Grading Hornacek

[NYKMentality85]

Changing my grade from an B to a A if we manage to win tommorow night

Likewise.

It's still early but record wise we're only 2.0 games from an NBA top 5 record. The Kicker: There isn't a single head coach around the NBA in who's currently coaching under as much roster turnover as Hornacek himself. As a 1st year head coach (in N.Y) that alone is a difficult task.

As a 1st year coach he's got a young developing 2nd year Porzingis along with Anthony who's being surrounded by a whopping 10 separate teammates in which weren't on our roster last year. 5 rookies as well. Just think about that for a moment.

But yet we're trending upwards having won 5 of our previous 6 games (5-1). He's done one heck of a job. Just his mannerisms alone. He's poised. He's focused. He's intune. Following both the flow and momentum of the game; all while experimenting with his rotations (multiple lineups). Players are coming out of timeouts and striking from designed set plays.

There's just a certain type of fire in him. The fire he he played with as a 3rd option to not one, but two HOF legends appears to be the same type of burning desire in which we're seeing him display on the sideline as head coach. It's not about "him". This man is a players coach and most of these younger players have already either flourished or responded. Great sign.

Amen to that, this man is a real coach. You see how passionate he is. He also doesn't play players based on there salaries which omg is a reliever. Every coach we had played players based on their salaries and not on matches.

I absoulatly love how you mentioned how Hornacek doesn't play players and create lineups based off of "player salary". That topic alone can bring up multiple topics of discussion. Almost thread worthy.

As head coach he's not Phil Jackson. He's not our owner. He's not our G.M. He doesn't write the checks. All he can do is add input and play the cards he's been dealt. Pops out in San Antonio is the best poker player there is (as was Phil Jackson).

If it were up to some of our fan base (just because Joakim can't score consistently, combined with his contract) Noah wouldn't even see the court. We're only 15 games into the season and Noah has had games consisting of:

16 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 0 turnovers (against his former Chicago team).

10 rebounds, 9 points, 3 blocks, 2 assists and 1 steal.

15 rebounds, 7 points, 3 assists, 3 blocks, 1 steal & 2 turnovers

10 rebounds, 7 assists, 6 points & 1 block.

18 rebounds, 4 points, 2 steals, 1 assist & 1 turnover.

12 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 points, 2 blocks and 1 turnover.

7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 points, 1 steal & 2 turnovers.

8 rebounds, 6 points, 1 assist, 1 steal & 0 turnovers (last game vs. Charlotte).

Noah as you can see is a player in which can impact the game (on both sides of the court) without scoring points and without needing touches. No, Noah hasn't been perfect but with a ball dominant PG in Rose, another ball dominant scorer in Anthony & an up & coming All-Star in Porzingis (who needs his touches as well); this could become a very good problem for Hornacek to have at his disposal.

There are 4 Knicks who average more minutes per game than Noah (Melo, Porzingis, Rose & Lee). Noah is 5th averaging 23.0 minutes per game. Which goes to show that Hornacek (as head coach) not only knows when to holdem but also knows when to foldem. He's thinking long term with Noah and has begun to utilize him as more of a mega role player (which he's always been) rather than an NBA star (which his contract suggests).

He's thinking future despite not having control of the situations. For example if Rose were also on a 4 year deal, there's no way we'd see Hornacek giving him over 32 minutes per game. But if the Knicks are going to bring Rose back for future seasons, at the age of only 28, you can bet your bottom dollar that a chess player like Horny's going to make sure he 1st runs Rose like a dog (at times) in order to ensure his starting PG's (still) got it.

[cayuck]

Likewise.

It's still early but record wise we're only 2.0 games from an NBA top 5 record. The Kicker: There isn't a single head coach around the NBA in who's currently coaching under as much roster turnover as Hornacek himself. As a 1st year head coach (in N.Y) that alone is a difficult task.

As a 1st year coach he's got a young developing 2nd year Porzingis along with Anthony who's being surrounded by a whopping 10 separate teammates in which weren't on our roster last year. 5 rookies as well. Just think about that for a moment.

