Phoenix Suns Rumors 2015: Two Assistants Fired, Jeff Hornacek on the Way Out?
There is trouble in Phoenix and management has started to take some steps to handle it.
On Sunday, team owner Robert Sarver, along with general manager Ryan McDonough, met with the Suns' starting players and coaching staff to discuss serious matters, highlighted by the firing of head coach Jeff Hornacek's top 2 deputies.
Yahoo! Sports first reported that top assistant Mike Longabardi and another one, Jerry Sichting, were fired as a response to the team's embarrassing loss to the league worst Philadelphia 76ers. And although Hornacek gets to keep his job as of the moment, it is pretty clear that he is already hanging by a thread. The report also said that the former Utah Jazz guard was completely against the firing of his assistants, but eventually decided to move on and continue coaching the Suns.
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Before the loss to the Sixers, the Suns were already facing trouble when they lost 10 of the last 15 games, forcing both Sarver and McDonough to take matters into their own hands by conducting individual meetings with some of the key players of the team. Accordingly, the meetings were focused on getting a better understanding of what's happening with the team.
Now at 12-20 and the fact that Phoenix Suns belong in the tough Western Conference, it certainly makes perfect sense if the ownership takes drastic steps to change the franchise's fortune this season. While there is still time, they will have to do it fast.
Meanwhile, there is a lot of talk that once Sarver decides to get rid of Hornacek, the man likely to replace him on an interim basis is Earl Watson, a former NBA player himself. But it's not that easy to just fire Hornacek, knowing that he also was once a popular Suns player who surprised everyone in the 2013-2014 season when he managed to win 48 games for Phoenix as a rookie coach. But his team's struggles started appearing last season and were carried over this year.
The team also seems to be married to bad luck this year. They lost starting point guard Eric Bledsoe to a meniscus injury last week and he's expected to be out at least six weeks, while unhappy forward Markieff Morris has been suspended one game after throwing a towel on Hornacek in a game last week. It remains to be seen if the team eventually decides to trade Morris before the February deadline.
