Stan Van Gundy Calls Out his Players

In this holiday edition post, I came across this clip in the Sportscenter highlights tonight. The Magic just got blown out at home no less, a 19-point beatdown at the hands of the Utah Jazz. Stan Van Gundy, obviously frustrated at his team, let it all hang out. Here is the clip,



This is part of the transcript as well,

"We're absolutely frightened of contact -- frightened. We won't put our body in front of anybody driving the ball to the basket. We don't screen anybody, we won't block anybody out. It's a soft team, and until they change the results won't change."

The Magic were one of the best teams heading into December, and now have lost 7 of their last 9, including 4 straight at home.

I think it's a good move by Stan Van Gundy to call out the toughness and motivation of the team. I usually don't think these kind of public dress-downs work and I've seen them backfire in the past, but in this case I think the situation warrants it. The talent is certainly there, the Magic just aren't playing good team defense right now, and it shows.