New York Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek is reportedly on the hot seat, but fan favorite Jeff Van Gundy has come to his peer’s defense.
New York Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek is learning how difficult it can be to maintain one’s composure in this maddening city. The 2017-18 NBA regular season is still ongoing, but rumors are already circulating the Hornacek will be relieved of his duties during the 2018 offseason.
While there are reasons to be skeptical of Hornacek’s ability to get New York to the next level, a former Knicks coach has come to his defense.
New York has been linked to a number of prominent coaching candidates who could replace Hornacek in 2018-19. The decision to part ways with the current sideline general is far from set in stone, however, and a respected individual is doing his best to make that known.
According to Ian Begley of ESPN New York, former Knicks head coach and eternal fan favorite Jeff Van Gundy defended Hornacek by providing vital context.
"“I think Jeff has done an admirable job under very difficult circumstances. When you have an injury to your best player — and I had that with (Patrick) Ewing — it changes the whole tone and tenor of the season. That challenge is real. And then you’re changing management, you’re trying to incorporate some young players. To me, they, and I think Scott Perry and Steve Mills understand, that they have a long way to go roster-wise to get back to being competitive. But Jeff’s composure, his even-keelness through the injury, the (Joakim) Noah situation, I think he’s really done an admirable job.”"
Knicks fans haven’t loved everything that Hornacek has done with his rotation, but what Van Gundy said in defense of the second-year coach is undeniably true.
Kristaps Porzingis suffered a season-ending knee injury on Feb. 6—just two days before the 2018 NBA trade deadline. Losing Porzingis roughly 48 hours before the deadline essentially ended any hope of the Knicks making a move to facilitate the push for the playoffs.
What’s often overlooked is that the Knicks also lost Tim Hardaway Jr. for 20 consecutive games between December and January.
Hardaway is not only the Knicks’ second-leading scorer, but he was third on the team in assists per game before the acquisitions of Trey Burke and Emmanuel Mudiay.
For perspective, the Knicks outscored opponents by 4.0 points per 100 possessions when both Porzingis and Hardaway were on the court. Thus, it stands to reason that the push for the playoffs would have been far more realistic had the Knicks not lost their two leading scorers to injuries at different points of the season.
For Hornacek’s sake, one can only hope that the Knicks will be as understanding of what he’s encountered as Van Gundy seems to be.
Must Read: Five rumored candidates to replace Jeff Hornacek
The question is: Will Jeff Hornacek receive the opportunity to see his contract through with the New York Knicks?