Goodbye Jeff Hornacek.

Jeff Hornacek is leaving the Jazz to become the head coach of the Phoenix Suns. I personally could not be happier for Horny. I am very jealous of the Suns players and Suns fans. I have always wanted Hornacek to be the long term coach for the Jazz.

Out of all of our assistants I feel that Jeff has brought most to the table. I personally don't know what Sidney Lowe and Mike Sanders have done that have helped players, that is not to say they haven't done anything or they aren't good assistants but from my perspective I haven't been able to see what they have done.

When the Zone has interviewed the assistant coaches or during the halftime interviews with assistants, Jeff was the only coach I felt that said anything concrete, anything useful. What we'd hear from Sanders and Lowe is much like what we'd hear from Corbin, just a bunch of jargon. Jeff on the other hand would name specific things players had to do better, he would talk about specific plays, it wasn't the usual, "continue to get better" "work harder".

Jeff has been with the Jazz in a coaching capacity since 2007. We all remember when Jeff was brought in to work with AK. Over the years it seems like Jeff as been great at working with the players, building relationships with them. It started with AK and has extended to the Cour Four. When Hayward is interviewed it is nearly always Hornacek he brings up when asked about receiving help with his game. Horny is the coach that seems to have pulled the Cour Four aside in timeouts to give instructions to or to encourage them. Hornacek will be greatly missed.

On a personal note, I have always had a soft spot for Hornacek, so maybe I am taking this news harder than I should. Hornaeck lived across the street from my HS boyfriend. We'd often see him out doing yard work out front, he'd always say hi.

I imagine Brad Jones will be made a full time assistant, which I think is great news. Brad seems to be very smart and very personable. I think he'll continue to contribute a lot to the team. I was able to interview Brad Jones when he was the head coach of the Utah Flash, I was very very impressed by him.

Or maybe My_Lo is right and Sloan we'll be brought in as an assistant, only time will tell :)