But yet we're trending upwards having won 5 of our previous 6 games (5-1). He's done one heck of a job. Just his mannerisms alone. He's poised. He's focused. He's intune. Following both the flow and momentum of the game; all while experimenting with his rotations (multiple lineups). Players are coming out of timeouts and striking from designed set plays.

There's just a certain type of fire in him. The fire he he played with as a 3rd option to not one, but two HOF legends appears to be the same type of burning desire in which we're seeing him display on the sideline as head coach. It's not about "him". This man is a players coach and most of these younger players have already either flourished or responded. Great sign.

Amen to that, this man is a real coach. You see how passionate he is. He also doesn't play players based on there salaries which omg is a reliever. Every coach we had played players based on their salaries and not on matches.

I absoulatly love how you mentioned how Hornacek doesn't play players and create lineups based off of "player salary". That topic alone can bring up multiple topics of discussion. Almost thread worthy.

As head coach he's not Phil Jackson. He's not our owner. He's not our G.M. He doesn't write the checks. All he can do is add input and play the cards he's been dealt. Pops out in San Antonio is the best poker player there is (as was Phil Jackson).

If it were up to some of our fan base (just because Joakim can't score consistently, combined with his contract) Noah wouldn't even see the court. We're only 15 games into the season and Noah has had games consisting of:

16 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 0 turnovers (against his former Chicago team).

10 rebounds, 9 points, 3 blocks, 2 assists and 1 steal.

15 rebounds, 7 points, 3 assists, 3 blocks, 1 steal & 2 turnovers

10 rebounds, 7 assists, 6 points & 1 block.

18 rebounds, 4 points, 2 steals, 1 assist & 1 turnover.

12 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 points, 2 blocks and 1 turnover.

7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 points, 1 steal & 2 turnovers.

8 rebounds, 6 points, 1 assist, 1 steal & 0 turnovers (last game vs. Charlotte).

Noah as you can see is a player in which can impact the game (on both sides of the court) without scoring points and without needing touches. No, Noah hasn't been perfect but with a ball dominant PG in Rose, another ball dominant scorer in Anthony & an up & coming All-Star in Porzingis (who needs his touches as well); this could become a very good problem for Hornacek to have at his disposal.

There are 4 Knicks who average more minutes per game than Noah (Melo, Porzingis, Rose & Lee). Noah is 5th averaging 23.0 minutes per game. Which goes to show that Hornacek (as head coach) not only knows when to holdem but also knows when to foldem. He's thinking long term with Noah and has begun to utilize him as more of a mega role player (which he's always been) rather than an NBA star (which his contract suggests).

He's thinking future despite not having control of the situations. For example if Rose were also on a 4 year deal, there's no way we'd see Hornacek giving him over 32 minutes per game. But if the Knicks are going to bring Rose back for future seasons, at the age of only 28, you can bet your bottom dollar that a chess player like Horny's going to make sure he 1st runs Rose like a dog (at times) in order to ensure his starting PG's (still) got it.

If you think Noah is a good two way player right now I'm not sure what you are watching. Noah is impacting the games on both ends right now, except the impact is a negative one on both ends. Just because he has had some high rebound games doesn't mean he is having a positive impact on the game. O'Quinn and Hernangomez both get assists in triangle sets too so I don't feel like the offense is reliant at all on Noah's passing skills. On defense his help his slow and his rim protection is nowhere near what it used to be. KP is much better at patrolling the paint and protecting the rim with his young legs and length. It's also just very obvious the team functions better with KP at the 5 and Melo at the 4. Of the offseason acquisitions almost all the guys are falling into their roles like Rose, Lee, Jennings, but Noah so far has not fit.

I agree it's fine for Hornacek to keep giving Noah mins to try to play him into shape and get something out of him, but right now it's cringeworthy every time Noah is on the floor and I'm sure it will be twice as worse tomorrow on the back to back.

[AmazingJason]

Amen to that, this man is a real coach. You see how passionate he is. He also doesn't play players based on there salaries which omg is a reliever. Every coach we had played players based on their salaries and not on matches.

