Stein: Sources say Hornacek's job is "under immediate threat"

[TeamTragic]

[Saberestar]

Earl Watson's role with Suns has been minimal up to now. Players wanted him to have larger role. He's been an integral figure behind scenes.

https://mobile.twitter.com/ChrisBHaynes/status/681345810819231744

Interesting...It seems that Watson is a player's favourite.

[TeamTragic]

Adrian Wojnarowski ‏@WojYahooNBA 4 minHá 4 minutos Ver tradução
The Suns are firing assistant coaches Mike Longabardi and Jerry Sichting, league sources tell Yahoo. Jeff Hornacek future unclear.

WHAT A SHOCKER! We fired the assistant coaches

Ryan McDonough has now become the official king of letting things drag on so far past their breaking point. He just does not know when to cut his losses. It is unreal.

Not McD. SARVER!

Give Hornacek "one more chance."

Get ready for Ronnie Price + PJ Tucker 35mins a night while Booker is glued to the bench so that Horny can grab a few more wins to keep his job safe.

Sarver is behind this. I can smell it.

Would not be shocked to see Ronnie Price starting next to Knight for the rest of the season

The sad part is that is exactly what will happen. **** trade Tucker/Price already. God damnit.

[bwgood77]

It is interesting to read the comments on this column... http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--suns-owner--gm-hold-individual-meetings-with-players-to-assess-problems-212607403.html

[TeamTragic]

It is interesting to read the comments on this column... http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--suns-owner--gm-hold-individual-meetings-with-players-to-assess-problems-212607403.html

Interesting. They really hate McD and Hornacek is infallible. I don't even know what to say

[sunskerr]

I really think this is the correct move from a stats stand point because we have perhaps one of the worst defenses in the league. However, like most people you have to wonder how much Hornacek has lost the team because it really hasn't looked like they're responding to him. But if the individual meetings yielded this result, then maybe the locker room is different than what we're seeing as fans.

[AtheJ415]

Give Hornacek "one more chance."

Get ready for Ronnie Price + PJ Tucker 35mins a night while Booker is glued to the bench so that Horny can grab a few more wins to keep his job safe.

Sarver is behind this. I can smell it.

Would not be shocked to see Ronnie Price starting next to Knight for the rest of the season

Good lord I think you might be right about the price knight backcourt.... I just spewed in my mouth just thinking about it. **** us all

Edit add: I'm done puking. Really if booker doesn't start and be instructed to take 5+ 3's a game Jeff shouldn't last to 2016.

Hornacek thinks that will add more wins, but it won't. Booker and Warren are better players than Price and Tucker today. The stats bear that out dramatically. Playing RP and PT over the youngsters increases our likelihood of losing every minute they are on the court.

[thamadkant]

Hmmm...
Longabardi was coordinator of defense for Celtics championship team. So, he has proven record of being able to come up with defensive plans and structures. Is it his fault that players like Knight, Teletovic, Leuer, Booker, Warren etc allow penetration into the paint with little resistance making even a former DPOY center like Chandler to look like a scrub?

Its the offensive coordinator who probably insisted to put those players together on the court for some shooting ability but sacrificed defense thoroughly.

Now to defend the players side... I still notice that players like Warren, Booker, Goodwin, Leuer, Teletovic etc are playing outside of the X and Os... Due to them trying to prove themselves. Thats the head coach's fault for lack of communication and assurance. Example of plays that I felt were not X and Os, Booker passing out of a open shot to a player with 3 to 4 seconds to go from the shot clock when he is supposed to be the best shooter and logically at that part of the shot clock you are suppose to be the shooter.
Another example is Teletovic, curling around the elbow behind the arc 2 feet from the line throwing shots up rather than rotating it to the next player, he does it a lot with usually 10 to 15 seconds to go in the shot clock, I mean only Steph Curry and Thompson can hit those regularly. Teletovic should be rotating the ball and moving for a set shot when open.

If those plays above are planned X and Os... Then yup, fire the offensive coordinator and offense coach immediately... Stupid plays. If its a player doing his own thing, which has been said that Hornacek tends to allow, then thats on Hornacek.

Knight dribbling by himself after an outlet pass, towards the Suns side with all 4 of his team mates behind him then throwing up a shot... Is another example of either really bad direction or lack of player discipline... Again 1 or 2 players can do that in the NBA and its Curry or Harden... Knight is not on their level.




So... why did the coordinators get fired and not the head coach???

