Jeff Hornacek

Jeff Hornacek
Player information
Full name	Jeffrey John Hornacek
birthday	May 3, 1963
place of birth	Elmhurst , United States
size	193 cm
position	Shooting Guard
college	Iowa State
NBA draft	1986 , 46. Pick, Phoenix Suns
Club information
society	New York Knicks
Clubs as active
1986-1992 Phoenix Suns 1992-1994 Philadelphia 76ers 1994-2000 Utah Jazz
Clubs as coaches
2011–2013 Utah Jazz (AC) 2013–2016 Phoenix Suns 2016–2018 New York Knicks

Jeffrey John "Jeff" Hornacek ( IPA : [ hɔrnəsɛk ]) (born May 3, 1963 in Elmhurst , Illinois ) is a former American basketball player for the Phoenix Suns , Philadelphia 76ers and Utah Jazz in the NBA and today's coach. The 1.93 meter tall Hornacek played the position of shooting guard and twice won the official three-point throwing competition of the NBA . Hornacek last worked as a trainer for the New York Knicks .

Player career

Hornacek was drawn in 46th place by the Phoenix Suns in the 1986 NBA draft . For the first year and a half he was only a reservist behind Walter Davis , but then broke through as a regular player in his sophomore season. In his fourth year he averaged 17 points per game and 6 assists and achieved a remarkable hit rate of 53% from the field and 41% from beyond the three-point line. During this time he and point guard Kevin Johnson formed one of the most attacking guard pairs in the league. In spring 1992 he took part in the All-Star Game for the first and only time. This year he also achieved his personal best with an average of 20.1 points per game.

In the summer of 1992, Hornacek was given by the Suns to the Philadelphia 76ers in return for acquiring Sixers star Charles Barkley . Since the Sixers already had a good shooting guard in their ranks with Hersey Hawkins , Hornacek had to take over the playmaker duties of a point guard. He had an average of 7 assists per game; however, the Sixers won only 26 of their 82 season games and were rebuilt afterwards. Hornacek was passed on to Utah Jazz in 1994 .

In jazz, Hornacek established himself as a valuable third force behind the two superstars Karl Malone and John Stockton . Despite a serious knee injury, he consistently scored an average of 16 points per game with a hit rate of z. T. 46% from beyond the three-point line. He was part of the jazz team that failed in the 1997 and 1998 NBA finals at the Chicago Bulls around Michael Jordan . In 1998 he won the three-point throwing competition on the All-Star weekend. In his final year 2000, Hornacek set a jazz record from the free throw line when he hit 95.0% of his free throws, including 67 free throws in a row. Hornacek again took part in the three-point throwing competition during the All-Star weekend and won again, this time ahead of Dirk Nowitzki . After this season Hornacek ended his playing career. As a thank you for his achievements, Jazz withdrew his jersey number 14, which has not been awarded since then. His university, Iowa State University , also withdrew number 14 in his honor. After his playing career, Hornacek became "Shooting Coach" (assistant trainer for throwing technique) of jazz.

Style of play

Hornacek was known throughout his career for his game intelligence and throwing security, with which he was able to outplay his relatively low athleticism. He won the NBA three-point throwing competition twice, and is one of the most accurate guards of all time with hit rates of 49.6% in the field, 87.7% in free throws and 40.3%. Hornacek was known for his free-throw ritual: before each free-throw he stroked his cheeks three times to greet his three children at home.

Coaching career

Hornacek became the new assistant coach for the Utah Jazz in February 2011. Hornacek held this position until summer 2013. For the 2013/2014 season he became the new head coach of the Phoenix Suns , for which he was also previously active as a player. Hornacek achieved 48 wins in his first year, but still missed the playoff qualification. In the election for coach of the year , he came in second behind Gregg Popovich . After a poor start to the 2015/2016 season , Hornacek was relieved of his duties as head coach of the Suns on February 1, 2016 after an 87:91 loss to the Dallas Mavericks . The Phoenix Suns had 14 wins and 35 losses on their balance sheet at this point in time.

On June 2, 2016, the New York Knicks announced the engagement of Hornacek as their new head coach. After the Knicks missed the play-offs for the fifth time in a row, the franchise split from Jeff Hornacek in April 2018.

Private life

Jeff Hornacek is married and has three children. He is committed to the Special Olympics .

Web links

• Jeff Hornacek - player profile on basketball-reference.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ nba.com about Hornacek ( Memento of the original from June 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ Spurs' Gregg Popovich named 2013-14 Coach of the Year ( Memento of the original from April 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ nba.com: Jeff Hornacek Agrees To Become Knicks' Head Coach Knicks Name Jeff Hornacek Head Coach Article dated June 2, 2016
4. ↑ spox.com: New York Knicks fire head coach Jeff Hornacek April 12, 2018 article