I absoulatly love how you mentioned how Hornacek doesn't play players and create lineups based off of "player salary". That topic alone can bring up multiple topics of discussion. Almost thread worthy.

As head coach he's not Phil Jackson. He's not our owner. He's not our G.M. He doesn't write the checks. All he can do is add input and play the cards he's been dealt. Pops out in San Antonio is the best poker player there is (as was Phil Jackson).

If it were up to some of our fan base (just because Joakim can't score consistently, combined with his contract) Noah wouldn't even see the court. We're only 15 games into the season and Noah has had games consisting of:

16 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 0 turnovers (against his former Chicago team).

10 rebounds, 9 points, 3 blocks, 2 assists and 1 steal.

15 rebounds, 7 points, 3 assists, 3 blocks, 1 steal & 2 turnovers

10 rebounds, 7 assists, 6 points & 1 block.

18 rebounds, 4 points, 2 steals, 1 assist & 1 turnover.

12 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 points, 2 blocks and 1 turnover.

7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 points, 1 steal & 2 turnovers.

8 rebounds, 6 points, 1 assist, 1 steal & 0 turnovers (last game vs. Charlotte).

Noah as you can see is a player in which can impact the game (on both sides of the court) without scoring points and without needing touches. No, Noah hasn't been perfect but with a ball dominant PG in Rose, another ball dominant scorer in Anthony & an up & coming All-Star in Porzingis (who needs his touches as well); this could become a very good problem for Hornacek to have at his disposal.

There are 4 Knicks who average more minutes per game than Noah (Melo, Porzingis, Rose & Lee). Noah is 5th averaging 23.0 minutes per game. Which goes to show that Hornacek (as head coach) not only knows when to holdem but also knows when to foldem. He's thinking long term with Noah and has begun to utilize him as more of a mega role player (which he's always been) rather than an NBA star (which his contract suggests).

He's thinking future despite not having control of the situations. For example if Rose were also on a 4 year deal, there's no way we'd see Hornacek giving him over 32 minutes per game. But if the Knicks are going to bring Rose back for future seasons, at the age of only 28, you can bet your bottom dollar that a chess player like Horny's going to make sure he 1st runs Rose like a dog (at times) in order to ensure his starting PG's (still) got it.

If you think Noah is a good two way player right now I'm not sure what you are watching. Noah is impacting the games on both ends right now, except the impact is a negative one on both ends. Just because he has had some high rebound games doesn't mean he is having a positive impact on the game. O'Quinn and Hernangomez both get assists in triangle sets too so I don't feel like the offense is reliant at all on Noah's passing skills. On defense his help his slow and his rim protection is nowhere near what it used to be. KP is much better at patrolling the paint and protecting the rim with his young legs and length. It's also just very obvious the team functions better with KP at the 5 and Melo at the 4. Of the offseason acquisitions almost all the guys are falling into their roles like Rose, Lee, Jennings, but Noah so far has not fit.

I agree it's fine for Hornacek to keep giving Noah mins to try to play him into shape and get something out of him, but right now it's cringeworthy every time Noah is on the floor and I'm sure it will be twice as worse tomorrow on the back to back.

We are the only team in the NBA that consistently plays a C-C-PF lineup. After 15 games, it's become clear that it's singlehanded reason why we're ranked 26th on defense, and preventing us from being top 10 in offense (currently ranked 13th). Noah-KP-Melo was killing us in the 3rd quarter, and at one juncture, Noah-Willy was out there (LOL) which further ballooned Charlotte's lead. Once Melo started playing the 4, we looked like a completely different team. It felt like the guys were in jail before and then they were freed.

Jeff's going to have to figure out a way to distribute the minutes so that we minimize that C-C-PF, while at the same time conserving KP and Melo throughout the season. We have 4 centers (Noah, KP, O'Quinn, Willy) and Melo at PF, so it's not going to be easy. We'll eventually get Lance back, but he's probably been our worst player to date. Maybe NDour deserves another look.

[cayuck]

I absoulatly love how you mentioned how Hornacek doesn't play players and create lineups based off of "player salary". That topic alone can bring up multiple topics of discussion. Almost thread worthy.

