Vivlamore: 'Stan Van Gundy reports are overstated'

The Atlanta Hawks still have made no decision on their head coaching position, and Hawks beat writer Chris Vivlamore says that Yahoo Sports' report that Danny Ferry is "aggressively" pursuing Stan Van Gundy was "overstated." Now Vivlamore's report never actually explains to us how it is overstated but does provide a statement from Ferry regarding Larry Drew:

"I have great appreciation and respect for Larry and how he led our team this season," Ferry told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "At the same time, it is my responsibility and in the best interests of the Hawks organization to consider all of our options, and talk with other potential head coaches before making a decision about who will lead our basketball team. Larry and I have had open communication about this approach. If Larry and I continue to work together, we ultimately will be a stronger organization because of our discussions and this thorough process."

Now I could launch into a 1,000-word tirade about how this season's coverage of the Atlanta Hawks by the city's largest newspaper was severely lacking compared to the season prior, but I will refrain. Vivlamore confirms that Van Gundy is one of the names that Ferry plans to meet with about the head coaching position and also confirms that Ferry has already spoken to Van Gundy over the phone. All of that was in Adrian Wojnarowski's report.

So are the Hawks pursuing Van Gundy aggressively? Only Danny Ferry knows, but since he has taken over, what has he done that wasn't aggressive? Besides every wish list has to have a name at the top, and in this case it seems that could be Van Gundy. That list no doubt includes other names with the likes of Mike Budenholzer, Quin Snyder and others. Larry Drew is probably also on that list, but the point is expect Ferry to be thorough and expect him to be aggressive.