I think Sarver doesnt want to spend money on a new established coach and rather keep Hornacek until end of the season.

[Mulhollanddrive]

Needs an explanation.

You get the feeling whenever McDonough leaves in the future, he'll have some stories to tell.

[King4Day]

Hmmm...
Longabardi was coordinator of defense for Celtics championship team. So, he has proven record of being able to come up with defensive plans and structures. Is it his fault that players like Knight, Teletovic, Leuer, Booker, Warren etc allow penetration into the paint with little resistance making even a former DPOY center like Chandler to look like a scrub?

Its the offensive coordinator who probably insisted to put those players together on the court for some shooting ability but sacrificed defense thoroughly.

Now to defend the players side... I still notice that players like Warren, Booker, Goodwin, Leuer, Teletovic etc are playing outside of the X and Os... Due to them trying to prove themselves. Thats the head coach's fault for lack of communication and assurance. Example of plays that I felt were not X and Os, Booker passing out of a open shot to a player with 3 to 4 seconds to go from the shot clock when he is supposed to be the best shooter and logically at that part of the shot clock you are suppose to be the shooter.
Another example is Teletovic, curling around the elbow behind the arc 2 feet from the line throwing shots up rather than rotating it to the next player, he does it a lot with usually 10 to 15 seconds to go in the shot clock, I mean only Steph Curry and Thompson can hit those regularly. Teletovic should be rotating the ball and moving for a set shot when open.

If those plays above are planned X and Os... Then yup, fire the offensive coordinator and offense coach immediately... Stupid plays. If its a player doing his own thing, which has been said that Hornacek tends to allow, then thats on Hornacek.

Knight dribbling by himself after an outlet pass, towards the Suns side with all 4 of his team mates behind him then throwing up a shot... Is another example of either really bad direction or lack of player discipline... Again 1 or 2 players can do that in the NBA and its Curry or Harden... Knight is not on their level.




So... why did the coordinators get fired and not the head coach???

I think Sarver doesnt want to spend money on a new established coach and rather keep Hornacek until end of the season.

I think that's just those players' style of play. I'm pretty sure Teletovic did the same thing with the Nets. And Booker is a rookie. He's still learning to be comfortable when taking shots and when to pass.

I think after the meetings, the consensus was that these 2 assistants were problems to everyone. They all probably said Hornacek isn't the main problem or the problem at all and that they would respond to him.
So they took the players words to heart and let the problem coaches go first.

I'm sure the FO isn't looking for this team to be a playoff team now. They probably just want to see growth. If there's no improvement by the all star break, they likely let Jeff go then.

[kennydorglas]

YEY
HIT THE ROAD, LONGABARDI
AND DONT COME BACK NO MORE NO MORE NO MORE NO MORE

This is a gorgeous move by our FO.

[Mr Puddles]

[StunnaStan]

Must say phx is one of the dumbest organizations ive ever seen. You have 4 point guards and start 2 of them together, you have 2 offensively inept bigmen that can't create for themselves, 1 of those bad offense bigmen makes more than 50+ million, don't play tj warren(who is pretty good), start a 6'5 guy who also isn't a creator at small foward, traded marcus Morris for a bag of chips, only to realize that they traded the better of the twins for nothing.

How are these moves hornaceks fault. Fire the gm if anything but the roster is a joke. Probably should be doing what Philly is doing and tank for talent. You guys are kidding yourselfs

[kennydorglas]

Earl Watson and Bjorkgren were upgraded to the bench now.

[Grots]

I know you're a pathetic homer and all, but no, Marcus is not the better twin. Kieff is playing bad because he's mad at the org.

Though I do find it hilarious how Piston fans are puffing their chests out the minute they stop sucking for a long time.

[StunnaStan]

This actually my 1st year as a piston fan and didn't expect them to be as good as they are atm.

Ive actually been a nuggets fan for 17 years up until this new gm they got. Ive seen the playoffs every year from 03 to 2013 which included a western conference final so please believe me when I say im familiar with not just your team, but what a treadmill team is.

In this league, there's only 2 things you can be happy with your organization for. 1 is winning the nba championship, the other is getting the #1 pick. Yall have no chance at getting a championship in the next 5 years with the current roster. I also determined that with Denver.

Teams like phx and denver are in the worst possible situation. No a desirable destination for free agents. And the rosters are bad enough to miss the playoffs consistently yet too good to do bad enough for a top pick. You spend all year not knowing what to expect game to game and by February/march you realize you out the playoff picture. Thing is, if its takes you all the way up until feb/march to find out there's no playoffs, you can't turn around and be like, well lets get that top pick.