As head coach he's not Phil Jackson. He's not our owner. He's not our G.M. He doesn't write the checks. All he can do is add input and play the cards he's been dealt. Pops out in San Antonio is the best poker player there is (as was Phil Jackson).

If it were up to some of our fan base (just because Joakim can't score consistently, combined with his contract) Noah wouldn't even see the court. We're only 15 games into the season and Noah has had games consisting of:

16 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 0 turnovers (against his former Chicago team).

10 rebounds, 9 points, 3 blocks, 2 assists and 1 steal.

15 rebounds, 7 points, 3 assists, 3 blocks, 1 steal & 2 turnovers

10 rebounds, 7 assists, 6 points & 1 block.

18 rebounds, 4 points, 2 steals, 1 assist & 1 turnover.

12 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 points, 2 blocks and 1 turnover.

7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 points, 1 steal & 2 turnovers.

8 rebounds, 6 points, 1 assist, 1 steal & 0 turnovers (last game vs. Charlotte).

Noah as you can see is a player in which can impact the game (on both sides of the court) without scoring points and without needing touches. No, Noah hasn't been perfect but with a ball dominant PG in Rose, another ball dominant scorer in Anthony & an up & coming All-Star in Porzingis (who needs his touches as well); this could become a very good problem for Hornacek to have at his disposal.

There are 4 Knicks who average more minutes per game than Noah (Melo, Porzingis, Rose & Lee). Noah is 5th averaging 23.0 minutes per game. Which goes to show that Hornacek (as head coach) not only knows when to holdem but also knows when to foldem. He's thinking long term with Noah and has begun to utilize him as more of a mega role player (which he's always been) rather than an NBA star (which his contract suggests).

He's thinking future despite not having control of the situations. For example if Rose were also on a 4 year deal, there's no way we'd see Hornacek giving him over 32 minutes per game. But if the Knicks are going to bring Rose back for future seasons, at the age of only 28, you can bet your bottom dollar that a chess player like Horny's going to make sure he 1st runs Rose like a dog (at times) in order to ensure his starting PG's (still) got it.

If you think Noah is a good two way player right now I'm not sure what you are watching. Noah is impacting the games on both ends right now, except the impact is a negative one on both ends. Just because he has had some high rebound games doesn't mean he is having a positive impact on the game. O'Quinn and Hernangomez both get assists in triangle sets too so I don't feel like the offense is reliant at all on Noah's passing skills. On defense his help his slow and his rim protection is nowhere near what it used to be. KP is much better at patrolling the paint and protecting the rim with his young legs and length. It's also just very obvious the team functions better with KP at the 5 and Melo at the 4. Of the offseason acquisitions almost all the guys are falling into their roles like Rose, Lee, Jennings, but Noah so far has not fit.

I agree it's fine for Hornacek to keep giving Noah mins to try to play him into shape and get something out of him, but right now it's cringeworthy every time Noah is on the floor and I'm sure it will be twice as worse tomorrow on the back to back.

We are the only team in the NBA that consistently plays a C-C-PF lineup. After 15 games, it's become clear that it's singlehanded reason why we're ranked 26th on defense, and preventing us from being top 10 in offense (currently ranked 13th). Noah-KP-Melo was killing us in the 3rd quarter, and at one juncture, Noah-Willy was out there (LOL) which further ballooned Charlotte's lead. Once Melo started playing the 4, we looked like a completely different team. It felt like the guys were in jail before and then they were freed.

Jeff's going to have to figure out a way to distribute the minutes so that we minimize that C-C-PF, while at the same time conserving KP and Melo throughout the season. We have 4 centers (Noah, KP, O'Quinn, Willy) and Melo at PF, so it's not going to be easy. We'll eventually get Lance back, but he's probably been our worst player to date. Maybe NDour deserves another look.

Sadly the simplest answer to me seems to be just playing Noah less and maybe having him come off the bench. Horny seems determined to make the Melo KP Noah frontline work though and I'm just not very confident about it since Noah can't spread the floor for the O and he forces KP to guard smaller quicker forwards which is very hard for him and hurts the defense as a whole.

