Stan Van Gundy Calling Anthony Davis' 59 Point Night A Result Of "Terrible Coaching" Is In No Way An Insult To Anthony Davis

Detroit News-  There was no voiding Sunday’s result, though, and rather than ripping his team, the Pistons coach ripped himself for the effort against Davis, who finished 24-of-34 from the field to post the NBA’s single-game high for the season and the best ever at the Palace, topping LeBron James’ 48-point outburst in the 2007 Eastern Conference finals. Davis had 51 points in the final three quarters alone, and later shrugged, “After a while, you feel like any shot you put up is going to go in.”

“That one’s on me,” Van Gundy insisted. “You’ve got to come up with something. A guy can’t get 59. That’s terrible coaching. Terrible.”




See, that's why I love coaches love Stan Van Gundy. He could have very easily walked up to the podium and said that Anthony Davis just had "one of those nights" where every single shot he takes finds the bottom of the net. He could very easily written it off as an anomaly instead of a reflection of his own work, but instead he said what everyone with a brain should have already known as fact. If one player scores more than half of their team's points then the opposing team, and ultimately it's head coach, are culpable for letting it happen. That doesn't make Anthony's Davis 59 point, 20 rebound night any less impressive. He still had to beat his man. He still had to make those shots. He still had to grab those boards. However, to act like the team he did it against couldn't have done anything to make it harder on him is just flat out false. Remember the night Kobe Bryant put up 81 points against the Toronto? Think Sam Mitchell has some regrets, or do you think if he could do it all over again he would continue to single cover one of the best players in NBA history while he was unconsciously hot? If you don't know the answer to that then I would suggest checking with Jalen Rose. Any decent coach knows there is something he could have done differently when he loses a game, and that couldn't be more true when his team allows the opposing center to make 13 field goals from within 5 feet of the rim...