Please tell me about Hornacek

[GMATCallahan]

Hes an average coach. Lacks creativity on both ends of the floor and doesnt really have a strong defensive midset/game plan.

His offence consisted of a handful of preditable sets which will be used over and over. As the coach of the Knicks I can envision a third of the plays being Melo iso-postups, which is what Markieff did when he was here.

In fairness, anyone coaching Carmelo Anthony would probably see their offense reduced to such plays.

I would say that Hornacek's sets primarily reflected his personnel.

[DRK]

Hes an average coach. Lacks creativity on both ends of the floor and doesnt really have a strong defensive midset/game plan.

His offence consisted of a handful of preditable sets which will be used over and over. As the coach of the Knicks I can envision a third of the plays being Melo iso-postups, which is what Markieff did when he was here.

In fairness, anyone coaching Carmelo Anthony would probably see their offense reduced to such plays.

I would say that Hornacek's sets primarily reflected his personnel.

That is true, however the fact that Hornacek relied on that set with Markieff instead of Melo shows his lack of creativity on the offensive side of the ball. I am not a fan of Isolation plays, and it seemed even if Hornacek did run a good set (such as horns), it was mostly to open up space for an Isolation play.

One of the biggest telling points about Hornaceks tenure here as opposed to say, Watson, was Watson's creativity on offense and focus on ball movement. Hornacek had absolutely none. An example of this is, Using a big man in the high post as a distributor - which was a role that I had been advocating for years under Hornacek, which never came into fruitition. Watson implemented that into our offensive scheme the moment he got the reins, and it opened up more ball movement and player movement. Hornecek never utilised that skill in Markieff's game.

[Jalen Bluntson]

How bad can a coach be to take a team that was supposed to be one of the worst in the league, and win 48 games in a tough Western conference? It seems some are killing him for letting a horribly run franchise fall apart while they dismantled ALL of the success he had. COY runner up to POPOVICH with a weak roster.

I see a few positive posts but seems like more negative. Doesn't make sense to me. I am a long long long starving Knicks fan though...lol...so my brain is partially rotting.

[Mulhollanddrive]

It comes down to 2 narratives.

Either blame the coach or the FO for the past 2 years.

If it's the FO, then Hornacek is a genius 48 win coach who got derailed, if it's not the FO he'll flunk at NY.

[Saberestar]

IMO he doesn't have the personality and character to be a respected coach.

I am happy that he is not our HC anymore.

Why does he lack the "character"?

Strong character.

[kennydorglas]

very meh coach
predictable offense, terrible managing his job (team chemistry, ATO's, subbing in for offense/defense late in games)

[bwgood77]

How bad can a coach be to take a team that was supposed to be one of the worst in the league, and win 48 games in a tough Western conference? It seems some are killing him for letting a horribly run franchise fall apart while they dismantled ALL of the success he had. COY runner up to POPOVICH with a weak roster.

I see a few positive posts but seems like more negative. Doesn't make sense to me. I am a long long long starving Knicks fan though...lol...so my brain is partially rotting.

The complainers are the loudest and post the most. Just as many blame the front office for the mess, and most of the fans who don't post on forums didn't think it was his fault (indicated by polls at the time). And then of course you can see threads on the general board for non biased fans across the league plainly seeing that Hornacek was in a no win situation. Part of it was that he overachieved so much in his first season that fan expectations got way too high, but then the roster changes and injuries added to that.

[Foliohattu]

He's an infinitely better coach than Fisher or Rambis. Also great to see Phil hiring a guy outside of his circle.

[Jdiddy701]

Hornacek is not a leader. Wishing the best for him in NY.


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[Yankeeknickfan]

How were his rotations?

[Jdiddy701]

How were his rotations?

The worst. I will never forget how TJ Warren sat on the bench while PJ Tucker was bricking corner 3's all season. You will not like his rotations, he has his players he likes that he will consistently give them minutes even though they're not producing (Tucker, Price).




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[alldayeveryday]

With our luck, he'll take the Knicks deep into the playoffs (Yes, I know the Knicks play in the East) and probably win one before the Suns ever do. Till you know who is banking the Suns, we'll be the laughing stock for years to come. I hate being the negative nancy but damn its been rough as a fan. Never in a million years would I ever think our Suns would turn into this type of franchise.

Game: Blouses.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3KskO3_2YQ[/youtube]

[Saberestar]

How were his rotations?

Bad....really bad.

[NY2TheBay]

How bad can a coach be to take a team that was supposed to be one of the worst in the league, and win 48 games in a tough Western conference? It seems some are killing him for letting a horribly run franchise fall apart while they dismantled ALL of the success he had. COY runner up to POPOVICH with a weak roster.

I see a few positive posts but seems like more negative. Doesn't make sense to me. I am a long long long starving Knicks fan though...lol...so my brain is partially rotting.

