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With his baggy eyes, sagging suits and thinning hair, Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy seems to epitomize the stressed-out manager. Two years ago, he walked out on the Knicks at the start of what proved to be a disastrous season. Yet Van Gundy insists that although his team is fighting for play-off position in the NBA's talent-rich Western Conference, he's not an anxious guy. "Being a coach is more frustrating than stressful, because so much is beyond your control." He may draw up the brilliant play, but Yao Ming has to make the chip shot. Knowing that someday they are likely to be fired, Van Gundy and others take comfort in the big paychecks. Before he got to the top, he scraped along as a lowly assistant at the college and pro levels. Real stress, he says, is "living paycheck to paycheck to take care of the bills." Next to that, listening to 20,000 fans screaming for your head is easy.