Return to Utah reminds Hornacek, Suns of coach’s playing career
SALT LAKE CITY — Most of the Suns were born during coach Jeff Hornacek’s playing career, so they do not have the firsthand knowledge of 15,659 points or two NBA Finals trips with the Utah Jazz.
But when Hornacek made his first return to the EnergySolutions Arena wherehewasaplayerfor 61⁄ and a coaching staff member for six years, all they had to do waspeeruptothesouthrafters andseehisNo. 14hanging to realize his impact.
“Oh, man, with my number!” Suns guard Gerald Green said after getting his first look at the banner. “It’s actually honoring to have a guy like him coach us. He’s a guy that gives us so much confidence. And then he’s so down-to-earth. He had Jerry Sloan who I heard was a hard-nosed coach and who yelled. He’s not that type of guy. He is always telling jokes, always wants to make us laugh. I love being around him and it’s an honor to play for a guy who has his number hung up.”
Hornacek was an opponent in Utah for the first time since Feb. 21, 1994, when he was a Philadelphia guard in the season before he joined the Jazz. He already had faced Utah as a coach in the second game of the season but said then that the emotional part of the matchup would not come until he visited Salt Lake City.
He started feeling it Friday morning, when the Suns arrived for shootaround and he headed for the visitor’s locker room.
“Whenever you’re a player or a coach and you go back to an old arena and an old team that you played for or coached at, it’s a special feeling,” Hornacek said. “But you get out there and as soon as the ball goes up in the air and the tip-off starts, you kind of focus in between those lines.”
Beyond the Finals runs, Hornacek’s best memories of playing for Utah involve the fans’ support through good and bad times. He was looking forward to hearing if the visitor bench-area fans lived up to their reputation to disturb visitors. But he is a coach that many Jazz fans wanted to replace Tyrone Corbin.
When he was finishing his career in Utah, he said he imagined coaching but not in Sloan’s role. He thought he would be a college coach. And with a roster of mostly 25and-younger players, he still feels like he is at times.
“Whenyouplay, you learn stuff from coaches,” Hornacek said. “With Jerry (Sloan) and the teams we had, the details you have to do to get to that level — the execution, the reads you have to make. Going through that and being professional every day and not just coming out and thinking you’re going to show up and win games. You try to stress those things to these young guys.
“The biggest thing is not get frustrated with the guys. We’re a relatively inexperienced team. We have good stretches and we have bad stretches. During those bad stretches, I try to stay calm and not get frustrated with them.”
Free throw
The Suns are 0-3 this season in the second game of back-to-back sets, like they have tonight when they face Utah again at home.