Hornacek agrees to terms and will be new Suns coach

[frdbtr]

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.

I think Mark West was on that team but I can't remember for sure. I do think that Socks was already on the team though. I can't be 100% positive on either of those.

 

[frdbtr]

I just did a google search. Not going to post everyone but I confirmed Mark west was on the roster and Elliot Perry was not. There are a few names that I did not remember at all.

Edit: everyone you already named was on the roster.

 

[AzStevenCal]

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.

I'm pretty sure Mustaf played in that series in garbage time. I thought Knight was also on the roster but I'm not positive.

Steve

Edit: I didn't check your spoiler before posting.

 

[frdbtr]

I'm pretty sure Mustaf played in that series in garbage time. I thought Knight was also on the roster but I'm not positive.

Steve

You are correct on both.

 

[Mainstreet]

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.

Needless to say, that was a very talented roster.

 

[elindholm]

Was that the year they picked up Dennis Scott on a whim? And they must have had Joe Klein by then, right?

 

[Cheesebeef]

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

Not only was Negele Knight on that team, but if memory serves, he STARTED like 25 games...including maybe even the first playoff game against the Lakers in Game 1 in the first round because Barkley banged up KJ's knee after that ludicrous game winner against Portland in the last week of the season.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Was that the year they picked up Dennis Scott on a whim? And they must have had Joe Klein by then, right?

that was 98 with Dyess.

No Klein until 1993-4 I believe...and then the next year, we added another Great White Hope with DANNY SCHAYES!!!

 

[Errntknght]

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.

When Nash was at his best the Suns halfcourt game was very good. Not as good as the Spurs especially at crunch time but that was one of the great offensive machines - and they outran us, too.

Sloan's team's executed well but I don't recall them ever running a motion offense. Their bread and butter was the pick and roll and various two man games that Stockton excelled at. Indeed with the passing genius that John was, a motion offense wouldn't be a good choice. He was no slouch at dribble penetration either, which is rarely seen in a motion offense - some consider it anathema. Don't forget that plentiful screens and sharp cuts are also part of a traditional NBA offense.

 

[SirStefan32]

When Nash was at his best the Suns halfcourt game was very good.

The only time in the Nash-era the Suns' half-court offense was good was when everything ran through Diaw with Amare out or later on through Shaq.

 

[hcsilla]

The only time in the Nash-era the Suns' half-court offense was good was when everything ran through Diaw with Amare out or later on through Shaq.

Completely disagree.

 

[Chaz]

You don't become the top offense in the NBA on fastbreaks alone.

Fastbreak basketball is what, 10 percent tops?

The idea that the Nash era Suns didn't have good Halfcourt execution is a myth.

 

[Mainstreet]

When Nash was at his best the Suns halfcourt game was very good. Not as good as the Spurs especially at crunch time but that was one of the great offensive machines - and they outran us, too.

I remember Steve Nash at his best running SSOL. If the Suns fastbreak offense broke down, Nash was creative with his dribble penetration probing the defense to create offense for his teammates.

Sloan's team's executed well but I don't recall them ever running a motion offense. Their bread and butter was the pick and roll and various two man games that Stockton excelled at. Indeed with the passing genius that John was, a motion offense wouldn't be a good choice. He was no slouch at dribble penetration either, which is rarely seen in a motion offense - some consider it anathema. Don't forget that plentiful screens and sharp cuts are also part of a traditional NBA offense.

If you are talking Stockton and Malone, the pick and roll was a stable of what they did. However, after that era, the Jazz relied heavily on execution, passing the ball and wearing down the clock to get the best shot. They were not a team you wanted to get behind because of their precision.

 

[JS22]

This is totally random. But I just got a flashback of Randy Livingston falling into Tom Gugliotta's knee towards the end of a game against, I think, the Jazz? Didn't that essentially end Gugliotta's career? (As an effective player.)

 

[tobiazz]

that was 98 with Dyess.

No Klein until 1993-4 I believe...and then the next year, we added another Great White Hope with DANNY SCHAYES!!!

My favorite off-court memory of Schayes was when some fan called in during Tom Leander's Suns show and said the Suns had no chance with such a crappy center. Schayes happened to be standing off camera, came in picture, then the fan suddenly backtracked. They set up a pickup game between Schayes and the fat toad of a fan (hopefully not a member of this board, hehe) and Schayes showed why even a mediocre NBA center is a god compared to someone off the street.

My favorite on-court memory of Schayes was… um…

 

[Errntknght]

This is totally random. But I just got a flashback of Randy Livingston falling into Tom Gugliotta's knee towards the end of a game against, I think, the Jazz? Didn't that essentially end Gugliotta's career? (As an effective player.)

