Hornacek agrees to terms and will be new Suns coach

[Chaz]

Sorry:
http://www.nba.com/suns/hiring-head-coach

 

[Chaz]

Live press conference at 11:30

http://www.nba.com/suns/now

 

[Superbone]

Sorry:
http://www.nba.com/suns/hiring-head-coach

Thanks!

 

[BC867]

I would like to pay tribute to Eric. Seriously! He stuck with his avatar of Horny and now he's here.

 

[mojorizen7]

Live press conference at 11:30

http://www.nba.com/suns/now

Great listen.
It sounds like Horny wants to go uptempo,which would certainly satisfy the mob in PHX,and he likes Dragic...but i like that he mentioned that there are times when an offense must work to get a good shot.

I would imagine Jeff being mostly a players coach which is probably a good thing when you're coaching veterans and competing for a title etc...but i hope he can surround himself with some old school assistants too(or even new school guys...as long as they've got some hardass in them) ...who can support him with dealing with malcontents in the interim,and also provide that discipline needed to support his philosophy of fundamental basketball.

I honestly have gotten a little more behind this hire after listening to Horny speak in this quite candid interview.

I dislike uptempo just for the sake of being exciting and fun to watch,but i'm hoping that Jeff has taken enough in over the years under Sloan to recognize that there's a time and a place within the game to do both. ie; Run and push it....and also develop a smart high % offense and get good shots.

Please coach defense Jeff. I would love to see you coaching this team to success for the next 10 years.

 

[frdbtr]

Let's look at that "long line of coaches" that fail because of Sarver's horrible management.

D'Antoni - He failed simply because he was a bad coach that didn't know how to coach defense. An arguement could be made that Sarver should have let him go sooner, but D'Antoni failed because of D'Antoni, not Sarver.

Porter - Porter was godawful as a coach because he wanted to go all defense on a group that could not operate that way. Kerr had more of a hand in that then Sarver did.

Gentry - Gentry was fairly successful in the role, but again, he was not a good in-game coach and while he was good with players, he wasn't very good at adapting. Again, not Sarver's fault.

Hunter - Hunter was a disaster from day one, which is Lance Blanks' fault, which was Babby's fault, which could be traced back to Sarver. But that's pretty indirect.

None of our coaches failed directly because of Sarver's horrible mismanagement.

I thought Mike D was a pretty good coach, since we went to multiple western conference finals while he was here and would have been in the finals at least once if it hadn't been for a proven cheating ref. I agree with you on the other coaches, but frankly the personel decisions since Sarver has been in charge of the money are crazy.

Marion and diaw for a washed up shaq
Joe Johnson gone for nothing
Amare gone for nothing
I didn't follow the Nash deal but I seem to remember he also left and the suns got nothing in return.

Sarver is much more concerned about the bottom line then winning. I hope this changes and his new management makes better decisions but frankly I don't have much hope for it.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I thought Mike D was a pretty good coach, since we went to multiple western conference finals while he was here and would have been in the finals at least once if it hadn't been for a proven cheating ref. I agree with you on the other coaches, but frankly the personel decisions since Sarver has been in charge of the money are crazy.

Marion and diaw for a washed up shaq
Joe Johnson gone for nothing
Amare gone for nothing
I didn't follow the Nash deal but I seem to remember he also left and the suns got nothing in return.

Sarver is much more concerned about the bottom line then winning. I hope this changes and his new management makes better decisions but frankly I don't have much hope for it.

You're right about Amare but not on the others. And Amare was a difficult situation, I'm not sure anyone would have turned that into value.

Steve

 

[Mainstreet]

Great listen.
It sounds like Horny wants to go uptempo,which would certainly satisfy the mob in PHX,and he likes Dragic...but i like that he mentioned that there are times when an offense must work to get a good shot.

I would imagine Jeff being mostly a players coach which is probably a good thing when you're coaching veterans and competing for a title etc...but i hope he can surround himself with some old school assistants too(or even new school guys...as long as they've got some hardass in them) ...who can support him with dealing with malcontents in the interim,and also provide that discipline needed to support his philosophy of fundamental basketball.

I honestly have gotten a little more behind this hire after listening to Horny speak in this quite candid interview.

