PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy likes where the Knicks are, wherever that is once the lockout ends, but he doesn’t see them coming out of the Eastern Conference anytime soon.
“I don’t think anybody’s beating the Heat in the East,” he said Friday at Rutgers at the first annual clinic to benefit The Brayden Carr Foundation.
“I think the Heat will continue to get better. I think the Heat will face less noise this year.”
He added: “I still think they’re going to win multiple championships.”
Still, the man who led the Knicks to the 19999 NBA Finals likes where the Knicks are despite getting swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs last season.
“I think the Knicks have done an unbelievable job over the last couple years in positioning themselves,” he said. “Donnie Walsh getting them under the salary cap and then signing [Amar’e] Stoudemire, trading for [Carmelo] Anthony. And now they just have to build up a little bit better depth because some of their depth was depleted by the Anthony trade.
“But I think they’re in great shape and I think they’re going to be a 50-team win.”
