New York Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek is encouraging his players to prioritize the vision over the win-loss record during the 2017-18 regular season.
The Eastern Conference has been depleted by injuries and star departures, but the New York Knicks are remaining true to their vision. That may or may not sit well with the fans, but it’s a rare example of the front office not losing sight of its goals.
Knowing that remaining focused during challenging stretches will be difficult for a young team, head coach Jeff Hornacek is getting out in front of the potential issue.
Upon trading Carmelo Anthony to the Oklahoma City Thunder, most accepted that the Knicks were in rebuild mode. The organization publicly confirmed the suspicion when general manager Scott Perry acknowledged the plan to build long-term during a post to the official MSG Blog.
According to Ian Begley of ESPN New York, Hornacek is encouraging his players to look closer at the progress than the win-loss record in 2017-18.
"“What we stressed to these guys is that we’re going to continue to work every day no matter what happens. We’re going to try to improve. We’re going to have ups and downs but in the long run if we stay together, continue to work and we try to fix those things — they may not be incremental jumps but if you have little jumps throughout all 82 games you’re going to be a much better team at the end of the year than you are now. So that’s really the goal.”"
Most expect the 2017-18 campaign to be challenging, but if the Knicks maintain their focus, they can turn it into a successful season.
Hornacek has the unenviable task of attempting to guide a young team through a season that may not yield many victories. The silver lining for fans is that New York has all of its first-round draft picks moving forward, but that won’t appeal to the players who are already on the roster.
Roster turnover has been a trademark of past Knicks regimes, but a number returning players have been in New York for multiple seasons during the current four-year postseason drought.
Thankfully, Hornacek is being honest with his players from the start in an attempt to nip this issue in the bud.
It’s within the realm of possibility that the Knicks could overachieve, a la Hornacek’s 2013-14 Phoenix Suns. For those unfamiliar, Hornacek lost Eric Bledsoe for 39 games and still managed to lead the Suns to 48 wins in a deep Western Conference.
It’s also possible that the Knicks will end up back in the draft lottery, thus receiving an opportunity to select a prospect such as Marvin Bagley III, Luka Doncic, or Michael Porter Jr.
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Only time will tell how the 2017-18 regular season will play out, but the New York Knicks are prioritizing the creation of a culture over all else.