I dislike uptempo just for the sake of being exciting and fun to watch,but i'm hoping that Jeff has taken enough in over the years under Sloan to recognize that there's a time and a place within the game to do both. ie; Run and push it....and also develop a smart high % offense and get good shots.

Please coach defense Jeff. I would love to see you coaching this team to success for the next 10 years.

If Hornacek learned how to execute the half court offense like Sloan (when the uptempo offense is not there) it could be huge. I never liked falling behind a Sloan coached team because it was all about execution and it was a very hard road to get back in the game.

 

[elindholm]

The system should fit the players. If a coach has a particular system that he's wedded to, it makes no sense to implement it until the roster has been brought into alignment with the coach's vision. The Suns, as currently constructed, don't have a post presence and don't have creative wings, so an up-tempo offense is their best bet.

 

[Chaplin]

I thought Mike D was a pretty good coach, since we went to multiple western conference finals while he was here and would have been in the finals at least once if it hadn't been for a proven cheating ref. I agree with you on the other coaches, but frankly the personel decisions since Sarver has been in charge of the money are crazy.

Marion and diaw for a washed up shaq
Joe Johnson gone for nothing
Amare gone for nothing
I didn't follow the Nash deal but I seem to remember he also left and the suns got nothing in return.

Sarver is much more concerned about the bottom line then winning. I hope this changes and his new management makes better decisions but frankly I don't have much hope for it.

Like Steve said, outside of Amare your facts simply are not correct. Sarver is concerned about the bottom line, yes--but that's a fact of life that all owners deal with. This is back to the same tired and wrong argument that Sarver is cheap. He makes bad decisions, but he's not cheap.

 

[Mainstreet]

The system should fit the players. If a coach has a particular system that he's wedded to, it makes no sense to implement it until the roster has been brought into alignment with the coach's vision. The Suns, as currently constructed, don't have a post presence and don't have creative wings, so an up-tempo offense is their best bet.

No disagreement but a team needs to be able to execute a half-court set when the fast break is not there, something I really cannot remember the Suns ever being able to do well. It seems like Sloan always coached an excellent motion offense with lots of passing.

 

[slinslin]

Sloan's style and system is outdated. Glad Hornacek already recognized that.

 

[chickenhead]

Initial reaction is that I like the hire. Some of this is probably nostalgic, but I also think that even if he ends up being an interim coach, he'll be a good coach for the interim. I have no doubt that he'll run a good practice.

 

[elindholm]

It seems like Sloan always coached an excellent motion offense with lots of passing.

Yes, but he had good passers on his roster. If you want an offense with lots of passing, get good passers on your team. Don't take a team of crappy passers and try to make them into something they aren't. It is the very rare NBA player who develops his game in order to fit his coach's system better.

 

[Mainstreet]

Yes, but he had good passers on his roster. If you want an offense with lots of passing, get good passers on your team. Don't take a team of crappy passers and try to make them into something they aren't. It is the very rare NBA player who develops his game in order to fit his coach's system better.

Well, the Suns need to find some players that can create their own shot until they can develop a passing game. KJ was able to create a lot of the Suns offense with dribble penetration (needless to say the Suns had a lot more talent) and so did Nash until he got older. Although no fault of Goran, he does not have this ability to do it consistently.

 

[Mainstreet]

Just doing some reading (it may have already been noted), but this is what Paul Coro at azcentral says Hornacek has in mind in an article dated 5-28-13.

“Hopefully, I can take Jerry’s toughness, Cotton’s enthusiasm and confidence-building and blend them all together and become a great coach like some of the great coaches who have been here in the past,” Hornacek said.

He said he would lean toward Fitzsimmons’ uptempo style and Sloan’s pick-and-roll sets without losing sight of the need for a defense that forces tough shots and creates turnovers. He mentioned point guard Goran Dragic as a great starting piece but acknowledged the need for roster changes and patience to meet his coaching potential.

Also here is an interesting comment made by GM Ryan McDonough in the same article.

“The one thing that we’ll never do here is pass up on the chance to get a great player,” McDonough said. “If we can get a great player to Phoenix either by trade or as a free agent, we’ll do that as quickly as possible and then build on that player. But if not, we’ll take a more deliberate approach and be patient and try to draft well and develop young players and maximize their talent. That’s one of the reasons Jeff is here — his ability to develop young players and get the most out of them.”

