Once again tonight, in an absolute thriller, the Scorching Suns of Arizona won in Minnesota over Kevin Love and Co. on a last minute shot by Gerald Green.
The Phoenix Suns have been one of the biggest surprises in the NBA this season. Phoenix was on a lot of people's tanking radar this year, but instead of playing for lottery balls and draft position they are playing for playoff position and possibly a division title. The Phoenix Suns are 22-13 and currently two game in back of the Los Angeles Clippers for first place in the Pacific Division.
A big reason for the Suns success this season is the coaching of first year head coach Jeff Hornacek. Hornacek played in the NBA for 15 seasons and averaged 14.5 ppg while shooting 49.6% from the field and 40.3% from 3-point range. Hornacek played for three teams in his NBA career, the Phoenix Suns, Philadelphia 76ers and the Utah Jazz. Those experiences helped mold his basketball philosophy, especially the time that he spent in Utah as player for coach Jerry Sloan. Utah is where Hornacek enjoyed his biggest successes as a player going to two NBA Finals.
You can see the influence of his Utah Jazz experience in his Phoenix Suns squad. The way the team plays hard from start to finish as well as share the ball are things Hornacek has instilled in the Suns from his own personal basketball experiences. The Suns play with a small backcourt with 6-foot-1 Eric Bledsoe and 6-foot-3 Goran Dragic. This is similar to the backcourt that Hornacek was part of with the Jazz with Hornacek standing 6-foot-3 and NBA legend John Stockton standing 6-foot-1. Most coaches may not have put Dragic and Bledsoe together as a starting backcourt, but Hornacek drawing on his own personal experience knew that it would work and it is paying off. Bledsoe and Dragic are one of the higher scoring backcourts in all the NBA with Dragic leading the team in scoring at 18.9 ppg on 48.7% shooting and Bledsoe averaging 18 ppg on 48.6% shooting from the field. The Suns are also one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the NBA, shooting the trey at a 36.9% clip and average 103.2 ppg.
Phoenix Suns general manager Ryan McDonough also deserves a lot of credit for putting together this roster and for knowing Jeff Hornacek had the basketball background to be a strong head coach in the NBA. McDonough also showed he could find a diamond in the rough as far as the NBA draft is concerned when he chose to trade veteran Luis Scola to Indiana for Miles Plumlee who was chosen 26th in the 2013 draft out of Duke. That deal has payed off as Plumlee has been a definite bright averaging 9.9 points and 9.2 rebounds in his rookie campaign
All these factors and, most importantly, the basketball background of Jeff Hornacek, are the biggest reasons why it is not a surprise that he is succeeding as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns. It is also the reason that the Suns organization is enjoying early sucess with their young team. Hornacek has been a sucess all through his NBA career, why should that trend stop now that he is on the sideline coaching ?
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