“Can I sit here and rail against it like it is an absolutely terrible move? No,” Francesa said on his WFAN show Thursday. “Do I sit here and say that it’s a stroke of genius and what a great step for the franchise? I don’t get that either.
“When I think of Hornacek, I think of the player. Loved him as a player. Clutch, tough. Loved everything about him as a player. I mean, he was the kind of player who was underrated, who you could just always rely on. Absolutely loved him as a player.”
“As a coach, you know, he hasn’t been around that long. …Can I tell you about what I think about the way Hornacek decides to lead men and coach basketball and do things and things about his team? You know what, how many times did any of us really pay attention to that team in the short amount of time he was the head coach? Does that mean he’s not a good coach? No.”
Chris Mannix of the Vertical wrote:
“Jackson gets a good coach here, and the next step will be to get out of his way. No one questions Jackson’s coaching brilliance – his 11 rings qualifies him as arguably the greatest coach of all time. He should be a resource for Hornacek, but only when Hornacek wants to tap into it. It will be hard enough for Hornacek to placate Anthony while transitioning the team to Porzingis, all while trying to satisfy a media and fan base expecting playoff-level results. He doesn’t need unsolicited input from his boss on spacing while he’s doing it.
The Knicks made a savvy move in grabbing Hornacek, and Jackson must turn his focus to the other equally important duties of his job.”
Steve Popper from northjersey.com isn’t convinced Hornacek will be a good hire:
“If you could be sold on someone from outside of your very limited circle of basketball friends, why not talk to more of the candidates? While he went outside his comfort zone, Jackson brought in a coach who, no matter how solid a guy he is, if we live by the old Bill Parcell’s line — “You are what your record says you are” — has been a sub-.500 coach. Great first year, fought through tough circumstances in the second year and imploded with, well, a Knicks-like roster this season.
…Or is Hornacek a man who coached an awkwardly constructed roster in Phoenix to the greatest heights they could have reached? And can he do that with the Knicks, a roster that is built to play a 1990’s game in a world where the game has moved on to a small-ball, fast-paced style?”
Hornacek played here in Utah and was instrumental in the Jazz getting over the hump into the Finals, but not enough to beat Michael Jordan. His reputation here is outstanding and we were a little upset when Phoenix hired him before we fired Tyrone Corbin. The only doubts that I have is how quickly he lost the team after overachieving his first year in Phoenix. He wasn’t a superstar, but he was a Steve Kerr type. Smart, good character guy, and worked hard. The 3rd best option on a great team. He is they type of player seem to make a good coaches, not a Superstar, but someone that can understand and relate to the others on the team. I side with the crowd calling it a good hire. Either way, many Knick fans are just glad that it isn’t Rambis.