New York Knicks: How to judge Jeff Hornacek for the rest of the season

After losing Kristaps Porzingis, making the playoffs is no longer a realistic goal. The remainder of the season will be about New York Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek proving that he can lead New York to contender status.

There was such a desperation to see the New York Knicks make a run at the playoffs after the hot start. That’s what makes the harsh truth so unsettling: It’s clearly not going to happen in 2017-18.

Exceeding those expectations early in the season masked the reality that this team is actually meeting what was expected of it.

Al Iannazzone of Newsday pointed out that the recent loss to the Toronto Raptors marked the third consecutive year that the Knicks will have a record of 23-33 at this point of the season.

The Knicks finished with a 31-51 record in 2015-16 and a 32-50 record in 2016-17. Before the season started, ESPN projected that the Knicks would win 32 games. It appears they’re on their way to meeting that projection.

Judging Jeff Hornacek for last season’s woes is hard to justify. Former team president Phil Jackson was consistently influencing and distracting last season’s team from gaining any traction.

It’s very easy to play the blame game.

On the surface it looks like this team is going nowhere. So how can Jeff Hornacek be fairly evaluated moving forward?

In January, Marc Berman of The New York Post reported that Hornacek’s job security doesn’t hinge on a playoff berth. Also mentioned in that article is what led to Hornacek’s demise with the Phoenix Suns.

Hornacek exceeded exceptions in his first season, finishing just one game short of making the playoffs. Because of that, management put more pressure on him to build upon that success—all the while ignoring that the initial plan was to build for the future.

Yesterday, Scott Perry went on the record again to state that the Knicks aren’t looking to make any changes. Per Marc Berman of The New York Post:

"“No, we’re not looking to make any changes,’’ Perry said in his first remarks to the media since early December. “We’re evaluating the entire season. Jeff and his group are working really hard with this basketball team and doing the very best they can and obviously this is an adversity for them to deal with KP being out, but I’m confident that they’ll be able to do a good job of keeping this team playing hard and playing together. That’s what we’ll be looking at moving forward.’’"

It’s easy to look past what kind of impact Hornacek has had. As of now, Hornacek and Knicks management are on the same page. So without having to worry about the playoffs, Hornacek is able to focus game by game and put players in a position to learn and come into next season with something to build upon.

Having endured so many difficult loses, some credit is due to that fact that this team has never given up. Never letting those loses meander, Hornacek deserves some kudos for not letting this team lose it’s spirit.

Hornacek will have even more of a chance to prove his system can work after acquiring an athletic guard adept at dribble penetration in Emmanuel Mudiay.

Mudiay should come with an eagerness to prove he’s not the bust that most would describe him as. If Hornacek can help him find his game, it will go a long way towards convincing Knicks management that he’s the right man for the job.

At the end of the day, Hornacek is not being judged by wins and losses. It’s whether he has a team that’s consistently competing and showing signs of growth.

Must Read: Five reasons to love the Emmanuel Mudiay trade

If Jeff Hornacek is around to start next season, it will because he proves to the New York Knicks over the next two months that he knows what he’s doing.