The sixers were smart enough to realize this and blew their team up before they would be forced to overpay bums such as jrue holiday due to the fact that he was the best player on a mediocre team. They look like a joke now, but theyll very likely be a much better team than you guys next season.

You guys lost to them without jahlil okafor. Next year when yall playem, not only will okafor be playing at POWER FOWARD, but joel embiid (the best player from last years draft. Hes as big as Drummond and whitesides height) will be playing center. Not to mention they have 3 to 4 1st round picks this year (they have a top 4 pick locked and will get lakers lottery pick if the pick is 5 and up) and a insane amount of money.

I say this because you guys are investing in a team which hasnt accomplished anything and doesn't even look good on paper. As a fan, i began to get tired of cheering for a team i wouldn't bet on. I would sacrifice a couple of seasons if i knew it would lead to my team having real talent. Plus when you do what philly does, you have all these good rookies for like 5-8 years automatically due to them becoming restricted free agents. I want to see teams i cheer for win championships not just win every other game or making the 1st rd to play an extra couple of games to get eliminated.

[RaisingArizona]

This actually my 1st year as a piston fan and didn't expect them to be as good as they are atm.

Ive actually been a nuggets fan for 17 years up until this new gm they got. Ive seen the playoffs every year from 03 to 2013 which included a western conference final so please believe me when I say im familiar with not just your team, but what a treadmill team is.

In this league, there's only 2 things you can be happy with your organization for. 1 is winning the nba championship, the other is getting the #1 pick. Yall have no chance at getting a championship in the next 5 years with the current roster. I also determined that with Denver.

Teams like phx and denver are in the worst possible situation. No a desirable destination for free agents. And the rosters are bad enough to miss the playoffs consistently yet too good to do bad enough for a top pick. You spend all year not knowing what to expect game to game and by February/march you realize you out the playoff picture. Thing is, if its takes you all the way up until feb/march to find out there's no playoffs, you can't turn around and be like, well lets get that top pick.

The sixers were smart enough to realize this and blew their team up before they would be forced to overpay bums such as jrue holiday due to the fact that he was the best player on a mediocre team. They look like a joke now, but theyll very likely be a much better team than you guys next season.

You guys lost to them without jahlil okafor. Next year when yall playem, not only will okafor be playing at POWER FOWARD, but joel embiid (the best player from last years draft. Hes as big as Drummond and whitesides height) will be playing center. Not to mention they have 3 to 4 1st round picks this year (they have a top 4 pick locked and will get lakers lottery pick if the pick is 5 and up) and a insane amount of money.

I say this because you guys are investing in a team which hasnt accomplished anything and doesn't even look good on paper. As a fan, i began to get tired of cheering for a team i wouldn't bet on. I would sacrifice a couple of seasons if i knew it would lead to my team having real talent. Plus when you do what philly does, you have all these good rookies for like 5-8 years automatically due to them becoming restricted free agents. I want to see teams i cheer for win championships not just win every other game or making the 1st rd to play an extra couple of games to get eliminated.

So in short, you're a bandwagon fan who picked the Pistons to hitch your wagon to. Cool.

[Son of Ra]

This actually my 1st year as a piston fan and didn't expect them to be as good as they are atm.

Ive actually been a nuggets fan for 17 years up until this new gm they got. Ive seen the playoffs every year from 03 to 2013 which included a western conference final so please believe me when I say im familiar with not just your team, but what a treadmill team is.

In this league, there's only 2 things you can be happy with your organization for. 1 is winning the nba championship, the other is getting the #1 pick. Yall have no chance at getting a championship in the next 5 years with the current roster. I also determined that with Denver.

Teams like phx and denver are in the worst possible situation. No a desirable destination for free agents. And the rosters are bad enough to miss the playoffs consistently yet too good to do bad enough for a top pick. You spend all year not knowing what to expect game to game and by February/march you realize you out the playoff picture. Thing is, if its takes you all the way up until feb/march to find out there's no playoffs, you can't turn around and be like, well lets get that top pick.

The sixers were smart enough to realize this and blew their team up before they would be forced to overpay bums such as jrue holiday due to the fact that he was the best player on a mediocre team. They look like a joke now, but theyll very likely be a much better team than you guys next season.

