TNT's Stan Van Gundy criticizes 'soft' late-game Knicks defense, referees' missed goaltend in Game 1 loss

A few hours after he finished calling Game 1 of Knicks-Pacers, TNT’s Stan Van Gundy woke up in his New York hotel room and re-watched the tape.

“I really was going back over every play because my impression coming out of it was that the Knicks’ defense was just soft and they had way too many mistakes and breakdowns. And when I watched it again, it was even clearer,” Van Gundy, the longtime TNT analyst, said.

Does Van Gundy think the Knicks will let the loss impact them in Game 2?

“They’ll look at the mistakes and pick themselves (up) and get ready to go. I don’t think (Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau) has to worry about (hangover from Wednesday’s loss) at this time of year,” Van Gundy said. “Their pick and roll defense to me, early on in the game, (Karl-Anthony) Towns was really back. (Myles) Turner was just getting wide-open shots. And then they had some miscommunications on perimeter screens; small-small (screens). Are we switching or not? They had breakdowns there. And then late in the game, they were really soft on their switches and (Aaron) Nesmith was hitting threes. To me, they’ve got to clean up their pick-and-roll coverages, being up and more aggressive. And their communication’s got to be a lot better on what they’re doing.

“….There was not a hard three in that stretch (of Nesmith’s six threes late in the fourth quarter). It’s still hard to make six straight threes. But it wasn’t like the shot-clock ran down and someone had to throw one in. He got great looks. Nesmith, all five of his looks were great looks. And the one (Tyrese) Haliburton got, (Mikal) Bridges gave him a lot of space on that one, too. They got really good shots. I just thought the Knicks' defense in that stretch was very soft. And in the overtime, they had breakdowns on (Obi) Toppin’s dunk and (Andrew) Nembhard’s back cut. They just, defensively, didn’t get the job done.”

Van Gundy spent about an hour talking Knicks-Pacers with a small group of reporters on Thursday. He shared his thoughts on several other topics...

HALIBURTON VS. BRUNSON

"(Haliburton) and Brunson are both great players, but their style of play is so different because Haliburton is a quick-decision, get-off-the-ball type of guy and Brunson’s a very ball-dominant guard. So if you look on – I think they chart seconds per touch. Every time I touch the ball, how long do I hold it? Haliburton holds it on the average about 2.5 seconds less than Brunson.

"Brunson holds it the most in the league. Over six seconds per touch. Haliburton is about 3.5 seconds per touch. (Van Gundy points out that Brunson averages three more dribbles per touch than Haliburton). It’s just a difference that sets up the whole style of play. The Knicks being a little more methodical. Brunson, the best comparison to him is probably (James) Harden. Dribble, dribble, dribble - not selfish because he’ll certainly give the ball to other people. But he’s going to keep it in his hands whereas Haliburton gets off of it, let’s other people play and the whole thing….Two great players with different styles.”

OBI TOPPIN’S DUNK ON A PICK AND ROLL TO SEAL INDIANA’S WIN IN OT

"That was really weird defense to me. First of all, they inbounded the ball really easily. Teams have trouble inbounding the ball. You saw the Knicks almost turn it over (earlier in the game). Teams have a lot of trouble inbounding and the Knicks just let them do it. They really didn’t do anything.

"And then on the pick and roll, I don’t really know what they wanted to be in because to me, Mitchell Robinson wasn’t up, he wasn’t really affecting Nembhard at all. But yet he let Toppin roll behind him….

"Those are all very preventable (mistakes) in my opinion and I’m sure in Thibs’ opinion too. Those are all preventable things that are just defensive mistakes and you can’t make that many of them in a game, especially against a team like Indiana.”

PACERS WEARING DOWN BRUNSON

“Indiana’s been a good ball-pressure team. What they try to do – I think Indiana’s plan against New York both within a game and over the course of a series – is they just really want to wear them down. They feel like they’ve got more depth. They play more guys. Their pace and their pressure. The Knicks are gonna face full-court pressure for 48 minutes – 53 minutes (in Game 1) – and we’re just gonna wear on them. And I feel like they think they were able to do that last year in a seven-game series, particularly on Brunson.

"He’s gonna be good, but we’re just gonna wear on him. They don’t blitz him a lot and make him get off the ball like some teams do because, number one, you open yourself up to three-point shooting and to offensive rebounding by other teams. But I also think they want Brunson to keep probing on the dribble and make plays. Obviously (43) points (in Game 1). But I think they feel like, ‘Hey, we’re wearing on them.’ I think that’s what their defense is designed to do. They gave up 62 paint points to New York (in Game 1). They’re so extended and spread out. Forty free throw attempts. So you’re able to attack them, but again, I think it’s calculated on their part to wear you down.”

ON HIS PREVIOUS COMMENTS ON KNICKS FANS BEING FRONT-RUNNERS

“I’ll stand by that. The Knicks fans are great fans, but if things are going bad… I’ve been in all these arenas (and if) things are going bad in Indiana, the Indiana fans are going to try to rally their team back. The Knicks fans are going to boo their team. If that 14-0 run had been the other way early in the fourth quarter and the Knicks went down 16, they’re getting booed. That’s just the way it is. That’s all I was talking about. Knicks fans are great, they’re passionate, they’re enjoying this moment so more power to them. My front-runner comment was just that. When things are going bad they’re not trying to rally everybody, they’re gonna pound you.”

REFS MISSED GOALTEND ON PACERS IN OVERTIME

“It was a goaltend and that was huge. That was huge because – four-point lead, you get the steal, you’re coming down on the break, they call a goaltend, it’s six. Instead, the ball stays in play in transition and Nembhard hits the corner three from Haliburton. That was a huge, huge play in the game on a missed goaltend. Usually, what we’ve seen in the playoffs, on those that are really close on the goaltend, they make the call so then they can take a look at it. But they didn’t make the call, so they couldn’t take a look at it. But on the replay, it got the board first. It should have been (a goaltend).”

LEON ROSE’S ROSTER

“Leon’s done a tremendous job here putting this roster together. You think back, for the value of the contract, has there been – ever – a better free-agent signing than Jalen Brunson…. Shaq to LA? Well, ok. But that’s a max contract. You think Brunson and I mean, a lot of people, even when he got what he got, thought he was overpaid. And he wasn’t getting a max. And now he’s – I think everybody recognizes – one of the best players in the league…. Those (trades for Towns and Bridges) haven’t all been met with great enthusiasm by fans and New York media all of the time. But they’ve proven themselves pretty darn good. They put together a heckuva roster right here. With a chance (to win).”

REGGIE MILLER CALLING GAMES AT MSG AND CALLING THE SERIES FOR TNT

“For us, it's fabulous. For TV, it’s fabulous. If you think about this, it's going to be the last series we’re going to do on TNT and we get Knicks-Pacers in the conference finals with Reggie Miller? That’s storybook stuff … the only thing missing from Game 1, quite honestly, was Spike (Lee). I think it’s great theater having Reggie there. Some of the fans were yelling at him. Most of it good good-natured. Some of it not so much, to be quite honest. Reggie handles it all really well. And for us it’s just a great, great storyline.”