Jeff Hornacek Fired

[NavLDO]

Gambo just broke a news story as he was talking on the radio. He said he just got a text from one of the players on the team (he would not say which player) and the player said the team found about Hornacek's firing on the news this morning and the front office did not tell the players themselves. I guess that is not surprising considering how this organization has been run recently. The media knew about Hornacek's firing before the players did.

Who cares. He got fired at 1-4am this morning when arriving home to Phoenix. You think McD is going to conduct a meeting with the players at that time? Gambo just trying to stir something up, as always. They went to sleep, woke up and saw it on the news/twitter. Duh!


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I think you might be looking at it from the wrong angle...the fact that Horny was fired at 2 AM, shows how 'hot-headed' Sarver is; didn't even wait until the next morning, you know, maybe sleep on it? But no, let's fire the HC as soon as he gets back from a road game.

Why not wait until the morning, or whenever the team was next to meet for practice, then bring Horny in, fire him, then immediately call a team meeting, and inform the team.

Saint (and likely Frank) are blaming McD for being the cold-hearted bastard, but again, I highly doubt that McD is the one that decided to fire Horny at that moment. That stinks to high heaven of a Sarver move; similar to his rant in preseason against the Spurs when they sat half the team--the primary starters--and promised free tickets. Does anyone here think that Sarver gave that a lot of thought before he pulled that stunt? No, and I can almost guarantee that Horny did something THAT game to piss off Sarver, and he decided, in his infinite wisdom, to fire Horny on the spot! This entire franchise is an embarrassment, and it stems from it's owner.

[NavLDO]

You've got to be kidding me. Unbelievable. Or believable, I guess. He seems to be a good speaker, but he certainly isn't very good with player relationships.

McD should just go back to being a scout where he can just deal with analytics, because he's an hotheaded interpersonally challenged clown who doesn't think twice before hanging out someone to dry to save his own hide. He has probably alienated the entire team and he keeps wondering why players are either refusing to come here or are demanding out

well said and echoed


seems rather awkward... may be there should have been a team meeting/practice to announce this first thing in the AM. But, we have heard it before... McDamntheTorpedos does not see the need to discuss personnel moves with players.

I didn't read this before my post above, but you are half right, Frank. The part you are wrong about is that this was in any way, shape, or form, McD's doing. McD, I'm sure, was directed to do the dirty work, but Sarver is the one who flies off the handle is completely reactionary, not McD.

But you are right, this should have been done the following morning, not right after the game when emotions are high.

[Sunsss]

McD will be on radio in 15 minutes.

[Donald_Trade]

Can somebody list the positive accomplishments that can be attributed to Hornacek as the coach? I'd be interested in reading that.

[aIvin adams]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkL1XGLMPLs[/youtube]

[Donald_Trade]

No offense but that video is a great example of having a conclusion and then making up a story how it came to that.

How exactly is Tyson Chandler holding back Len? He is not.
Also LaMarcus Aldridge was very very close to actually being a Sun.

[ATTL]

Ryan can on the sports radio show this morning at 8:45. Had to go in to work so I couldn't hear what he had to say not that it would be anything groundbreaking .

[Donald_Trade]

He said that he takes responsibility over the roster and that we need to get more talent.

Cited Golden State as an example of a team that had to have a lot of patience and finally developed a great team through their draft.

He also said that players told him they were looking for more structure and discipline in terms of coaching.

[saintEscaton]

Ryan can on the sports radio show this morning at 8:45. Had to go in to work so I couldn't hear what he had to say not that it would be anything groundbreaking .

Lol McDonothing with his usual damage control spin, hes gunna get awfully warm sitting on his hands. Admitted that keeping Kieff was his idea and that he has hope that he can still turn it around. Also reiterated that this team isn't as far away as most think because westarted off strong going 7-5

[Qwigglez]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkL1XGLMPLs[/youtube]

Makes you wonder who is really at fault here...

[Jarlaxle0204]

It's interesting to note that I got an email last week from the Suns ticket sale team offering me free tickets to an upcoming game (I think it was Toronto?)

I wonder if Sarver saw the already low ticket sales plummeting and freaked out. LOL.

Didn't Sarver buy the Suns for 550 million? Aren't they now estimated to be worth just over a billion?

He can double his money in just over 10 years. I hope he takes the money and walks away.

I really would not be surprised if the concern over ticket sales, and especially the renewal of season tickets, played a major role here.

I don't know how they think winning a couple extra games this season will increase ticket sales next year versus getting a potential top 3 pick? I would think the thought of a top line player might increase ticket sales more.

[letsgosuns]

If Ryan McDonough truly believed Markieff Morris would be professional and play the same way, he is a horrible judge of character.

[ATTL]

Ryan can on the sports radio show this morning at 8:45. Had to go in to work so I couldn't hear what he had to say not that it would be anything groundbreaking .

Lol McDonothing with his usual damage control spin, hes gunna get awfully warm sitting on his hands. Admitted that keeping Kieff was his idea and that he has hope that he can still turn it around. Also reiterated that this team isn't as far away as most think because westarted off strong going 7-5

Good Lord. Did he really cite starting 7-5 as hope for the future of the team? I think going 7-30 is more telling of our talent level than the first 12 games.
I still want to give him time to work on the team because the constant turnover top to bottom is ridiculous.