You guys lost to them without jahlil okafor. Next year when yall playem, not only will okafor be playing at POWER FOWARD, but joel embiid (the best player from last years draft. Hes as big as Drummond and whitesides height) will be playing center. Not to mention they have 3 to 4 1st round picks this year (they have a top 4 pick locked and will get lakers lottery pick if the pick is 5 and up) and a insane amount of money.

I say this because you guys are investing in a team which hasnt accomplished anything and doesn't even look good on paper. As a fan, i began to get tired of cheering for a team i wouldn't bet on. I would sacrifice a couple of seasons if i knew it would lead to my team having real talent. Plus when you do what philly does, you have all these good rookies for like 5-8 years automatically due to them becoming restricted free agents. I want to see teams i cheer for win championships not just win every other game or making the 1st rd to play an extra couple of games to get eliminated.

Stopped taking you seriously when you said you switched teams (especially when the reason given is the team being bad). Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

[AtheJ415]

Hmmm...
Longabardi was coordinator of defense for Celtics championship team. So, he has proven record of being able to come up with defensive plans and structures. Is it his fault that players like Knight, Teletovic, Leuer, Booker, Warren etc allow penetration into the paint with little resistance making even a former DPOY center like Chandler to look like a scrub?

Its the offensive coordinator who probably insisted to put those players together on the court for some shooting ability but sacrificed defense thoroughly.

Now to defend the players side... I still notice that players like Warren, Booker, Goodwin, Leuer, Teletovic etc are playing outside of the X and Os... Due to them trying to prove themselves. Thats the head coach's fault for lack of communication and assurance. Example of plays that I felt were not X and Os, Booker passing out of a open shot to a player with 3 to 4 seconds to go from the shot clock when he is supposed to be the best shooter and logically at that part of the shot clock you are suppose to be the shooter.
Another example is Teletovic, curling around the elbow behind the arc 2 feet from the line throwing shots up rather than rotating it to the next player, he does it a lot with usually 10 to 15 seconds to go in the shot clock, I mean only Steph Curry and Thompson can hit those regularly. Teletovic should be rotating the ball and moving for a set shot when open.

If those plays above are planned X and Os... Then yup, fire the offensive coordinator and offense coach immediately... Stupid plays. If its a player doing his own thing, which has been said that Hornacek tends to allow, then thats on Hornacek.

Knight dribbling by himself after an outlet pass, towards the Suns side with all 4 of his team mates behind him then throwing up a shot... Is another example of either really bad direction or lack of player discipline... Again 1 or 2 players can do that in the NBA and its Curry or Harden... Knight is not on their level.




So... why did the coordinators get fired and not the head coach???

I think Sarver doesnt want to spend money on a new established coach and rather keep Hornacek until end of the season.

I think they didn't fire Hornacek because unless the guy you want is currently available, there's no real upside. And it's always possible Hornacek turns it around after making some trades, so they probably want to give him that chance. I'd be shocked if he survives the season if we still are this bad after making personnel moves.

As for Longabardi, I think the real reason he absolutely, more than anyone, deserved to be canned is because of the lack of improvement. The bar is so low, and yet improvement just is non-existant. I don't see our poor defenders as uncoachable. Booker, Warren, and Knight have gotten rave reviews on being coachable from a lot of people in their careers. Yet, I haven't seen any real improvement on defense and the team overall is poor at defense. Even the starting 5, which features 3 guys who should be premier defenders in Chandler, Tucker, and Bledsoe, has struggled defensively. And Markieff, for all his crap, is actually an underrated defender. We just shouldn't be the worst defensive team in basketball. It's inexcusable, and we should be at least showing improvement as the season goes on.

And you could flip the logic with his time at Boston. That team had a lot of guys who were elite defenders before he ever coached them. Guys who were proven 1st ballet hall of famers (not sure I'd call Paul Pierce a good defender, but KG and Allen I would), and then the young Rondo who was a great defender, until he got older and decided steals were most important and so he gambled at everything and hung his teammates out to dry.

[AtheJ415]

I know you're a pathetic homer and all, but no, Marcus is not the better twin. Kieff is playing bad because he's mad at the org.

Though I do find it hilarious how Piston fans are puffing their chests out the minute they stop sucking for a long time.

Marcus isn't a good player either. He's a negative box plus minus guy across the board this year. He's also the biggest jackass I've ever seen don an NBA uniform. I'll take a 2nd rounder over Marcus every day of the week. I have never been more thrilled to get a guy off a roster. He makes Markieff look like Steve Nash in terms of being a good person and teammate.