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I gotta say I am EXTREMELY impressed with what he has done.

I mean, this guy is getting more out of players than I can remember. I mean, D'Antoni was surprising his first year, but we knew Nash, Marion and Amare and even Joe Johnson were great or good players at that point. I have to go back to Cotton's first year to being even close to surprised at what the team is doing.

Hornacek is taking a bunch of players that wouldn't start for almost ANY teams in the league and is competing with good teams. This Spurs game was extremely impressive. These guys arguably should have won the finals, but obviously they were damn close, and without Dragic, here we are hanging with them until the end IN San Antonio.

Plumlee and Green couldn't get ANY playing time for Indiana, and if you read anything from the best analysts/writers last year Indiana's biggest weakness was their bench, and I consider their coach to be really solid. He obviously didn't have much confidence in these guys. And this is a team that was a game away from the finals.

I don't think Hornacek's impact could be more understated. Everyone raves about McDonough, and rightly so, but most of what he has done is get rid of the vets we all thought was needed. He wasn't going to do that without the Wizards needing a center, Indiana needing solid bench vets, etc. Hornacek getting this stuff out of bench players that never played for other teams, and getting all star level play from Bledsoe in nothing short of incredible to me.

I can only imagine what he can do with top tier talent. The only downside with overachieving is not allowing himself to get that top tier talent to work with, but I think regardless of where we end up in the draft, we will get a solid player, and more importantly, that no matter who he gets, he will get the most out of them....likely moreso than guys taken earlier.

I feel like he will work better with younger players to teach them how to play, and that it would be best if we don't sign any mid tier vets that may be stuck in their ways (though Green is a good example of why he may be able to even get the most out of guys like that). It does appear that even building from the ground up, we will be super competitive. It reminds me of Sloan. I remember after Stockton and Malone left the Jazz, I was super impressed with how Sloan continued to keep his team, regardless of players, always competitive, and Hornacek obviously is the same way. Cotton kind of did the same thing with KJ (kind of like Hornacek is doing with Bledsoe) and guys who hadn't done much earlier, like Corbin and West, along with rookies like Majerle.

He deserves serious props.

He's got the team worth watching. It's really remarkable. Props to him for his leadership. I hope the he can help these players develop their outside shooting so we can really take advantage of running and I hope he can get these guys to make free throws at a very efficient %. Outside of that, I have no problems with him whatsoever thus far.

I'm sure he's doing all he can with the shooting stuff. I mean Gerald Green was never known for being a great shooter. PJ Tucker has been hitting threes. Markieff was on fire tonight. As for free throws, he can only do so much. That is more on the players. Just their intensity and decision making for such raw players against talented teams is remarkable.

Good front office, good coach...I feel like I'm dreaming

The pessimist Suns fan in me though figures the Lakers will somehow manage to snag both in the offseason

popo agrees

Pop ‘hates’ Hornacek
San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich was asked what he thought of Hornacek and his hire as Suns coach.

“I hate Jeff Hornacek,” Popovich said in his pregame press playfulness. “He was too tough as a player. He was too good of a shooter. He was too smart. I hated him.

“I can’t imagine him not doing a great job. He’s a quality one. He’s got great character and great perseverance. I’m sure he’ll be demanding and fair. It was great move and it’s going to prove to be really wise as time goes on.”

Told of Popovich’s feigned hatred, Hornacek said: “It’s nice to hear him say that. I was probably just a guy who played hard. I always thought I probably could have been a guy who, just like the Jerry Sloan teams in Utah, I could have fit right in on this team.”

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/ar ... -loss.html

we hate you too pop

Blackification wrote:popo agrees

Pop ‘hates’ Hornacek
San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich was asked what he thought of Hornacek and his hire as Suns coach.

“I hate Jeff Hornacek,” Popovich said in his pregame press playfulness. “He was too tough as a player. He was too good of a shooter. He was too smart. I hated him.

“I can’t imagine him not doing a great job. He’s a quality one. He’s got great character and great perseverance. I’m sure he’ll be demanding and fair. It was great move and it’s going to prove to be really wise as time goes on.”

Told of Popovich’s feigned hatred, Hornacek said: “It’s nice to hear him say that. I was probably just a guy who played hard. I always thought I probably could have been a guy who, just like the Jerry Sloan teams in Utah, I could have fit right in on this team.”

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/ar ... -loss.html

we hate you too pop

Nawww, spoken like a true Pop.

I HATED Pop for so long...then when he got Finley to foul Shaq on the first play of the game, it cracked me up so much...Man that was hilarious.

He's a bloody funny guy - that bland, dry sense of humour.

Best coach in the league, hands down. Shame for that Finals game last year though...

Stoked we have Hornacek learning the head coaching role and teaching his players at the same time, great to see.

TASTIC wrote:I HATED Pop for so long...then when he got Finley to foul Shaq on the first play of the game, it cracked me up so much...Man that was hilarious.

