FanHouse JeffVanGundy

Besides being one member of the three-pronged announcing team that will cover every game of the NBA Finals for ABC, Jeff Van Gundy just happens to have the same last name as the head coach of the Orlando Magic.

Stan Van Gundy is Jeff's older brother, but according to the network, there's no conflict of interest -- despite the fact that Jeff has come right out and admitted that he'll be rooting for the Magic to take home the title.

If you're old school, it's pretty easy: NBA players shouldn't be texting or twittering or making calls or going on-line during halftime.

Then again, if you're old school, you think the in-game interviews with head coaches are gratuitous, the pre-halftime and postgame interviews with players offer little to nothing, the live miking of coaches is intrusive and the mere notion of cameras in the locker room at halftime is an affront.

There's no doubt that Milwaukee's Charlie Villanueva and Phoenix's Shaquille O'Neal twittering during halftime took in-game access to another level. But we should have seen it coming.

NBA Essentials ranks our six favorite stories of the day.

1. Awful Announcing: Jeff Van Gundy calls James Posey a "knife fighter." If that's the case, maybe the Celtics should have tried to get him several years ago.

2. Sports By Brooks: The family-related reason Ray Allen left right after Game 5.

3. DraftExpress: A roundup of who's in or out as the early draft entry/withdrawal deadline approaches.

4. Chris Sheridan, ESPN: An update on who's likely to make the Team USA roster this summer.

5. Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Live blogging the Sonics trial, which began today.

6. 2002 WCF Champs: The Sacramento Kings!: Get your t-shirts advertising something that never happened. Really, Kings fan?

For those that missed the petty announcer banter during last night's NBA Finals Game 3 (presumably you missed it because you were attending the most BA Live Blog in the land) about celebrity ladies, well, you better catch up quick.

Basically, Jeff Van Gundy was asked who the hottest celebrity in the Forum was, and he yelled Alyssa Milano's name. Milano, while a diehard LA fan who blogs about the Dodgers, was not there. He was referring to Vanessa Minnillo and proceeded to butcher the pronunciation of Nick Lachey's last name.

In other words, utter Van Gundy celebrity-related chaos. That's where Jimmy Traina, of SI Hot Clicks fame, comes in. Traina caught up with Van Gundy on the phone today to see if he had figured out how to distinguish hot female celebrities and if he wanted to change any of his picks, including his NBA Finals selection. He did not.

We just got off the phone with Jeff Van Gundy. He says he did mean Vanessa Minnillo, not Alyssa Milano. He said Minnillo was sitting behind the broadcast team and "her beauty made me starstruck and I just choked." We also asked Van Gundy if Milano was there, would he go with Minnillo or Milano. "Minnillo. That girl, wow," was his answer. When asked if he pronounced Nick Lachey's name wrong on purpose, Van Gundy said, "no, I had no idea how to say his name." Lastly, we figured we'd get a prediction from Van Gundy. "I said Lakers in 6 before the series and I still think it'll be Lakers in 6."

Aggressive all the way around for JVG, but I totally respect his refusal to back down. Sure, his celebrity knowledge is pretty weak, but I didn't hear Mark Jackson correcting him or anything.

There are lots of things said while announcing that are in the heat of the moment and thus become, after the fact, probably pretty stupid sounding. But, hey, when you get paid an outrageous amount of money to hang out at center court and commentate on games, you better get used to getting hawked.

But usually, it's the snarky blogs (he said sarcastically) that pay attention, not the other announcers. Fortunately for us, Jeff Van Gundy does not let anything get by him. So when Mark Jackson decided to make a ridiculous time filling comparison of Leon Powe and Dr. Julius Iriving, JVG called him on it. Hard.

MJ: And then coast-to-coast ... inexcusable defense ... this looks like Dr. J in the ABA days during a dunk contest. Who's gonna stop the basketball?

[...]Dr. J, wherever you are, listen to me. I apologize for my partner Mark Jackson for making the statement that Leon Powe reminds him of you ... in a dunk contest. That could be the most embarrassing statement uttered on the ABC airwaves.

That would be nearly correct. Except JVG forgot to include "Evah." on the end of the sentence. I get that sometimes he comes off as too brazen and chatty and perhaps just too pessimistic, but frankly, I dig that he is willing to call other announcers on the carpet.

It's much better than the awkward silence when another announcer pretends to not hear what the first guy says, and besides, it's just inexcusable that Jackson could potentially get away with a ridiculous statement that like. Dr. J, man. Come on.

Sitting there trying to reflect on what the possible loss of David West would mean to the Hornets ("devastating" and "series-ending" come to mind at first), I couldn't help but think of what Robert Horry did to Steve Nash last year. That's because Mark Jackson, Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy kept mentioning it. And with good reason -- West was hobbling to the locker room because Horry stuck him in the back with a pick under the post.

It probably was not illegal. And it probably does not deserve a flagrant foul. But it certainly was not what a "winner" would do, as Jackson (who seems less and less concerned with sounding intelligent now that his coaching gig has vanished into thin air) kept proclaiming.

What I want to know is, are all of Big Shot Bob's ridiculously, um, big shots from years past clouding our judgment about the way he's been utilized over the past few years? He's accruing a foul every 3.4 minutes this year, and maybe that's just a direct representation of Greg Popovich's Hack-A-____ strategy thus far. But if it is, doesn't that kind of indicate even further that Horry is his quiet enforcer on the floor?