'Twas against the Jazz and it slowed Googs down but I think his career was further set back by heart problems - or some other internal ailement. I think that happened a couple of years later - he passed out on the team bus up in Portland.

According to my memory, Greg Oestertag hipped Randy with a moving pick and sent him tumbling into Tom. He wasn't tagged with a foul and he's seldom given any mention in the incident. It was fairly evident in the replays but was almost unnoticed for some reason, leaving Randy to be cast as the villain

I have no idea why so many details stuck in my memory and, of course, they could be fairly wide of the mark. I'm sure about the Jazz though.

 

[Errntknght]

I remember Steve Nash at his best running SSOL. If the Suns fastbreak offense broke down, Nash was creative with his dribble penetration probing the defense to create offense for his teammates.



If you are talking Stockton and Malone, the pick and roll was a stable of what they did. However, after that era, the Jazz relied heavily on execution, passing the ball and wearing down the clock to get the best shot. They were not a team you wanted to get behind because of their precision.

Well, the Stockton&Malone era lasted for ten years are probably the teams that Sloan is most remembered for. I didn't pay too much attention to them after that but its highly unlikely he switched to a motion offense and had a smoothly oiled one. While the version of the MO that Tex Winter taught (the triangle) is noted for its difficulty other MO's weren't often very successful when someone just decided to give them a shot. Recall that Danny Ainge and Frank Johnson both tried it with the Suns and neither was a pretty sight.
Rick Adelman successfully implemented the motion offense known as the Princeton offense in Sacramento. He learned it from its inventor Pete Caril at Princeton and Pete was his assistant in Sac... similar relationship as the one between Winter and Phil Jackson. Denver ran a version of the MO for a number of years... the coach's name eludes me. It was never referred as a Princeton offense. It's heyday was when Alex English and Kiki Vanderweghe played for them

 

[Phrazbit]

The more I am hearing and reading the more excited about this move I get. He was one of Cotton's favorite players, one of Sloan's. Coaches kid, student of the game, had to walk on in college.

And I am a sucker for the connection to a much brighter past.

Also... the more I hear the more disgusted I am with the Lance Blanks era. A complete waste of 3 years.

 

[Drop D]

'Twas against the Jazz and it slowed Googs down but I think his career was further set back by heart problems - or some other internal ailement. I think that happened a couple of years later - he passed out on the team bus up in Portland.

I believe it was a drug reaction...and not the Dumas kind of drug reaction. His middle name must have been Murphy.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I believe it was a drug reaction...and not the Dumas kind of drug reaction. His middle name must have been Murphy.

Yeah, it was an over the counter supplement that he drank IIRC.

Steve

 

[cly2tw]

Stockton/Hornecak and Malone did a lot of off-ball baseline screening for each other, with a lot of dirty moves to gain advantage which I hated, that resulted either in an open catch and shoot jumper for the guard or in a low post mismatch for Malone. Russel, Eisley, Vaugh, all excelled at filling the roles in this simple play that netted them great contracts else where.

Googs had that scary flight where he almost died, but his effectiveness was gone after the 'Livingston' injury. And I blame the sneaky Ainge for Dyce bolting and us thus settling for Googs. Ainge played Dice too little that indicated clear intention of driving down Dice's contract position the following FA. It backfired.

Anyways, looks like a great hire.

 

[mojorizen7]

The only time in the Nash-era the Suns' half-court offense was good was when everything ran through Diaw with Amare out or later on through Shaq.

Yep.
Before that there was the Barkley years when certain Suns teams could both run and get offense based out of the post with good shooters. Unfortunately all those Suns teams struggled guarding against the half court.

 

[mojorizen7]

I remember Steve Nash at his best running SSOL. If the Suns fastbreak offense broke down, Nash was creative with his dribble penetration probing the defense to create offense for his teammates.



If you are talking Stockton and Malone, the pick and roll was a stable of what they did. However, after that era, the Jazz relied heavily on execution, passing the ball and wearing down the clock to get the best shot. They were not a team you wanted to get behind because of their precision.

+1 on all points.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Horny is going to coach the summer league team. I like it. Its really important for him to get a first hand evaluation of these players AND for them to get a feel for him.

The Morris twins and Kendall Marshall will be on the team.

 

[BC867]

Horny is going to coach the summer league team. I like it. Its really important for him to get a first hand evaluation of these players AND for them to get a feel for him.

The Morris twins and Kendall Marshall will be on the team.

And for him to get some hands-on Head Coaching experience.