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|  | | Van Gundy is obviously a good coach, but far different than Riley. |
Of the 15 coaches in the East who hatched plots and honed their squads last October, only four are around this weekend. They are four of the most competitive men in their game, scrappers and schemers, guys with big egos and records to match. Bullies sometimes, cut-throat sometimes. By Sunday, two will go home for the summer to brood, two will move on and continue the duel.
The NBA West has the best of it on the court. No denying that. But it's on the sideline where the East offers the greater intrigue. When the Finals start next month the East's chance will rest squarely on the ability of the surviving coach to conjure a stunning upset.
The duels of the Larrys -- Brown from Philadelphia, Bird from Indiana -- on one side, and of two former comrades -- Jeff Van Gundy of the Knicks and Pat Riley of the Heat -- on the other offer the little plot twists that make their series far more compelling than some of the small talents that labor on their behalf.
You want to talk staying power? Riley has won 999 regular season NBA games and three titles. Brown has won 732 regular season NBA games, 229 more in the NBA, 177 in college, a total of 1,138 which puts him 41 games behind Lenny Wilkens in cumulative coaching victories. He won an NCAA title, finished second, finished third.
Stand in Brown shoes. Across the court, Bird has most of the key elements of an Indiana team Brown twice took to the East finals. Seven straight times since last Spring those Pacers beat Brown's kids in postseason play. Finally, the Sixers have made their breakthrough. Down 0-3, they can force a seventh game by winning on Friday.
Down in Miami, it's one of the wildest scripts written for the NBA since the league started on its long expansionist program back in the '70s. While old line rivalries decline as teams meet only two to four times a season, the Knicks and Heat have kept their feudal fires burning white hot with three playoff series in the last four years, the Knicks winning two, with the number of wins for each team even at 13-13.
Van Gundy was Riley's top assistant in New York where Turncoat Pat is reviled even five years after defecting. Their relationship has deteriorated as the rivalry was forged through the bench clearing battle that left the Knicks vulnerable and out of the playoffs in '97. Early on, Riley shot darts at a stunned Van Gundy, who once worshipped him. And there is the enduring vision of Van Gundy holding onto Alonzo Mourning's leg, being dragged like an angry Chihuahua in a melee during a game at New York, Riley, head down, utterly defeated after Mourning was ejected for fighting and throwing a sucker punch late in another playoff game at the Garden.
Relate to your own family dynamics and consider: Jeff's brother Stan is Riley's assistant head coach. How relaxed are those family dinners.
Take a closer look:
Larry Lifer vs. Larry Legend
Larry Lifer is a teacher and a yenta. If he can make you see things a little better he's had a good day. If he can steal something from somebody else and help you he's had a great day. It's his ethnic Long Island upbringing. It doesn't take a village with Larry Life. It takes an entire schul.
Larry Legend grew up not knowing a pastrami sandwich from a bagel. The Hick from French Lick only knew he wanted to play basketball and unlike Larry Lifer, who played in five pro cities in five years and is on his ninth coaching stop -- two college, seven pro -- Larry Legend is a nester. Boston was his only home as a player, Indiana apparently his only stop as a coach. Three sparkling years and out.
Consider this. Larry Lifer probably sits at the dinner table and diagrams plays -- sugar rubs off the pepper, salt shaker makes a back cut, water glass takes his man to the wing to eliminate double team help. Larry Legend spent much of his career under minimalist coach K.C. Jones, whose strategy centered on single word commands. "Kevin. Larry. Robert. D.J." That's what it took to get the Celtics going. Today's coaching takes up to much of the Legend's time. He got in it to try it and he made his millions. But he's smart enough to know that life holds other fascinations.
Watching this series, you get a sense that Brown knows what the Pacers will do before they do. And why not? Remember, he taught them. And Bird, with his quizzical expression, you get the feeling he knows what the Pacers will do after Rick Carlisle tells him. And that's okay, too. One scowl from Bird, one verbal needle, they know what he wants.
Jeff Van Schlep vs. Patrick Armani
Van Gundy is a schlep compared to his old boss -- thinning hair askew, wrinkled shirt tail half out of his pants, grimacing, wildly gesturing, cajoling. And inside there is a terrific coach and such a witty man he could do stand up.
On the other side of the 10-second line there is Riley, long hair greased over craggy features that suggest a lifetime on the continent. Riley claims that as he reached his 55th birthday he noticed he had become an easier guy. And we know this is true because we see that he often wears a dark Armani blazer instead of a dark Armani suit.
Riley betrays his lack of sensitivity when he says the Gestapo should force Miamians to root for the Heat, shows his tunnel vision when he reacts badly because a few players walked around Manhattan instead of staying holed up in their hotel rooms to focus on games, plays mind games even with Mourning by questioning his effort.
Van Gundy shows his assistant coach's roots, his New York state of mind by trying to make nice. Imagine Riley stubbornly defending Patrick Ewing even as the old warriors' skills fade.
In simplest terms:
Brown and Bird: For one it's a way of life; for the other it's been there, done that.
Van Gundy and Riley: For one it's a chess match; for the other it's war.
Jeffrey Denberg, who covers the NBA for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.
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ALSO SEE
New York vs. Miami
Philadelphia vs. Indiana
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