Though New York Post columnist Peter Vecsey has gotten a few right now and then, he is not known in NBA circles for his accuracy in reporting.
However, even though the recipe for reading his dish calls for several dashes of salt, it still came as a shock to see his column in the Post on Sunday, which ripped the relationship between Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy and Rockets GM Carroll Dawson.
"Sources say Jeff Van Gundy and Carroll Dawson are no longer on speaking terms," writes Vecsey. "A reenactment of the ruthless friction that transpired in New York between Van Gundy and Ernie Grunfeld, which led to the firing of the Knicks team president. I'm informed Van Gundy is so angry with the personnel Carroll has provided that he recently told free-agent pickup Stromile Swift, 'Would you please ask to be traded.'"
Despite the column being listed in an automated news feed that the Rockets official site uses for articles, it was not included on the site.
While we have no knowledge to say specifically that a falling out has not occurred, the article screams of inaccuracy. Any writer that covers the Rockets would know that Dawson does not act independently in bringing in the players that he does.
It has been well known for years how the Rockets operate. Dawson works closely with Rockets owner Les Alexander, Van Gundy and all personnel staff. He communicates what can be had, but he doesn't pull the trigger without the key players saying what they think. Dawson does not call Van Gundy one morning to say, "Surprise! I got good news and bad news - which do you want first?"
I was at training camp, standing right in front of Van Gundy, when he talked about the research he did on Rafer Alston, how he discussed him with his brother Stan Van Gundy (who Rafer played for in Miami) before making the deal. I also listened to Dawson say that the team had other options, but this was the one "we" felt best about.
During the whole Derek Anderson situation, Van Gundy said he "knew we would be trading for Keith Bogans, so I thought it would be the right time to get together and see how we would move forward." The Bogans deal had been worked on for "weeks", according to Dawson.
So it begs the question: If Van Gundy knew, well in advance, about Alston and Bogans, why wouldn't he have had input on Stromile and D.A.?
The answer is simple - of course he had input and was very much involved in the personnel decisions, making it unlikely that Vecsey's reporting was on target.