I don't want to call Horry a dirty player, because he has given the NBA some ridiculously memorable shots over the years (his role in Hitch notwithstanding). However, the quietly discomforting abuse of personal foul rules that the Spurs are using this year has already been discussed publicly by the commissioner.

With Jeff Van Gundy having removed himself from the "race" for the "privilege" to coach the New York Knicks and Isiah Thomas apparently no longer a candidate for re-hire, many people believed that Mark Jackson was the lone horse left heading down the stretch. Donnie Walsh vaguely dispelled some of that notion last night, but today went even further, pointing out that some of the candidates for his coaching gig may currently be in the playoffs.

'Everyone seems to be [giving Mark Jackson the job], because I have said that I like Mark and I would talk to him and would interview him,' Walsh said. 'I guess you don't know that until you sit down and the two of you talk together.'

He added, 'I do think a lot of Mark, and I think a lot of some of the other guys that I'm going to be speaking to.'

Jackson, an analyst for ESPN, is off until Friday and is likely to meet with Walsh before then. Other candidates may have to wait. Walsh confirmed that he had interest in coaches whose teams are in the playoffs.

Spiiiicy. As the Times points out, Avery Johnson could be included in that list as well. Mark Cuban generally has Avery's back, but you have to think that another first round loss could create the potential for a little shake up in Big D. (And thanks to CP3, that first round loss looks almost inevitable.)

Avery, I think, would be an interesting candidate for the job. Much in the way that Scott Skiles was considered a good coach for the Knicks, Avery would bring a control freak/disciplinarian mode of coaching that would probably fit a team like New York well. Mark Jackson, of course, might not provide any guaranteed discipline to a team that desperately needs it.

While fellow ABC/ESPN commentator Mark Jackson is still heavily favored to be offered the head coaching job for the New York Knicks, Jeff Van Gundy has pulled his name from the list of potential candidates for the job. Or any coaching job. According to new Knicks GM Donnie Walsh during a conference call today, not only has Van Gundy removed his name from consideration for the Knicks job due to "personal reasons," but will not be coaching again this season.

"I thought that if he was coaching that he's certainly a guy you should talk to. He's let me know that for his own reasons he doesn't think he'll be coaching for a while, so that's where it is."

On the one hand, it's too bad, since Van Gundy is one of the most capable and qualified coaches that has been mentioned for several positions. But on the other, Van Gundy has brought a legitimately refreshing insight and vigor to the announce table for a network that doesn't really stretch for innovation in its pundits.

Walsh also stated that Jackson is definitely a candidate, but did mention that he has a list of potential coaches, including Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau.

Of course, there's always Pat Summitt. Pretty much nowhere to go but up from here, obviously.

(Here's one blogger's attempt on boiling down the Jeff Van Gundy situation for you.) Yesterday during ABC's epic Suns-Spurs battle, the Knicks' coaching vacancy -- for which color analyst #1 Mark Jackson is a top candidate -- came up on the air. JVG (color analyst #2) was asked about his interest by play-by-play man (and Knicks broadcaster) Mike Breen. JVG called himself a "superdelegate" and insisted Jackson, his partner who was sitting less than five feet away at the time, was the right candidate for the job and should be hired.

So is JVG interested or not? During Friday's press call on Isiah Thomas's reassignment, new boss Donnie Walsh mentioned he'd be interested in finding out JVG's interest level in returning to Madison Square Garden. JVG's weekend interview with the New York Post's Marc Berman provides a hint of an answer in discussing unresolved tension between himself and Knicks owner James Dolan over JVG's previous hasty exit.

"I made a decision that was right for me and what I thought was right for the Knicks at the time. If that overshadows my service to the Knicks in his mind, I'd be disappointed."

I'm not clear as to why Van Gundy would be concerned with Dolan's feelings on the subject were Van Gundy not interested in spending that earned "service to the Knicks" in order to get back into the franchise. JVG doesn't strike me as someone who needs to feel loved by everyone he's crossed paths with.

Jackson remains a prohibitive favorite -- Phil Jackson would have to abandon the Lakers or M. Jackson would have to seriously blow his meetings with Walsh, I think, to derail Mark's path to the bench. That's not going to happen, so the rest of this might as well be idle chatter. But it bears remembering that JVG holds a bit of interest in this job, and possibly others.

Shoals at The Sporting Blog routed to the world this morning a (rare) fun Peter Vescey passage concerning Rafer Alston's mother, one in which I would be remiss in failing to pass on. Background: Jeff Van Gundy made a ludicrous statement about the efficacy of Alston 10 days ago on TV, Vescey cracked a joke about it. Geraldine Alston called Vescey around midnight to... discuss the matter.

"My husband and I just now got to read your column on line when we came home," Geraldine allowed. "While I don't agree with your assessment, I do respect your right to voice an opinion.

"Having said that, do me a favor; please e-mail your picture. We're making a print out of the column and we'd like to burn it and your picture together in effigy."

I am assuming Vescey did not rush to his computer to help out. With conciliatory spirit (and plenty of annoying Vescey moments) in mind, let's help Mrs. Alston out after the jump.