JEFF MAKING
CLEVELAND – The Knicks can’t claim this one is a mutual decision. Ahead of his fateful meeting with the front office about his future, Jeff Hornacek made a pitch to keep his job and said he’d be comfortable returning on an expiring contract.
In other words, Hornacek did what the front office tellingly wouldn’t in recent months – publicly commit to fulfilling the contract.
“That’s why you sign contracts. I have one more year,” said the coach. “We’d love to continue with these guys and get some of the guys healthy and get back at it and continue that process. We didn’t think it was going to be a one-year turnaround. That’s our thoughts. That’s what we’ll continue to look at.”
Hornacek expects his discussion with the Knicks to occur in the next two days – or within 48 hours of finishing a second disappointing season – in conjunction with the organization’s exit meetings.
Unlike ex-Rangers coach Alain Vigneault, Hornacek did not launch into a staunch defense of his work. Instead, he mostly stuck to his public persona – calm, measured and classy.
But he did ask for patience and expressed the belief that the foundation will soon “blossom.”
“Obviously we started it and we’d like to continue it,” Hornacek said. “It’s very satisfying for coaches to take a team and build it and grow it. You can look around the league at some of the teams that are now some of the better teams in the league. They went through those same type of things . ... Now all of a sudden, four or five years later, and those same teams have home court advantage for the playoffs. So sometimes people are wanting things to happen right away. But sometimes there’s patience. That’s what we’re looking for.”
Head coaches rarely work on expiring contracts because it undermines their authority in the eyes of players. They’re either given extensions or fired. President Steve Mills and GM Scott Perry have remained silent publicly while Hornacek has twisted in the wind, lending further credence to the idea that the coach won’t return.
As the Daily News reported, candidates for his replacement include Mark Jackson, Doc Rivers, David Fizdale, Jerry Stackhouse, Jeff Van Gundy and current Knicks head of player development, Craig Robinson.
The next coach will be the Knicks’ 11th since Van Gundy left in 2001.
Perry, Mills and Robinson are holding their exit meetings with players on Thursday and Friday. Hornacek said he didn’t know when he’d be scheduled, but last year – under Phil Jackson — he participated in the exit interview with players.
If Hornacek is getting fired, it’d be a waste of time – and insulting to everybody involved – to have him go over offseason plans and expectations with players.
“I plan on (being at the exit meetings),” Hornacek said. “No one told me no.”
Hornacek is 60-104 with the Knicks after winning the season finale Wednesday in Cleveland, 110-98. And while last season was supposed to finish in the playoffs, the expectations for this campaign were always very low.
“It’s what you expect. You can’t expect a rebuilding situation and go out there and win 50 games. That’s why they call it rebuilding,” Hornacek said. “But when you mention rebuilding you’re still trying to win games. Do the little things, teach these guys. Coaches who have been in the league, been on good teams, bad teams, I think the guys have done a great job of sticking together continuing to play. It’s easy to get down when you know you’re not making the playoffs and you’re out of it. These guys haven’t. They want to get better. It may not set you up for this year but you lay the foundation and continue to work at it. At some point it’s going to blossom. That’s the hope you keep working at it and all of a sudden it pops.”
Perry and Mills said they would not judge Hornacek on his record, but rather whether the team played hard and improved on defense. That’s been a mixed bag, with both falling apart following a surprising 17-14 start to the season.
Hornacek blamed the recent defensive struggles on Kristaps Porzingis’ injury.
“We look at KP as one of our offensive anchors but he’s also one of our defensive anchors. And I think at the beginning of the year we were ranked 15 when he was out there,” Hornacek said. “So sometimes when you miss a guy that’s a rim protector like that it has an effect. Sure we’d like to get better at it. But I think some of our guys have gotten better and picked up on things we need to do.” ven if the front office doesn’t want him, Hornacek made it clear he wants to return.
“I think moving forward at least we have what we’re going to do in place. Guys get more familiar with it. Chemistry-wise when guys come in, it’s not spending half a year trying to get all the basics in there,” he said. “We did add guys midseason which also makes it a little more difficult on those guys, they haven’t had the training camp. So all of a sudden you’re putting back in plays and having the time to do that. The more you can keep the team together with the same style, the more you can go through all the little things and the nuances they pick up on. So again, that’s where that process comes in.”
EUSA TODAY 21-61 22-60 24-58 24-58 25-57 27-55 28-54 35-47 .256 .268 .293 .293 .305 .329 .341 .427 -1.0 3.0 3.0 4.0 6.0 7.0 64% 56% 43% 42% 29% 18% 10% 25% 20% 14% 14% 9% 5% 3% 14.0 4% 1% *to Cavs **to Sixers