Tag: jeff hornacek

The Knicks came into the season with a fairly limited roster. Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr, and a supporting cast. Then Porzingis suffered a season-ending injury. So it was bound to be a fairly lost season. Making it tough to judge the job a head coach does. So what’s Jeff Hornacek’s future in NYC look like? Here’s the New York Post reporting:

Hornacek will take the sidelines Wednesday with a 59-104 Knicks coaching record to face the Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. Then, Hornacek will likely face the firing line.

Lacking a vote of confidence from president Steve Mills or contract-extension talks, Hornacek looks like he is being set up as the fall guy for another depressing campaign that in some ways couldn’t have gone worse.

And the irony is the 28-53 record — already two games worse than last season’s final 31-51 mark — isn’t the coach’s fault. The Knicks could do worse — and possibly will — than Hornacek.

“John Wooden couldn’t win with this team,” one NBA scout told The Post. “But he’s just an OK coach — nothing special. A good person and smart basketball man, but there is more to the job. Both places [including Phoenix], there’s been some lack of discipline — whether that’s his fault or not.”

Full article

We’ve reached the time of the NBA year where teams must finally be fully realistic about whether they’re a playoff team or a lottery squad. As for the Knicks, here’s NY Newsday reporting:

Jeff Hornacek is no longer saying the Knicks can make a playoff run. The Knicks coach conceded the race is just about over and it’s time to start building for next season.

But Tuesday night the Knicks looked like they were playing for something, especially in the second half. They erased a 10-point third-quarter deficit, held Indiana to 29-second points and earn an 87-81 win over the Pacers at Madison Square Garden.

Carmelo Anthony scored 15 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead the Knicks (27-41). Derrick Rose added 16 and Willy Hernangomez had 13 and 16 rebounds.

Kristaps Porzingis left the game in the fourth quarter with a bruised left leg and didn’t return.

The Knicks remain in 12th place in the East, six games out of the final spot with 14 to play. They’re not mathematically eliminated, but they’ve been showing signs of being mentally done for a long time.

Does the triangle offense work for a team that doesn’t have Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Kobe Bryant, etc? Perhaps not, but maybe there are elements of it that can be applied elsewhere. Maybe. Here’s the New York Post with an update on the Knicks and new head coach Jeff Hornacek, who was formally introduced at a press conference today:

The triangle isn’t folding, it’s just slightly changing shape.

That was the vibe from Jeff Hornacek’s formal introduction Friday as the new coach of the Knicks. He strongly suggested he will maintain principles of Phil Jackson’s beloved triangle offense, while blending in the more spread, “up-and-down” style he favored during his previous stint in Phoenix.

“To me, it’s just a way to space the floor. There’s something about the triangle. Maybe we’ll call it the circle offense,” Hornacek said. “You can run any play you want out of the triangle. It’s going to be a part of our offense. It’s something that’s worked, won championships.

“We’re going to run the triangle, but I wouldn’t call it the triangle. There’s a lot of aspects of the triangle,” Hornacek added in his non-televised interview. “We can space it out farther and run some things I did in Phoenix. So there will be aspects of the triangle. It’s basic reads. You can call it triangle or call it what Golden State runs. There’s the idea we can blend it somehow.’’