HORNACEK: WE LOVE PORZINGIS
Coach leaving Porzingis issues in past
ORLANDO — Phil Jackson is gone, but that certainly doesn’t eliminate all the issues that torpedoed the Knicks into a dysfunctional mess last season — or all the reasons Kristaps Porzingis skipped out on his exit meeting.
Jeff Hornacek guided a locker room that, according to inside sources at that time, was a confused mess. Jackson acknowledged the disconnect when he said in his final press conference, “there is some rebelliousness on this team that created some of the discord.”
After being released by the Knicks last season, Brandon Jennings described the environment to the Daily News:
“Every day it was just something different,” Jennings said. “It was just like, if we could just stick to what we could do, we’ll be fine. So at times, you’d just come into practice and you didn’t know what was going on.
“There really wasn’t a lot of talking. It wasn’t like, ‘This is what we’re going to do.’ It was just we didn’t know what was going on. So it just kind of left itself blank,” he added. “And I think that’s where the frustration built for the team. Because guys didn't know what was going on.”
Whereas players respected the fact that Derek Fisher resisted Jackson’s triangle overtures, they saw a coach in Hornacek who didn’t assert himself against the team president and acted more as a puppet. Now that Jackson is gone and the team is moving away from the triangle, Hornacek’s declarations that he wasn’t beholden to the president's system don’t match with logic.
Only three months ago, Hornacek said the Knicks made a mistake by not going fullblown triangle from the start of the season. Now he’s preaching something else in preseason. So either Hornacek changed his mind or, more likely, he was following the team president to save his job, against his better judgement.
Perhaps more significant to the future of the Knicks is Hornacek’s relationship with Porzingis, which, according to a source, sat on rocky terrain for much of last season.
One of the issues, according to a source, was Hornacek’s willingness to scream and yell at Porzingis, which was not something he did with other players.
Hornacek talked around a question Sunday about whether he needs to establish a better relationship with the Latvian, who felt most comfortable under Fisher.
“We try to get good relationships with all our guys, not just the star guys,” Hornacek answered. “We’re talking to these guys every day. We see them every day. We travel with them. As a group we’re trying to
do more things as a team, kind of family-type stuff. We’ll try to grow on that, that way.”
Hornacek also downplayed the reasons behind Porzingis skipping his exit meeting in April, saying it was just a passing feeling.
“That’s what he felt at the moment and then he goes, ‘I’m good, let’s go,’ ” Hornacek said Sunday. “So guys make decisions to do whatever. I’m sure when he comes back, we’ll talk. If you’re going to be more the leader on the team those things are lessons. Not that big a deal.”
Over the last two days, Hornacek has been talking up Porzingis, which is also telling about the direction of the Knicks with the potential of a life without Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose.
Or maybe, it’s a public plea to thaw this icy relationship. A day after saying Porzingis was ready to become the featured offensive player, Hornacek claimed the Knicks never tried to trade the 21-year-old around the draft.
“I think it was out there that Phil was listening but he wasn’t out shopping KP,” Hornacek said. “We love KP and what he does, so I don’t see him going anywhere.”
The first part of that statement may not be technically true. The Knicks were sending out counter trade offers — albeit exorbitant ones — that were reportedly turned down by the Celtics and Suns. But the second part of Hornacek’s statement is accurate: Porzingis isn’t going anywhere. Resolving the issues with the future star should still be paramount.