Knicks, Magic land leading men
On Thursday, both the New York Knicks and Orlando Magic got their head coaches.
After much talk that it was a done deal, there was further confirmation that the Knicks landed Jeff Hornacek to take over the moribund franchise, while it was announced that Frank Vogel would be leading the Magic into their next chapter.
Both teams are looking for a winning culture and some stability. New York has been a volatile mess ever since the departure of Jeff Van Gundy almost 15 years ago. Since then, the Knicks have seen Lenny Wilkins, Herb Williams, Kurt Rambis, Derek Fisher, Mike D’antoni, Mike Woodson, Larry Brown and others try their hand at reviving one of the proudest franchises the sport of basketball has to offer. No luck.
Hornacek comes in after being fired by the Phoenix Suns following his 14-35 start. On the surface, many in New York might question why team president Phil Jackson would bring in a coach with a career mark of 101-112 with only one winning season and no playoff appearances in three tries.
However, Hornacek is young by head-coaching standards at 53 years old and had little chemistry in Phoenix with a team long on talent but short on mentality. The Suns have Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker and Tyson Chandler, but the rest of the roster is full of holes and attitude.
Coming to New York, Hornacek can implement the cerebral approach to the game that almost won him the NBA Coach of the Year award in Phoenix back in 2013-14, when he guided an underdog bunch to 48 victories.
Meanwhile, the Magic got a huge boost to their rebuilding efforts with the acquisition of Vogel. It is incredible that general manager Larry Bird of the Indiana Pacers allowed Vogel’s contract to expire, letting one of the best young coaches in basketball hit the market.
Vogel was head coach of the Pacers for six seasons and coached exactly one star (unless you count Roy Hibbert and Danny Granger. Be smart. Don’t count Roy Hibbert and Danny Granger). In that time, Vogel made it to the postseason five times and reached the Eastern Conference Finals on two occasions.
Orlando has some good, young talent for Vogel to work with. Victor Oladipo is a quality player who can develop into a legitimate star while Elfrid Payton can follow in kind. Vogel will continue to bring a long this young team which won 35 games last season under head coach Scott Skiles, who abruptly quit after only one year.
Don’t look for the Magic or the Knicks to be challenging the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017, but both could be competing for a playoff spot.
Considering where they have been, that would be a monumental step in the right direction.