[WeekapaugGroove]

If Ryan McDonough truly believed Markieff Morris would be professional and play the same way, he is a horrible judge of character.

Totally agree. Markeif acting like a spoiled idiot child was the most predictable thing ever. Having him on the roster to start his season was borderline criminal negligence.

[Donald_Trade]

If Ryan McDonough truly believed Markieff Morris would be professional and play the same way, he is a horrible judge of character.

Totally agree. Markeif acting like a spoiled idiot child was the most predictable thing ever. Having him on the roster to start his season was borderline criminal negligence.

Trading him for nothing or even attaching value to move him would have been criminal.

Markieff has proven himself as a player capable of starting or winning a 6th man award. He is on a good contract too.

You don't add talent just to move him. The last thing a rebuilding team should do is lose talent for nothing.

Also giving in to Markieffs demands would have made the Suns look weak. You can't let a player dictate what to do.

[thamadkant]

If McD is serious about the 7-5 start of the Suns.

Then I would have to join the "he's crazy" wagon here and proceed to be depressed and sad about the state of the Suns.... Basically kill off the dream of getting a potential young franchise player any time soon.

[bwgood77]

Can somebody list the positive accomplishments that can be attributed to Hornacek as the coach? I'd be interested in reading that.

This has been listed several times recently.

[WeekapaugGroove]

If Ryan McDonough truly believed Markieff Morris would be professional and play the same way, he is a horrible judge of character.

Totally agree. Markeif acting like a spoiled idiot child was the most predictable thing ever. Having him on the roster to start his season was borderline criminal negligence.

Trading him for nothing or even attaching value to move him would have been criminal.

Markieff has proven himself as a player capable of starting or winning a 6th man award. He is on a good contract too.

You don't add talent just to move him. The last thing a rebuilding team should do is lose talent for nothing.

Also giving in to Markieffs demands would have made the Suns look weak. You can't let a player dictate what to do.

My counter argument is they probably could have gotten some value had they traded keif in July before he went completely off the rash.

[AtheJ415]

He said that he takes responsibility over the roster and that we need to get more talent.

Cited Golden State as an example of a team that had to have a lot of patience and finally developed a great team through their draft.

He also said that players told him they were looking for more structure and discipline in terms of coaching.

The bolded is the most obvious thing we have been missing on the court for the past 3 years imo. Lack of assists, huge turnovers, end of game and situational scenarios, etc.. People can claim our team is just too stupid if they want, but that wouldn't explain the lack of improvement. The bar was incredibly low and Hornacek couldn't get Smith, Thomas, Goran, Bledsoe, Knight, (and even Goodwin) to improve enough that our team became anything other than horrific in these areas.

[AtheJ415]

I can't believe how many people are willing to give Hornacek a free pass here, there are so many things that point in Hornacek's direction. Plus the local media trying to paint this picture of Hornacek being set up to fail. I am not saying Hornacek is the MAIN reason for our struggles but he at least played a big part in it.

1. Hornacek lost control of the locker room a long time ago and likely the respect of his players. Evidence is the trouble last season, especially with Marcus Morris shouting at him.

2. Hornacek has in the past openly said that it is not his job to be a leader and that the players must step up. Hornacek is a coach that lets players to their thing which is not a good thing with a young rebuilding team.

3. Hornacek is always sarcastic, he does not seem very inspirational. This might work for Popovic but again doubtful this is a good approach with young players on a rebuilding team.

4. After three years you can't see any structure in our offense or even defense. Do not give me the excuse that our players are low IQ. That has nothing to do with the fact that the Suns hardly seem to run any plays or regularly botch plays completely after timeouts.

5. No stability in lineups. How many lineup changes did Hornacek make? Did he really develop young guys? Based on what we saw from Warren before the development is slower than expected and Hornacek benches him for mistakes. Alex Len has not developed as expected either.

6. The dual PG lineups are clearly Hornacek's idea. There is no way that McDonough makes strategic decisions of how the Suns play. By all accounts Hornacek was always involved in personnel decisions. Plus Hornacek stuck with that idea even when Bledsoe or Knight were not available by playing Price instead.

7. Brandon Knight was very high on the Jazz wishlist in the 2011 draft at #3 when they opted for Kanter instead. Hornacek was a full time assistant with the Jazz at the time. It is not too far fetched to think that Hornacek played a role in trading Isaiah Thomas and targeting Knight as a replacement for Dragic.

I'll just add to the bolded. Jeff's job is also to evaluate the roster, and if he did that properly he'd realize he has to be the leader anyways because he doesn't have one on the team. He can't simply let the team meander along with no leadership or direction. That's exactly how you lose a locker room, and let a few losses spiral into the worst team in the NBA.

And for point 4, if Jeff did his job in evaluating players and realized his team was low IQ, he would've adjusted his system to become more structured with less reads. Fitting a square peg into a round hole doesn't work. Good coaches don't throw the year away by refusing to adjust their systems based on the personnel they have. Instead, they adapt the system to the strengths of their players. I'm not one who believes our players are just stupid, but for those who do, Jeff is every bit as stupid for not adjusting his system to make it work better. All I wanted to see was improvement. I had low expectations after Bledsoe went down in particular, but Jeff still failed to reach them.