Jeff Hornacek Would Be an Odd Fit With KnicksāWhich Is Probably Good
For all the shapes and contours the Knicksā search for a new head coach has taken so far, there havenāt been any real surprises: At first, it seemed like interim coach and Phil Jackson disciple Kurt Rambis could be a shoo-in. Then the emergence of ex-Cavaliers coach David Blatt and ex-Pacers coach Frank Vogel as candidates made it
appear to be a more open process.
Then Jeff Hornacekās name came up.
Part of the surprise with the former NBA guard and Phoenix Suns head coach is the fact that, unlike
Rambis,
Vogel and
Blatt, he has no known personal or professional ties with Jackson or general manager Steve Mills. But perhaps even more interesting is the fact that Hornacekās modern, up-tempo style of offense has little to no overlap with the triangle system that Jackson seems to intent on keeping.
Hornacekās 2Ā½-year coaching stint with the Suns ended with his dismissal in the middle of this season with a 101-112 record and no playoff berths. Never mind that he was the runner-up in Coach of the Year voting in 2014 after lifting Phoenix to 48 wins from 25 the year before. More important, Hornacek employed a very modern offensive philosophy in Phoenix. Some of that probably stemmed from the unusual roster he was given, where his two best players (and in 2015, arguably his three best players) were point guards, forcing him to get creative night after night.
Like earlier Phoenix regimes under Mike DāAntoni, Hornacek sought to bypass half-court offense when possible by scoring early in the shot clock. When defenses showed resistance, his teams, led by guards Goran Dragic and Eric Bledsoe, spaced the floor by featuring four perimeter-oriented players, leaving ample room along the elbows for driving lanes and high screens.
I
n a single season, from 2012 under coaches Alvin Gentry and Lindsey Hunter to 2013 with Hornacek, the Suns went from No. 25 to No. 5 in 3-point attempt rate. They went from a league-average 13.5 points a game in fastbreak scenarios to a league-best 18.7. And they jumped from 29th in offensive efficiency to eighth.
Things obviously went awry over time, as the roster likely waded too far in the small-ball direction by bringing in guard Isaiah Thomas, now a star with the Boston Celtics. None of the three guards seemed happy with their playing time, let alone their diminished opportunities to run the offense. The defense took a step back. Eventually, as the roster saw more turnover and lost its identity, Bledsoe suffered a season-ending injury and the playersā effort began to wane, spelling the end for Hornacek in Phoenix.
But he could be a good fit in New York. Itās clear that the Knicks, who have ranked dead-last in fast-break scoring each of the past four seasons, could use someone who is able to get them easier baskets. The Knicks got few early-clock looks last season, with just 14.6% of their shots coming within the first six seconds of the shot clock, according to NBA.com. By contrast, the Suns took about 24% of their shots within the first six seconds in their two full seasons under Hornacek.
Hornecekās system could be a boon, but there are areas where his style would seem to clash with Jacksonās. Clearing out the elbow, for instance, would run counter to the triangle offense, which makes heavy use of the pinch-post. (The Knicks had the third-most elbow touches in the NBA this season, per NBA.com)
Also, Hornacekās allergy to long 2-point shots is, in many ways, the antithesis of the Knicksā current style of offense, given that they ranked No. 1 and No. 5 in 2014 and 2015, respectively, in their rate of 2-pointers from 20 feet or further, according to Stats LLC.
For those reasons, it was surprising to learn that Jackson and the Knicks interviewed Hornacek, and it would be even more surprising if they decided to hire him. But even if they donāt, itās an encouraging sign that Jackson is considering an outsider whose style doesnāt match his own.
right now. Let's see what the FO does. 
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