The complainers are the loudest and post the most. Just as many blame the front office for the mess, and most of the fans who don't post on forums didn't think it was his fault (indicated by polls at the time). And then of course you can see threads on the general board for non biased fans across the league plainly seeing that Hornacek was in a no win situation. Part of it was that he overachieved so much in his first season that fan expectations got way too high, but then the roster changes and injuries added to that.

Your un-bias insight is appreciated. I live in the bay area and have seen that bledsoe/dragic team play live and they were impressive under Horny's helm. Dragic would get up to play Steph and is lauded consistently by Jim Barnett (warriors color guy). I do think dragic hasn't been the same since the move to MIA. He had a few amazing seasons with you guys, though.

[Damkac]

If he has the right roster I think he can succeed. Maybe he could recreate that lethal Dragic/Fry combo. Zinger is like better Frye, now he needs his new "Dragic".
Melo will like him as he will let him iso-ing as much as he wants
Maybe in another team, with Phil mentoring him he will do better than in Phoenix. I wish him luck as he is nice person. But as people mentioned, he may be too nice to be head coach. Especially in city like NY.
He is great at improving players shooting.
Of course if he will work well with Knicks everybody will be talking how dumb are Suns to fire him but who cares

[Jalen Bluntson]

Well...I truly appreciate all of the feedback. Not pleased hearing his rotations suck. Fisher/Rambis were horrible with them this year. Truly nauseating. Not pleased hearing he's soft either. That won't win him any fans in NY.

FINGERS CROSSED. Thanks all of you.

[aIvin adams]

he's a good coach i'm sorry he isn't here anymore.

he wasn't able to get our team to play with discipline but, considering the problems and obstacles which were imposed on him by a young and unorthodox roster, it's impossible to know whether that's his fault or not.

i think he'll be great in NY. it's true that the Dragic/Bledsoe two-PG lineup was a creature of necessity, but it's also true that Hornacek earned his reputation as a playmaking 2-guard. I'm sure he and Phil Jackson share the view that there's really no need to distinguish PG from SG. which is good bc NY seems to have a dearth of quality at both spots...

he has a quiet reserved personality but I don't think he will be intimidated by NY media or anything like that. he is a resilient guy.

good lucka nd enjoy having a smart, professional, experienced coach

[jcsunsfan]

However, if Horny brings Aaron Nelson along with him, you could really have something.

Heads up the Suns training staff (considered among the best in the league) and Hornys bro-in-law.

[GMATCallahan]

That is true, however the fact that Hornacek relied on that set with Markieff instead of Melo shows his lack of creativity on the offensive side of the ball. I am not a fan of Isolation plays, and it seemed even if Hornacek did run a good set (such as horns), it was mostly to open up space for an Isolation play.

One of the biggest telling points about Hornaceks tenure here as opposed to say, Watson, was Watson's creativity on offense and focus on ball movement. Hornacek had absolutely none. An example of this is, Using a big man in the high post as a distributor - which was a role that I had been advocating for years under Hornacek, which never came into fruitition. Watson implemented that into our offensive scheme the moment he got the reins, and it opened up more ball movement and player movement. Hornecek never utilised that skill in Markieff's game.

... that is often how Hornacek used Morris: as a high-post passer who could hit cutters or then attack himself if nothing materialized. If Morris could have played more minutes with Warren this past season, there might have been some connection, but Morris' disastrous overall play limited those opportunities.

Watson's offensive sets were hardly symphonies, and the team's offensive performance proved no better under him. Of course, he did not possess a healthy set of personnel, but therein lies the rub: if he is trying to utilize both Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight, like Hornacek, then expect a return to more ball-pounding pick-and-rolls ... which would be fine if those guys constituted better, more efficient playmakers.

[GMATCallahan]

The worst. I will never forget how TJ Warren sat on the bench while PJ Tucker was bricking corner 3's all season. You will not like his rotations, he has his players he likes that he will consistently give them minutes even though they're not producing (Tucker, Price)

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Of course, according to Real Plus-Minus, Tucker constituted a far more effective player than Warren this past season. Tucker ranked twenty-sixth overall among small forwards at +0.09 (net points per 100 possessions), whereas Warren placed sixty-ninth at -2.67, even trailing Michael Beasley.

http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/sort/RPM/position/5

http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/page/2/sort/RPM/position/5

One can debate the metric, but the point is that defense counts, too—actually, it counts just as much as offense.

Likewise, according to Real Plus-Minus, Ronnie Price ranked as the fourth-best defensive point guard in the NBA.

http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/sort/DRPM/position/1

So defensive efficiency fully explains the playing time that Tucker and Price received. One could theoretically argue that Hornacek should have instead played younger players with greater offensive upside in order to develop them, but we now know that he did not enjoy the full support of ownership and management and that he needed to try to win in order to keep his job. In order to win, you need some defensive resistance, and Tucker and Price also constituted two of the only Suns who one could consistently rely upon for a high level of effort and competitiveness.