[goldenbrandon]

I give him an A. He has to deal with Phil and the triangle. A bunch of new pieces. Players that do and require the same i.e. Melo and Rose. Unknown players and an unproven bench. We're 8-7 and 6th in the East and a game back for the division. Melo has grown as a player. Rose looks healthy and KP keeps progressing by the second. Job well done


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

[NoLayupRule]

I gotta say with every game he gets better marks to me

hes solidified his starting unit, created chemistry and stopped us from giving up early leads most games
hes cemented his 2nd unit, smartly kept KP a part of that unit much of the time, and really created a culture of winning

his end game rotations are proving to be perfect
hes trusting two rookies a lot more than Id have expected with guys like Noah and co around.

It'll be interesting to see how Thomas works back into the team and rotations
will he take Kuz's mins? He'd better be watching his back because Kuz has earned those mins

[NoLayupRule]

If you think Noah is a good two way player right now I'm not sure what you are watching. Noah is impacting the games on both ends right now, except the impact is a negative one on both ends. Just because he has had some high rebound games doesn't mean he is having a positive impact on the game. O'Quinn and Hernangomez both get assists in triangle sets too so I don't feel like the offense is reliant at all on Noah's passing skills. On defense his help his slow and his rim protection is nowhere near what it used to be. KP is much better at patrolling the paint and protecting the rim with his young legs and length. It's also just very obvious the team functions better with KP at the 5 and Melo at the 4. Of the offseason acquisitions almost all the guys are falling into their roles like Rose, Lee, Jennings, but Noah so far has not fit.

I agree it's fine for Hornacek to keep giving Noah mins to try to play him into shape and get something out of him, but right now it's cringeworthy every time Noah is on the floor and I'm sure it will be twice as worse tomorrow on the back to back.

We are the only team in the NBA that consistently plays a C-C-PF lineup. After 15 games, it's become clear that it's singlehanded reason why we're ranked 26th on defense, and preventing us from being top 10 in offense (currently ranked 13th). Noah-KP-Melo was killing us in the 3rd quarter, and at one juncture, Noah-Willy was out there (LOL) which further ballooned Charlotte's lead. Once Melo started playing the 4, we looked like a completely different team. It felt like the guys were in jail before and then they were freed.

Jeff's going to have to figure out a way to distribute the minutes so that we minimize that C-C-PF, while at the same time conserving KP and Melo throughout the season. We have 4 centers (Noah, KP, O'Quinn, Willy) and Melo at PF, so it's not going to be easy. We'll eventually get Lance back, but he's probably been our worst player to date. Maybe NDour deserves another look.

Sadly the simplest answer to me seems to be just playing Noah less and maybe having him come off the bench. Horny seems determined to make the Melo KP Noah frontline work though and I'm just not very confident about it since Noah can't spread the floor for the O and he forces KP to guard smaller quicker forwards which is very hard for him and hurts the defense as a whole.

I think Noah plays well as a starter especially in the opening mins of the game and 2nd half
he keeps the energy up and then ball moving

its ok if he's not playing as many mins as other starters IMO

I don't care about contracts, I care about wins

Hes not moping around, he's cheering and giving advice and when he's in the game he's working hard! Rebounding like a beast

Im happy with Coach's rotations on the bigs

[cayuck]

We are the only team in the NBA that consistently plays a C-C-PF lineup. After 15 games, it's become clear that it's singlehanded reason why we're ranked 26th on defense, and preventing us from being top 10 in offense (currently ranked 13th). Noah-KP-Melo was killing us in the 3rd quarter, and at one juncture, Noah-Willy was out there (LOL) which further ballooned Charlotte's lead. Once Melo started playing the 4, we looked like a completely different team. It felt like the guys were in jail before and then they were freed.

Jeff's going to have to figure out a way to distribute the minutes so that we minimize that C-C-PF, while at the same time conserving KP and Melo throughout the season. We have 4 centers (Noah, KP, O'Quinn, Willy) and Melo at PF, so it's not going to be easy. We'll eventually get Lance back, but he's probably been our worst player to date. Maybe NDour deserves another look.

