The Phoenix Suns made big news late Sunday night when they announced that they would be firing head coach Jeff Hornacek. The move wasn't much of a surprise considering how bad the Suns have been recently, and it was more just a matter of when, not if. With Hornacek having been ousted, the Suns will need to name an interim head coach to replace him, and it is expected that they will do so by Tuesday. Earl Watson and Corey Gaines are the two frontrunners for the job, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
Hornacek is a beloved former member of the Suns whom he played with for six seasons. Hornacek came back to the team in 2013 to be the head coach, and his teams have regressed over his two-plus seasons. In year one, the team won 48 games, followed by 39 wins last season, and so far this season they are an awful 14-35, which included a 2-19 skid that was ultimately his undoing.
Hornacek was on the hot seat virtually all season as the Suns had playoff hopes but have underachieved greatly. Earlier in the season the Suns fired two of Hornacek's top assistants as a warning shot to him that he needed to get the team to play better, but that hasn't happened. The Suns gave Hornacek every chance to keep his job, but ultimately the team wasn't playing well enough for him to be kept. Hornacek was reportedly well-liked in the organization, but at some point he needed positive results, and they just haven't come at all this season.
As for Hornacek's replacement, the Suns are expected to interview Earl Watson, Corey Gaines and Nate Bjorkman on Monday to fill the interim job. The interim head coach is fully expected to be picked from the current staff, and it seems as though Gaines and Watson are the favorites for the position. Watson joined the coaching staff this past summer and is reportedly highly respected around the league.
Watson doesn't have much experience as a coach, which may mean that Gaines is the favorite. Gaines has been an assistant with the Suns since 2013, and before that he coached the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA. An announcement is expected to be made by Tuesday on whom the interim coach will be, but whomever he is will have an extremely tough task ahead of them.
