Jeff HORNACEK
SERBY’S SUNDAY Q& A WITH
Before training camp tips off, Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek took a timeout for some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.
Q: Is Kristaps Porzingis ready to be “The Man”?
A: I think back at Kobe Bryant, and we played them in the playoffs, and big part of the game, and he must have been a rookie, and he came down and took two shots from the elbow, kind of turnaround, typical Kobe Bryant, but he was young. He shot two air balls, and we win the game. But from that point on, you said: “OK, that kid’s gonna be good,” because he had no qualms about taking that shot. And that’s the development that KP is probably ready to go into, and to be that. I would never put that on a guy at this point to say, “Hey, you’re ‘The Guy.’ ” But you want him to have opportunities to grow into that.
Q: What’s Porzingis’ upside?
A: They always say it in this league, that bigger guys take a little bit longer for the game to slow down. I even think watching the EuroBasket, the game looks like it’s slowing down for him. That next step in his career, when that game slows down, it’s gonna be easy for him. You’re not rushing shots, and that’s when you can grow into these roles that you become these great players.
Q: How much do you hate to lose?
A: I hate to lose, simple as that (laugh). That’s funny, ’cause the questions we always asked players: “Do you love to win or hate to lose?” You come across guys, they’re like, “Kind of both.” And then a guy like Kemba Walker, I love Kemba, and he goes, “I hate to lose,” and you can see it in his face. And I think you understand that you’re a guy that hates to lose when, if you do win ... you’re not even all that excited (laugh). You go, “Well that’s what you’re supposed to do,” and then you go on to the next game. I like that mentality, probably again ’cause that was me. ’Cause then, when you hate to lose, you try to do whatever you can to try to win. The danger is to not let that seep in from one game to the next. You can’t dwell on it.
Q: What would it mean to you to resurrect this franchise?
A: I never won a championship as a player. But you see the process, we can all be proud of our accomplishments at Utah getting to The Finals. Even our journey in Phoenix, when we went from winning 28 games [1987-88] to 55 games in one season. The process that you go through to get to that level is better than when you get there. When [the Jazz] got to The Finals [in 1997], I don’t know if it was anti-climactic, but we’d been striving for that — Karl [Malone], John [Stockton], myself — we’d all been in the league for 10, 12 years. That was the goal, so we finally got there. So we took great pride in that. That’s what we’re trying to do here in New York. There’d be nothing better than to get this team going, to get the excitement here of a winning thing, and except for a couple of years, it’s been a while here. Q: You’re a laid back guy, but you’re driven, too. A: I wouldn’t say I was a perfectionist at all, but what I look for, probably because I played that way, is just laying it all out there. No one likes to say 110 percent, ’cause 100 percent is the max, but I’ve always gone, but OK, I thought I gave 100 percent, but I’m gonna do more. That’s how I survived in the league, and maybe that’s what I had to do ’cause I wasn’t that great athlete. But the guys that reach the pinnacle in this league are the guys that have that attitude and they have the talent. Q: You come across as a nice guy. A: I’m not (laugh). That’s why I would have loved to play in New York City. I think that’s what the fans want. They want guys that are gonna fight, put everything out there and scrap and claw, and win or lose. That’s what I think these fans appreciate. And that’s what we want to try to get going here. Q: So there is more to you than meets the eye. A: I think they would have liked me if I played here. Now I just gotta get ’em to like me as a coach here (smile). Q: Is there any player who reminded or reminds you of you? A: I think right now with Ron Baker there’s a lot of similarities, with coming in from the Midwest, just playing hard, playing tough ... goofy haircuts (laugh). Q: You had a goofy haircut? A: Oh, hell yeah. I still do (smile). Q: How would you describe what it’s like being head coach of the New York Knicks? A: It’s a great thrill. This place has always been a dream that I thought maybe some day I would play at. Q: There were rumors the 76ers were trading you to the Knicks before you ended up in Utah [in 1994]. You would have welcomed that at that time? A: Oh, absolutely. That’s what I try to explain to our players here, is that there’s nothing like playing in Madison Square Garden. So every time you go out there, you gotta remember the other team is jacked up to play. You got all the celebrities in the front rows, it’s the iconic arena in the league, that it’s a different atmosphere when these guys come to play, and then you gotta know that as a player. So I think about all the times I came here as a visitor, and I played out in the West most of the time, so it was only once a year. But I think we were pretty successful when we came here in our game (laugh). Coming here as a coach, and to be a part of that, but to also understand that it’s been a while since they’ve really won, and we’re just trying to get that excitement back and getting the city behind us again, and we think we can get there. Q: There’s a feeling that nobody can beat the Warriors. A: Well, they’re the defending champs. But that doesn’t mean any team in this league is gonna give it to ’em. You never know with injuries, that kind of stuff. You can think back to the old Chicago Bulls, that’s what makes the NBA to me interesting is when sometimes when you do have that team out there that everybody’s trying to beat, and who’s gonna be that team to do it? A lot of teams tried it (laugh), including us against the Bulls and never got it accomplished. I think that competition and having great players out there, having the LeBrons [James] and the [Kevin] Durants and [Steph] Currys at the top of the game, that’s what everybody’s striving for. Q: What do you want Knicks fans to say about you and your team? A: I want the fans to think that we’re a tough team, that we get after it, we share the ball, we play a fun game to watch for them. And the winning will come, if we do that. Q: Message for Knicks fans. A: We want to establish guys that they can be proud of when they go out there and they pay their hardearned money to come to these games that they see that guys are laying it all out there. And, if our guys aren’t gonna do that, then we’ll bring other guys in that will. And I want it to be fun too. There’s a fine line, you can’t be all about, “I’m just gonna lay it all out there.” You still have to have fun doing it. We gotta find that balance with the guys to push them, but yet still, it’s a game, and you want to have fun, and that’s how we’ll get the best out of ’em.