Stan Van Gundy vows to limit negativity after private meeting with C Dwight Howard

[Ned Ryerson 94]

Stan Van Gundy told the Sentinel that his negativity was "draining the enthusiasm" from his team. He vowed to change his tactics --- from practices to press conferences to the bench on game nights --- after listening to Dwight Howard's concerns.

 

Orlando Magic superstar Dwight Howard told the Sentinel on Thursday that he asked Stan Van Gundy in a private meeting to quell what he perceived as the coach's recurring negativity.

 

The fiery, demanding Van Gundy confirmed that he met with Howard, who was speaking on behalf of the team.

 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com...1119,0,1594533.story

[Ned Ryerson 94]

Stan Van Gundy told the Sentinel that his negativity was "draining the enthusiasm" from his team. He vowed to change his tactics --- from practices to press conferences to the bench on game nights --- after listening to Dwight Howard's concerns.

 

Orlando Magic superstar Dwight Howard told the Sentinel on Thursday that he asked Stan Van Gundy in a private meeting to quell what he perceived as the coach's recurring negativity.

 

The fiery, demanding Van Gundy confirmed that he met with Howard, who was speaking on behalf of the team.

 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com...1119,0,1594533.story

[The Seventh Seal 0]

Good news, let's see if he can keep it up, and I surely hope there are no chemistry/locker room problems.

[ChevyBallinHot 0]

I like all the efforts to be all positive but Dwight is becoming a real softy right now, suck it up and let me see the Dwight Howard we all know. The Dwight Howard he claims he spent time in the gym this summer to come back and win an NBA title.

 

17 min and barely a double double, a stretch where he had 1 block in 3 games?

 

Hopefully this positive ish cures his hurt heart and he plays basketball now...

[Rob 0]

I understand where Howard is coming from on this but Howard needs to understand that Van Gundy is trying to get the best out of them every night. Everything Van Gundy has said in press conferences are very truthful then negative. They are not playing great defense. That's his job as coach to point out their weakness. I don't see the problem in Van Gundy's tactics. But if Van Gundy wants to try and compromise with them then that's on him. But he will go back to being the same old Van Gundy sooner or later. That's just who he is. But it's nice that Howard had a meeting first with Van Gundy instead of sharing his problems with the media.

[NickAnderson 14]

Great news. I love it when Howard speaks up..

[Penny Hardaway's Ghost 260]

I guess we're officially in puss mode now...

[ApexTurbo 6]

Well we talked about this earlier. All of the yelling during competition does not help. The team was bound to get upset and complain about his ranting. I am glad the did it in a private manner. However I am not going to quickly say that it will be solved. Van Gundy is just not going to change his tactics over night. I just wish I knew if Howard was unhappy with how practices went to or if it is mainly the game-time yelling that has the team upset. Athletes respond in different ways. As a coach I find positive criticism to be much more effective than saying that was awful we aren't good, but I'm working with high schoolers not professionals getting paid the big bucks...It will be interesting to see if we see a change.

[Captain Hi-Top 791]

quote:

"Dwight brought it up," Van Gundy said. "He thought there was too much negativity. A lot of times you hear things from players, it's their perspective and you understand it and sometimes you don't agree with it.

 

"But Dwight was right in that

[Rob 0]

quote:

Originally posted by rtillaree:

I guess we're official in puss mode now...

 

It really seems like it. I never seen a player ask for a coach to stop being so negative. Howard and the team needs to go out there and produce then Stan won't have anything negative to say.

[BillFan 1]

I'll miss Van Grumpy!

[Secretly Space Jesus 670]

quote:

Originally posted by Rob:

quote:

Originally posted by rtillaree:

I guess we're official in puss mode now...

 

It really seems like it. I never seen a player ask for a coach to stop being so negative. Howard and the team needs to go out there and produce then Stan won't have anything negative to say.

 

If this is true, then you've not been watching basketball for more than 2 years, at most.