He's a bloody funny guy - that bland, dry sense of humour.

Best coach in the league, hands down. Shame for that Finals game last year though...

Stoked we have Hornacek learning the head coaching role and teaching his players at the same time, great to see.

I never hated pop or timmy, I hated that we had to play against them but I respected those two. I was always indifferent about Parker, and I didn't like Ginobli because at the time he was the biggest flopper.

I really hated bowen and horry.

Horny rocks. Pop rocks.


Just that I can say that while making sense without sounding perverted is a feat in and of itself.

Lol. I remember playing basketball against Hornacek's two boys at the rec center. My team always whooped on em, but it was cool to see Hornacek in the bleachers haha. This was like... 9-10 years ago. Damn, time flies.

Anyway, he's doing a phenomenal job. I hope he can turn Alex Len into something.

Hornacek is doing a fantastic job so far. He preaches accountability, something Gentry or Porter or Hunter (:lol:) never did.

Guys are getting time, because they earn their playing time. He's getting 100% out of everyone who plays.
What Hornacek is doing is he really is making the game simple. No complicated defensive sets, no complicated X's and O's, just simple plays, and a simple philosophy: Give 100%, and run the hell out of the ball.

It's simple. It works, and it's getting everyone on this board Horny.

Appears to be another score for McDonough. He wasn't my pick for coach (granted I knew little about most of these coaches out there) but it looks to be the right call.

I'm happy because he is an articulate smart coach who was also a great shooter. I'm hoping that will pay dividends down the line with guys like Bledsoe and Goodwin.

I think Len might take a year or two due to his inexperience and injuries. I try to remind people that he has only been playing ball at a high level for a couple of years...

I think our defense is what has surprised me the most. Longbardi has done a heck of a job so far.

Through 5 games, we're:

20th in Offensive Efficiency
7th(!!) in Defensive Efficiency
15th in Pace, even though we lead the league in fastbreak points. Shows that this team has some SERIOUS running potential if they pick up the pace. It doesn't feel like it, but last year's team played faster than this one does.

rsavaj wrote:I think our defense is what has surprised me the most. Longbardi has done a heck of a job so far.

Through 5 games, we're:

20th in Offensive Efficiency
7th(!!) in Defensive Efficiency
15th in Pace, even though we lead the league in fastbreak points. Shows that this team has some SERIOUS running potential if they pick up the pace. It doesn't feel like it, but last year's team played faster than this one does.

Before the SA game, we were 12th and 3rd in those team efficiency categories.

rsavaj wrote:I think our defense is what has surprised me the most. Longbardi has done a heck of a job so far.

Through 5 games, we're:

20th in Offensive Efficiency
7th(!!) in Defensive Efficiency
15th in Pace, even though we lead the league in fastbreak points. Shows that this team has some SERIOUS running potential if they pick up the pace. It doesn't feel like it, but last year's team played faster than this one does.

This was ironic, because before the season nbatv said we'd be fine offensively, but terrible defensively. I didn't agree with that assessment, and it looks as if the stats back my thought. I thought we got better defensively, with more hustle players and we got rid of the less engaged players.

I loved Hornacek as a player, and I think it is getting to be the same thing for him as a coach. He is definitely making my optimism earlier valid. Keep it up guys!

bwgood77 wrote:

rsavaj wrote:I think our defense is what has surprised me the most. Longbardi has done a heck of a job so far.

Through 5 games, we're:

20th in Offensive Efficiency
7th(!!) in Defensive Efficiency
15th in Pace, even though we lead the league in fastbreak points. Shows that this team has some SERIOUS running potential if they pick up the pace. It doesn't feel like it, but last year's team played faster than this one does.

Before the SA game, we were 12th and 3rd in those team efficiency categories.

Yeah, we'll have to see how those numbers even out once Dragic gets back into the lineup and there is a larger sample size. The athleticism and defense have been a real shock to me. They don't play like a really young team.

rsavaj wrote:I think our defense is what has surprised me the most. Longbardi has done a heck of a job so far.

Through 5 games, we're:

20th in Offensive Efficiency
7th(!!) in Defensive Efficiency
15th in Pace, even though we lead the league in fastbreak points. Shows that this team has some SERIOUS running potential if they pick up the pace. It doesn't feel like it, but last year's team played faster than this one does.

I was checking out where the Suns ranked in team stats and efficiency the other day, and the defense was great almost across the board (all in the top half of the league). Offense was a little off for the Suns, BUT... it was a different story when Dragic was in the games, IIRC. Dragic + Bledsoe in extended time will push the teams pace up to the top 7, at the least, and I'd make a wager that their Offensive Efficiency goes way up with Dragic back.

I really think this team would be 5-0 right now if not for those two unfortunate game ending injuries in a row for Dragic.

We don't even need all these statistics to see our defense has gotten better. Just pick one of our 5 games and look at whats going on its great.