New York Knicks team president Phil Jackson announced last week that former Phoenix Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek would be taking over the Knicks coaching duties. What will Hornacek bring to New York?
It was a stressful, and at times depressing, coaching free agency period for the New York Knicks and their fans.
Now, they have their guy.
After weeks of frustrating news that had many questioning how long it would be before the Knicks hired a head coach at all, team president Phil Jackson turned heads last week by not only announcing a new coach, but one that he had virtually no prior experience with in Jeff Hornacek.
It had long been believed that Jackson would only hire a coach who had come from his personal coaching tree and would be willing to run the triangle offense.
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With that process in mind, many had begun to prepare themselves for an extension of the Kurt Rambis era, with Brian Shaw‘s name also being thrown into the hat.
Be it from fan and media pressure or from a personal realization on one of his many vacations, Jackson began to expand his coaching search outside of his own circle, meeting with former Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt as well as Frank Vogel, who was hired by the Orlando Magic.
Still though, it was believed that the triangle offense was a must in order for Jackson to commit to any coach and while it was reported both Blatt and Vogel would be interested in implementing the system to varying extents, fans still awaited a decision on who Phil would choose to sit at the end of the Knicks bench.
Enter Jeff Hornacek.
A former All-Star player throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, Hornacek got his start as a coach first as an assistant with the Utah Jazz in 2010, then nailing the head coaching gig down with the Phoenix Suns in 2013.
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Hornacek’s results in Phoenix? Somewhat mixed.
While a 48-34 record in his first year at the helm of the Suns is certainly noteworthy, the record of the team dropped the following year to just 39-43 and again fell to start this season, with Phoenix hopping off to a dreadful 14-35 start before Hornacek got the axe.
No, a 101-112 record in three years isn’t a particularly sexy number, especially when compared next to Vogel’s 250-181 career mark or Blatt’s 83-40 record.
But not all of the Suns eventual shortcoming can be put on Hornacek’s shoulders, as the team battled injuries to stars Brandon Knight and Eric Bledsoe, as well as a variety of issues with Tyson Chandler‘s fit with the team.
So if his record isn’t exactly indicative of what type of coach Hornacek is, how do we judge him as a signing for Phil and company?
To some extent, it’s difficult. When he had a point guard that could fit his fast-paced, run-and-gun offense like Goran Dragic, Hornacek led the Suns to the eighth-best offensive rating in the league.
The following year, with Dragic traded to the Miami Heat at the deadline in February, Phoenix fell to 16th in the same category.
For fans of the Knicks, that’s both extremely hopeful and frightening.
On one hand, you know the potential is there for Hornacek’s offense to really catch on, but this is a team that was one of the weakest at point guard this season and after failing to secure any top-tier free agents last offseason, there’s got to be some nerves about Jackson’s ability to lure a point guard capable of running the offense.
If you can get someone (looking at you, Mike Conley) who can run the high pick and roll with Kristaps Porzingis or get out in transition (perhaps leading to an increased role for Jerian Grant), Hornacek’s offense can be something really special. If not … uh oh.
Speaking of Kristaps, his fit, along with Carmelo Anthony‘s, with Hornacek is equally important to what the Knicks new coach will be able to accomplish in New York.
Porzingis in particular will get a chance to shine under Hornacek, who coached Channing Frye to a career year in his first year in Phoenix.
The core reason that’s such an exciting concept is because Frye and KP have similar stretch-4 capabilities, with Kristaps adding even more ability down low in the paint.
Hornacek’s offense gives bigs that can shoot plenty of Draymond Green-esque trailing three-point attempts, as you can see in the above heat map from Channing Frye’s 2013-14 season.
His hottest spot? Right at the top of the key, a place where Kristaps shot 38 percent during his rookie season.
If Porzingis can get that number up into the 40 percent, as well as improving his slashing game even more, he could have plenty of defenders on their heels.
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Do you close out on a guy that can carve right past you and finish at the rim, or lay back and hope the big fella doesn’t bury a three in your eye? It’s a nightmarish situation for defenders.
Kristaps’ fellow star in New York, Anthony, is arguably a more concerning figure in Hornacek’s schemes.
The problem isn’t so much what Carmelo can do from a skill standpoint, but from his ability to actually be on the court.
This season, Anthony made great strides as a ball distributor and all-around player, setting career highs in defensive rebounding and assists. That rebounding and passing will be key assets in the run-and-gun offense of Hornacek, with Anthony leading the charge on transition plays.
It should be fun to see Melo snag a board, then charge down to the other end while keeping defenders on their toes as to whether of not he’ll attack the rim, pull up for a jumper or dish to an open teammate.
No, the fear is the basic fact that Anthony is going to be turning 32 years old next season and after back-to-back seasons with knee issues, there has to be questions about his ability to hold up in a fast-paced system.
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Sure, he only missed 10 games last season, but it was a year removed from knee surgery that cost him more than half the 2014-15 season.
Melo’s play under Hornacek will be extremely interesting, but with only a couple years left in his prime, if any years left, you have to question how much he’ll be able to handle.
Anthony appears to be in solid physical shape, but the simple fact is his body is going to be asked to do a lot it hasn’t been asked to do before.
The Hornacek era is essentially tied to the Jackson era in New York. If it tanks, Phil will likely be on his way out soon after.
The base he has to work with in Kristaps and Melo are intriguing and will be plenty of fun to watch, but a lot will be riding on whether the Knicks can snag a capable point guard.
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Signing Hornacek is a nice start to the offseason for Jackson and the Knicks, but there’s still a lot to do if New York is to experience playoff basketball again anytime soon.