Sadly the simplest answer to me seems to be just playing Noah less and maybe having him come off the bench. Horny seems determined to make the Melo KP Noah frontline work though and I'm just not very confident about it since Noah can't spread the floor for the O and he forces KP to guard smaller quicker forwards which is very hard for him and hurts the defense as a whole.

I think Noah plays well as a starter especially in the opening mins of the game and 2nd half
he keeps the energy up and then ball moving

its ok if he's not playing as many mins as other starters IMO

I don't care about contracts, I care about wins

Hes not moping around, he's cheering and giving advice and when he's in the game he's working hard! Rebounding like a beast

Im happy with Coach's rotations on the bigs

I really like Noah as a person and his intangibles as a player. His communication skills and emotion on the court are great things and do help the Knicks when they fall into a slog or lose some passion over the course of the game. His actual value and impact as a player though is just not what it used to be and I think Hornacek has to recognize that. That starting unit plays better with O'Quinn than Noah. I'm not even a big KO fan but, even O'Quinn's stupid top of the key jumper keeps defenses more honest than Noah being unable to shoot and defenses not even guarding him. I agree Horny needs to keep giving Noah minutes because we need to get something positive out of him, but if he really wants to unlock the potential of the team I'm not sure Noah is going to be a part of it.

[NoLayupRule]

Sadly the simplest answer to me seems to be just playing Noah less and maybe having him come off the bench. Horny seems determined to make the Melo KP Noah frontline work though and I'm just not very confident about it since Noah can't spread the floor for the O and he forces KP to guard smaller quicker forwards which is very hard for him and hurts the defense as a whole.

I think Noah plays well as a starter especially in the opening mins of the game and 2nd half
he keeps the energy up and then ball moving

its ok if he's not playing as many mins as other starters IMO

I don't care about contracts, I care about wins

Hes not moping around, he's cheering and giving advice and when he's in the game he's working hard! Rebounding like a beast

Im happy with Coach's rotations on the bigs

I really like Noah as a person and his intangibles as a player. His communication skills and emotion on the court are great things and do help the Knicks when they fall into a slog or lose some passion over the course of the game. His actual value and impact as a player though is just not what it used to be and I think Hornacek has to recognize that. That starting unit plays better with O'Quinn than Noah. I'm not even a big KO fan but, even O'Quinn's stupid top of the key jumper keeps defenses more honest than Noah being unable to shoot and defenses not even guarding him. I agree Horny needs to keep giving Noah minutes because we need to get something positive out of him, but if he really wants to unlock the potential of the team I'm not sure Noah is going to be a part of it.

Im not certain we've seen the best of what Noah still has to offer

I hope we haven't

he did have two exceptional games, the one vs Chi and the one after he was benched in the 2nd half against ... don't remember who

hes not always gonna be a major impact guy on the floor but he should be able to give us 20 substantial mins a night every night

[BadNewsBarnes]

Did anyone consider how different it would have been if Blatt was coaching the Knicks instead of Horny?

[3toheadmelo]

Did anyone consider how different it would have been if Blatt was coaching the Knicks instead of Horny?

I was actually thinking about that couple days ago. I'm skeptical if he would've lost the locker room early in the season. Blatt was my number one choice btw. I REALLY wanted him. As of now it looks like Phil nailed it on hornacek.

[cayuck]

Blatt would have been interesting, but I'm not sure if would have been able to handle Phil's input and still be an effective coach or if Phil would have let him run that Princeton offense. Hornacek at least gives the impression that he's open to whatever Phil has to say.

[Iron Mantis]

Not the record alone, but the way we are losing these games keeps Jeff from getting a high grade, in my opinion.

The defense has to improve. Jeff has to man up and shuffle the deck to maximize/unlock this team's potential on both ends.

[AmazingJason]

Not the record alone, but the way we are losing these games keeps Jeff from getting a high grade, in my opinion.

The defense has to improve. Jeff has to man up and shuffle the deck to maximize/unlock this team's potential on both ends.

Jeff had the balls with Morris:

“He's mad about not playing,” Hornacek said. “I look at the stat sheet. He's a minus-13 in 12 minutes. So there, I took him out. … He thinks he's better than that. Show me.”


