Watch CBS News

Stan Van Gundy Would Exploit Clinton-vs-Trump Matchup

By: Will Burchfield
@burchie_kid

So, Stan Van Gundy, did you get a chance to watch the first presidential debate on Monday night?

The Pistons coach grinned.

"Oh yea. Any chance I get. I watched the whole thing," he said.

Then he paused and seemed to bite his tongue. Van Gundy wanted to say more. He always does.

So he struck a happy medium.

"I'll just analyze it from a coach's perspective," he said.

Imagine Van Gundy's team had Hillary Clinton. And imagine the opposition had Donald Trump.

"If I could get that matchup every night, I'd go to it every time down the floor, I'd go to that matchup every time," Van Gundy laughed. "That's all I'm saying.

"Just keep going, right there, keep going, run it back. I'd go to that matchup all night long, and that's how we look at things, right? We try to find an advantageous matchup. I found it last night."

Van Gundy clarified he has nothing against Trump's supporters. In fact, he completely understands why certain people would vote for the Republican Party candidate.

"There's a lot of people in this area and throughout here and Ohio and the Rust Belt states who have been left behind on the recovery from the recession. They've lost jobs and everything else and so they want something new. They don't want to hear the same old stuff because it hasn't worked for them, so I'm not in any way putting them down," Van Gundy said.

But as for Trump's debate tactics?

"Oh, my lord," Van Gundy said.

"I'm just talking about last night and watching two people on the debate, and I'd go to that matchup all the time."

The second presidential debate will be held on Sunday, October 9 at 9 p.m. It is unclear, at this point, if it will spill onto the basketball court.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.