Stan Van Gundy has degrees in English and Physical Education.
Van Gundy established a winning record. The NBA is a "bottom line" league.
Philosophy: Every coach needs a philosophy. There's no "cookie cutter." Basketball shares 'open source' knowledge. Everyone knows that defensive success hinges on limiting the pick-and-roll game and perimeter (three) scoring. Van Gundy believes in discipline to create a culture of trust and communication, which informs defense (multiple actions) earlier.
Van Gundy feels youth basketball is flawed."The youth basketball system has become flawed, because some coaches and parents judge whether they've had a successful season based on wins and losses rather than if the players have improved and actually enjoy the game."
Strategy: He recognized the changes in the NBA early. "Here is a quote from him at the 2013 MIT analytics conference, "There were some things that we were doing that I think the analytics supported... We didn't want to shoot mid-range jump shots. I remember being in Miami and all the TV analysts- I won't mention them by name. They would be killing us because we didn't have guys with a mid-range game, and I remember saying “Thank God.”
He also heralded the "Stretch 4" game. "Van Gundy’s Magic teams pummeled teams with 1-5 pick-and-rolls and 1-4 pick-and-pops. It was simple, yet brutally effective basketball."
Clinic Notes: Here's a great set of notes via Zak Boisvert. The text shares a lot of his beliefs on attacking the ballhandler.
1) One word calls. "Communication not conversation."
2) Prefers to send the ball handler weak.
3) x4 has to know whether 4 needs to be defended tightly as a perimeter threat. If not so great, he wants x4 to BUMP the roller.
4) x2 has to balance physicality with consequences of not being able to closeout.
Video:
0:19 High ball screen into stretch 4 jumper (see diagram above)
0:22 Side pick-and-roll into 3 from the top (sagging defense)
0:47 Side pick-and-roll into mid-range shot
1:30 Horns into downscreen with DHO into rescreen for ball handler
1:40 Sequential (left and right) high ball screens on same possession