As the Knicks trot on with their regular season with newly tabbed interim head coach Mike Miller, former head coach and current ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy sees great things in him and his potential future.

Since Miller took over a 4-18 Knicks squad, the team has had its own version of success, going 3-3, including the team's best offensive performance in nearly 40 years last time out against the Hawks.

Despite the shakiness of becoming an interim coach midway through a season, Van Gundy believes Miller has a chance to pull things out and possibly get that "interim" tag taken off his title.

"As a lifer who has not had it easy to get to the NBA, he is enjoying this great opportunity. And I'm not going to be surprised at the end of the year if Steve Mills and Scott Perry say, 'Hey, he did such a great job that we're going forward with him.'" Van Gundy said in an interview with The Athletic.

According to Van Gundy -- who reportedly is on the Knicks' coaching "short list" -- and his former mentor Pat Riley, players care about four things when it comes to their head coach.

"Are you confident, sincere, reliable and trustworthy? And if you are, they don't care if you played or didn't play in the NBA, are black or white, big or small," Van Gundy explained. "That's what they want. I believe Mike has all four of those completely knocked out of the park. That's why I think he'll be successful."

Van Gundy became familiar with Miller a few years ago as he watched the G League -- and specifically the Westchester Knicks -- as he put together the US National Team and he would take to the qualifiers for the 2019 FIBA World Cup. After positive remarks from executives around the league, Van Gundy added Miller to his staff.

"It was an easy decision to bring him on," Van Gundy told The Athletic. "When I got to know him during that period of time, he combined great knowledge with incredible humility and a tremendous teaching ability. It was fabulous. I saw first-hand why he'd been so successful in the G League and I think I saw first-hand why I think he'll be so successful in the NBA as well."

With Miller taking over for David Fizdale, Van Gundy didn't seem too envious of him taking the interim role in the middle of a season.

"There's not one benefit of coming in as an interim coach," Van Gundy said. "Not one. No preparation time. You have to take over for someone who hired you who just got through a traumatic, life-altering experience of losing a job. You have to navigate how you can be loyal to that person and at that same time move forward with your team to get them to play well. That's a very hard thing to do."

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