Funky Tut wrote:Cleveland got rid of Blatt with a winning record and we canned Jeff after getting absolutely destroyed by really terrible teams and looking like a d-league team out there. I don't see Jeff as the entire cause of the situation but firing him was the right thing to do.
I have some news for you: without Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight (and, heck, Ronnie Price), the Suns possess the worst roster in the NBA and basically constitute a D-League team based on talent and personnel.
Hornacek may not have been the man to coach this club in the future, but firing him now rather than at the end of the season is pretty much pointless in my estimation. The only plausible rationale would be to try out one of the current assistants, but are the Suns really going to turn to one of these guys over the long term? If so, then why is Robert Sarver apparently interested in hiring Steve Nash as head coach (even though Nash allegedly has no interest in full-time coaching, much as Kobe Bryant does not, much as LeBron James does not, much as Kevin Johnson never did, much as many former great players do not), and why is Sarver also apparently interested in bringing back Mike D'Antoni?
Two seasons ago, when the Suns honored Kevin Johnson for his dunk on Hakeem Olajuwon twenty years earlier, Johnson pointed to two major reasons for Phoenix's turnaround: Jeff Hornacek and Mark West. Then management makes some questionable roster decisions, injuries hamper progress, and how does management respond? First it removes West from the coaching staff and then it fires Hornacek!
I am not a Sarver hater—he has done some good things financially and socially with the franchise, such as absorbing hundreds of millions of dollars in debt that Jerry Colangelo had accrued, renovating the team's arena without leaning on taxpayers (unlike most of the super-rich crooks who pass for owners and commissioners in major American sports nowadays), and supporting diversity (even if there is a business motive at play). But until he becomes more patient and develops a vision for long-term planning on the court, the Suns will continue to founder. At some point, you cannot be scared of being terrible. That does not mean that you do it in the manner that Philadelphia has done it, but you may have to take a step back in order to take two steps forward down the road. Sarver does not seem willing to commit to that process, hence his decision to hold onto Steve Nash and Grant Hill too long, followed by the Suns' decision to try and be 'competitive' in their absence by acquiring ill-fitting parts such as Michael Beasley and Luis Scola, followed by the franchise now turning to what will be their fourth head coach in the last four seasons even though more losses—and thus more ping-pong balls—are actually what Phoenix needs. Even the Lakers' ownership, for as bad as it has been in recent years and for as many foolish decisions as it has made and as much money as it has wasted, now seems to have a better grasp on a rebuilding process than the Suns.
This year, Phoenix will miss the playoffs for the sixth straight season and the seventh time in the last eight years. The primary reason is not coaching—it is ownership and management.
