The Suns should KEEP HORNACEK and STAY PAT and here's why

[GMATCallahan]

One of the reasons the Suns seems to be playing terrible defense the last 20 games has been the move to Run and Gun.
From the moment Leuer and Teletovic started getting big minutes and started jacking up 3s... some of which goes in... the defense has become an after thought.

I think its a head coaching direction.... basically, letting the game become shoot outs...

... not so sure about this theory. First, the Defensive Real Plus-Minus data suggests that while Teletovic constitutes a defensive liability, Leuer holds his own defensively.

http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/sort/DRPM/position/6

http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/page/3/sort/DRPM/position/6

Personally, I would agree. The Suns will probably need more defensively at power forward than what Leuer can provide, but his defense has been better than that of Morris this season, as indicated by the Defensive Real Plus-Minus data.

Second, Leuer has not been a high-volume three-point shooter, and both he and Teletovic have proved extremely efficient on threes. Markieff Morris has also shot a lot of long two-point jumpers and threes, with the difference being that he has shot a terrible percentage overall, which is what compromises a defense more than anything (because the defense then struggles to get back and set up).

And Morris was so bad that Hornacek basically had no choice but to look elsewhere.

Besides, the Suns were playing at an extremely fast pace before the insertion of Leuer and Teletovic, mainly because they have to play that way due to their lack of efficient half-court offense. And does Golden State not "run-and-gun" and also play great defense? You actually can do both ...

The Warriors rank second in Pace and third in Defensive Rating; the Suns rank third in Pace and seventeenth in Defensive Rating.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/GSW/2016.html

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/PHO/2016.html?lid=standings_team

[GMATCallahan]

Getting a new coach will likely "inspire" the team to play well for several games and could push Suns up from a top 5 pick to a pick between 10 and 14.... so I would prefer to watch this train wreck knowing there is a HUGE payoff in the end.

Also to quote Kobe.. ‘There’s so much beauty in the pain of this thing’


With that said... some people wont like it... BUT...

Kobe Bryant is going to retire at seasons end, and he has indicated he wants to BUY an NBA team.

I would LOVE for Kobe to buy the Suns from Sarver.

Kobe is COMPETITIVE as heck.... I cant see him tolerate losing much.


NOTE: I hate Kobe, I enjoyed hating him. But now with Lakers losing and Kobe about to retire, I am now less harsh on him and am actually a bit nostalgic.

The Kobester has a lot of dough, but I doubt that he has that much ...

He probably means that he will go into business after retirement and try to buy a team down the road as part of a group of investors.

Moreover, being extremely "competitive" only gets you so far. In management, vision, wisdom, humility, and prudence are just as important. No one involved in basketball proved more competitive than Michael Jordan, but how many playoff series has he won as an owner?

Right, zero.

[GMATCallahan]

As for two "point guards" (note the quotation marks), the issue in my view is not an overlap of assets so much as an overlap of deficiencies. Brandon Knight is not a real point guard, and Eric Bledsoe's assists-to-turnover ratio is inadequate for a primary point guard, as it always has been. Thus he needs help for the offense to function properly, but Knight is not necessarily sufficient because his assists-to-turnover ratio is even worse. If anything, the Suns might be better off if they actually paired Bledsoe with a true point guard—in other words, if they made the system more of a two-point guard offense rather than less of one.

To this point of mine, a player that the Suns are really missing is ... Isaiah Thomas. He was far from an elite playmaker, but he is better in that regard than Bledsoe and Knight. He was also the Suns' best pick-and-roll guard, half-court penetrator, and free throw shooter, with the ability to excel in the open court as well.

Trading Thomas for a marginal pick and a little salary cap space (which basically went to an aging Tyson Chandler) is arguably shaping up as McDonough's greatest mistake.

[WeekapaugGroove]

Meh I really couldn't care less if horny finishes the year or not. He won't be here next year so really it's a moot point. Now if he refuses to play Warren booker and len big minutes then fire his ass in the middle of a game, at this point the only two positive things that can happen are the young guys getting run and a higher chance to land Simmons.

[WeekapaugGroove]

I actually hope the suns get crazy this last 50 games and just start expirimenting. Have len take 10 3s a game or Archie play 30 mins at pg. Have some fun with this abortion of a roster.

[bwgood77]

Meh I really couldn't care less if horny finishes the year or not. He won't be here next year so really it's a moot point. Now if he refuses to play Warren booker and len big minutes then fire his ass in the middle of a game, at this point the only two positive things that can happen are the young guys getting run and a higher chance to land Simmons.

I really can't see Hornacek being here that much longer.