When the New Orleans Pelicans announced the hiring of Stan Van Gundy, many fans burst with excitement thinking about how Van Gundy will unlock Zion Williamson. I won’t lie, that was one of my first thoughts too when I first heard the news.
Now that I’m digging deeper into Stan Van Gundy’s history and scheme, I’ve realized that it’s not just Zion Williamson who’s going to benefit from Van Gundy’s presence, it’s also Lonzo Ball.
The reason I say this is because we evaluated Van Gundy’s offensive and defensive systems, I found that having a strong lead guard is just as, if not, more important than having an elite big man.