and it worked a lot of the time. He would always get us a game because he was so prepared and he worked so hard and took such responsibility on what he could control and he was great for that.”
While Alvin Gentry was also a respected coach, having a coach step into the locker room and immediately be respected by one of the team’s top veterans will go a long way in the rest of the young players buying in.
It will also present a different approach to the game for the Pelicans this year. Whereas Gentry’s open system left much for interpretation for the players on the court offensively, Van Gundy’s approach will be more disciplined, which should be of greater benefit for a young team.
