One moment, Jeff Hornacek takes on the persona of his former coach with the Jazz, taskmaster Jerry Sloan. The next moment, he is back to being good ol’ easy-going Hornacek.
It is this balanced demeanor — and off-the-court rapport with veterans from whom he seeks input — that has Hornacek looking in command of his first Knicks training camp nearly three weeks and three preseason games in. With the virtual absences of their two most important offseason additions, Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, Hornacek has handled the challenges.
“You’ll see it,’’ Carmelo Anthony said of Hornacek’s Sloan act. “It’s flashes. In practice, you hear it, then he reverts to Jeff Hornacek. He gets our attention. That’s the most important part. When he speaks, we listen. When he demands something, we follow through with that.’’
After formal practice ends, Hornacek is often on the sidelines, individually chatting up an older player — whether it’s Anthony, Noah or Courtney Lee.
Lee has played on six previous clubs and has dealt with his fair share of coaches.
“Hornacek kind of reminds me of a Kevin [McHale], little bit of Rick Adelman and Doc Rivers,’’ Lee said. “Understanding the game and communicating with players and just listening, getting feedback from players. He wants to teach us the best way we can understand it.”
Hornacek likes small talk more than any of his past coaches, Lee said.
“Some coaches — like Stan Van Gundy — one of the best coaches I played for, but really wasn’t trying to talk to you off the court,’’ Lee said. “He’ll say hi to you but then he’ll keep it moving. On the court, he’s yelling at you and demanding a lot out of you. Coach Hornacek and McHale, they’ll demand and talk to you on the court, but they’ll also carry a conversation off the court. Having an understanding of those two fine lines, as a player, nothing is better when you can communicate and be open with your coach and be truthful.”
Hornacek said he is inclined to get closer to the veterans than young guys, believing they are vital resources. That relationship also makes it easier to monitor their health.
“When you have veterans, sometimes you got to let them figure out what works well for them,’’ Hornacek said. “I try to talk to them a lot. I need you to be in shape, but I don’t want to kill you at this point. There’s a lot of more dialogue with those guys than the younger players. With older guys you got to be more careful. They’re responding well, giving me their thoughts. I told them if you have something would work offensively or defensively better, then come to us. [Noah] will say a couple of things on pick-and-rolls. Other than that, they’re listening.”
Anthony, who has gone through four prior Knicks coaches, said Hornacek is “always open-minded.’’
“He’s somebody who’s still trying to get comfortable,’’ Anthony said. “He’s a very confident guy but always open-minded to us as players, to what’s going on around here. It’s a hard job for him with a totally different team, trying to figure out how we’re going to play, figure out our identity. Once he gets it, it will be smooth sailing for him.’’
Derek Fisher, Phil Jackson’s first coach, who was fired in February, leaped from being one of the league’s oldest players to a neophyte coach overnight. Hornacek is 16 years removed from his playing days and has three seasons of head-coaching experience in Phoenix. Sources indicate Jackson has treated Hornacek differently — giving him more leeway, even respect, as evidenced by the coach’s departure from the full-blown triangle offense.
“It’s a different style of coaching,’’ Kyle O’Quinn said. “Jeff is more old-school, back-in-the-day. Fish was part of the new era. He played until a couple of years ago, just coming out of playing. He put himself as a player on the court, the 11th guy out there. But reality is, he was on the bench. Coach Hornacek sees it strictly as a coach, with old-school morals like guys like Sloan.”
For instance?
“Simple box-outs, no excuses,’’ O’Quinn said. “Get screened, get over the screen, because that was demanded of him as a player.’’
Hornacek also allows for “more instinctive’’ play.
“If you see a screen, set one; if you get a shot, shoot it,’’ O’Quinn said. “He won’t be too mad at you. He’s never complained about a shot since training camp. That says a lot. He was a shooter.’’
With Rose’s trial and Noah’s injury, Hornacek, with a 2-1 preseason record, isn’t predicting a lightning-fast beginning.
“We all want to get off to a great start,’’ Hornacek said. “We’re not going to panic if we don’t do well. We know we’re going to get better as the year goes on. The goal is to get in the playoffs, and we feel if we can improve throughout the season we can get there. We have veteran guys who’ve played in big games before and we’ll take our chances then.’’