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/sun...ff-hornacek-16th-coach-franchise-history.html

 

[frdbtr]

Well, I hope you guys are right. I have just watched a very talented team slowly lose all of its talent over a period of a few years ever since Sarver took over as owner. Initially I blamed Kerr for it but now he is gone and we continue to look worse. I hope Hornacek becomes a legend as a Suns coach. I hope the new GM hire gets some talent here and the duo gives me some reason to get enthusiastic about the Suns again. I have been on about a 4 year span of lack in interest and I would love to get back to the point where I search for the suns games online or on TV in order to just see them for a few minutes. Or where I sit on ESPN looking at scores waiting to see if the Suns won. The last couple of years I already knew the answer before looking.

 

[Mainstreet]

Well, I hope you guys are right. I have just watched a very talented team slowly lose all of its talent over a period of a few years ever since Sarver took over as owner. Initially I blamed Kerr for it but now he is gone and we continue to look worse. I hope Hornacek becomes a legend as a Suns coach. I hope the new GM hire gets some talent here and the duo gives me some reason to get enthusiastic about the Suns again. I have been on about a 4 year span of lack in interest and I would love to get back to the point where I search for the suns games online or on TV in order to just see them for a few minutes. Or where I sit on ESPN looking at scores waiting to see if the Suns won. The last couple of years I already knew the answer before looking.

I was watching the news in Phoenix where random people were asked to name a Suns player. Most were baffled and could not name one yet alone two.

 

[SirStefan32]

Yes, but he had good passers on his roster. If you want an offense with lots of passing, get good passers on your team. Don't take a team of crappy passers and try to make them into something they aren't. It is the very rare NBA player who develops his game in order to fit his coach's system better.

It is amazing that so many people fail to understand this.
You can't take Marshall, Tucker, Dudley, Scola, and Haddadi and implement a run-and-gun system. You can't take Beasley, Brown, Scola, and Marshall and be a "defensive" team.

Such a simple concept, but a lot of people just don't get it.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I was watching the news in Phoenix where random people were asked to name a Suns player. Most were baffled and could not name one yet alone two.

Well, let's see. There's that Martin Dragic guy and that Breezly Sneezly guy who's supposed to take us to the promised land and then there's those two guys that starred in Parent Trap but that's all I can come up with.

Steve

 

[frdbtr]

Well, let's see. There's that Martin Dragic guy and that Breezly Sneezly guy who's supposed to take us to the promised land and then there's those two guys that starred in Parent Trap but that's all I can come up with.

Steve

I wonder how many of these players no one can name would have started on any other team in the NBA or even played much for that matter.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I wonder how many of these players no one can name would have started on any other team in the NBA or even played much for that matter.

We have two that could have started for several teams and three more that probably would have earned minutes. The good teams have two or three stars, we had none although Dragic has a chance to reach that level. We have very little talent, that is no secret. The main reason we have so little talent is because we've given away draft picks and we've done a poor job drafting with the few picks we kept. This isn't a problem that can be fixed overnight, it took us several years to get this deep into this mess and it will take years to get us out of it.

Steve

 

[Mainstreet]

Well, let's see. There's that Martin Dragic guy and that Breezly Sneezly guy who's supposed to take us to the promised land and then there's those two guys that starred in Parent Trap but that's all I can come up with.

Steve

 

[elindholm]

I was watching the news in Phoenix where random people were asked to name a Suns player. Most were baffled and could not name one yet alone two.

If you think it's difficult now, wait ten years and try to recreate this roster, even just the rotation players, from memory.

 

[Folster]

If you think it's difficult now, wait ten years and try to recreate this roster, even just the rotation players, from memory.

You got me thinking about the 92-93 Finals team. This is off the top of my head.

KJ, Barkley, Majerle, Dumas, Ceballos, Chambers, Miller, West, Ainge, F Johnson,

Who am I forgetting? No cheating. I don't think Negele Knight or Jerrod Mustaf were on that team and I believe Elliot Perry came afterward? I think we had a second round pick that year.

Spoiler

I left off Negele Knight Jerrod Mustaf, Tim Kempton, Alex Stirvins? and Kurt Rambis