Man, that statline even looks like Noah's.

[Iron Mantis]

Not the record alone, but the way we are losing these games keeps Jeff from getting a high grade, in my opinion.

The defense has to improve. Jeff has to man up and shuffle the deck to maximize/unlock this team's potential on both ends.

Jeff had the balls with Morris:

“He's mad about not playing,” Hornacek said. “I look at the stat sheet. He's a minus-13 in 12 minutes. So there, I took him out. … He thinks he's better than that. Show me.”


Man, that statline even looks like Noah's.

facts.

Jeff has to assert himself in doing strictly what's best for the team.

[BKlutch]

Jeff has asserted himself more than anybody in decades in going against the President (or GM). He benched Melo when he thought he wasn't playing hard enough, he benches Noah for long stretches (yes, he has to see if Noah will be able to contribute. Either his flu was severe or his limitations are severe). He uses Vujacic rarely, and pulls him quickly. This is enough that I trust that he would be playing Baker more if he thought Baker was ready. He must be working with him on things in practice. Same with Plumlee. We will see what he does with Lance, but again, either Lance was really hampered by his ankles and plantar fasciitis, or he can't play either. Horny prefers to win than just play guys.

He's had a learning curve, too, getting to know the team. Maybe it took a bit longer because so much of the team is new. But he did recognize that Kuz contributes and that Billy has strong potential. He unleashed BJ to mess with the other team's D. He's doing well, and I believe he'll get better. I also believe the team will get better, and their level of play by the end of the season should be at least that of a 4th seed.

We'll see.

[Iron Mantis]

Jeff has asserted himself more than anybody in decades in going against the President (or GM). He benched Melo when he thought he wasn't playing hard enough, he benches Noah for long stretches (yes, he has to see if Noah will be able to contribute. Either his flu was severe or his limitations are severe). He uses Vujacic rarely, and pulls him quickly. This is enough that I trust that he would be playing Baker more if he thought Baker was ready. He must be working with him on things in practice. Same with Plumlee. We will see what he does with Lance, but again, either Lance was really hampered by his ankles and plantar fasciitis, or he can't play either. Horny prefers to win than just play guys.

He's had a learning curve, too, getting to know the team. Maybe it took a bit longer because so much of the team is new. But he did recognize that Kuz contributes and that Billy has strong potential. He unleashed BJ to mess with the other team's D. He's doing well, and I believe he'll get better. I also believe the team will get better, and their level of play by the end of the season should be at least that of a 4th seed.

We'll see.

That would be awesome.

That's COY worthy.

[cayuck]

Lowering my grade to a C until the defense actually consistently improves. Also figuring out what to do with Noah would be a good step. These seem like reasonable things for a coach to address.

[NYKMentality85]

C from me, we are a .500 team and thats middle of the road in my book.

We are what you are and we are 7-7 and there no hiding from that fact.

that Sir is a C grade

.

Well, we're no longer just a ".500 team". We're going for 5 games above .500 (15-10) with a win over Hornacek's former (Phoenix) team and have gone 7-3 throughout our past 10 games (since this thread was created).

We've now won 10 out of our previous 14 games (10-4) and 6-1 throughout our previous 7 games as well as 4 consecutive road victories.

We're no longer a "middle of the road team" either ala a win tonight and we'll own an NBA top 10 record.

Just wondering if you've changed your tune in regards to Horny just yet? Because at this rate he'll contend for Coach of the Year honors.

Nonetheless he's doing all of this during only his 1st season in N.Y within a team that's featuring 10 players in whom weren't on the roster last year (including 5 rookies & 1 second year player). In short no NBA head coach is going through as much (current) roster-turnover in comparison to that of Jeff Hornacek.

A++ thus far.

[Dr. Detfink]

Jeff has the Knicks playing like the East Coast version of the Phoenix Suns. They're fun to watch. Scoring in bunches but no threat to Raptors or Cavs until they work on that -2.3 differential. Problem, I don't think the Knicks can get better on D to pose a serious conference final threat.