Hornacek's closest chance to a championship was in 1996 and 1998. For two consecutive seasons (1996-1997 and 1997-1998), Hornacek reached the NBA Finals with the mighty Utah Jazz, but also two consecutive seasons, losing to the more powerful Chicago Bulls and basketball god Michael Jordan.

It was Hornacek's closest two chances to a championship and the only two chances he had ever had to win a championship ring in his career.

The Utah Jazz missed the championship twice is embarrassing, and some people in later generations have been aggrieved by this team with simple and clear tactics and efficient and practical play, thinking that they were just unlucky, just lost to the "ball god" Michael Jordan alone.

Lost to Jordan alone? This is true, just looking at the data, you may think that Jordan's Bulls are the weak side, and Jordan is the real lone hero.

But in fact, Hornacek, as a party, is quite aware of how difficult it is for his team to reach the Finals, and how difficult it is for them to compete with the Bulls.

The Utah Jazz from 1996 to 1998 were not particularly strong, although they won more than 60 wins for two consecutive years (64-18 in 1996-1997 and 62-20 in 1997-1998), and although they were able to sweep the fledgling "OK pair" (Kobe Bryant and O'Neal) and the rising Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, the Utah Jazz were still a lot worse in terms of overall strength.

Don't compare it with Jordan's Bulls, even in the West, the Jazz's staffing is not as good as the Los Angeles Lakers (O'Neal, Kobe, Jones, Van Exel) with four All-Stars in the same period, the Houston Rockets with three old giants (Olajuwon, Barkley, Drexler), the Portland Trail Blazers with a group of bench bandits (7 players scored double-doubles), and even the San Antonio Spurs (Robinson, Duncan) and the energetic Minnesota Timberwolves (Garnett, Marbury, Gogliotta) are both stronger than the Jazz team combined.

The reason why the Jazz were able to dominate the West for two consecutive years with two and a half All-Stars who entered the latter years of their careers (Hornacek was only selected for the All-Star Game once) and a group of role players who had just reached the passing line relied on their characteristic style of play and absolute tactical discipline.

If the Utah Jazz could have been given another sixth man like Crowder and Farid, the results of the past two Finals might have been different. Thinking of this, Hornacek habitually touched his face, and now he has so many available people in his hands, he is so happy.

In the dead of night, Hornacek pushed his glasses and continued to read the thick stack of scouting reports and match analysis reports at hand.

Point guard: Derrick Rose, 28 years old, 6 feet 3 inches (191 cm), 190 pounds (86 kg), good at breaking, strong offense and weak defense, lack of consistent playmaking, and certain injury concerns.

Shooting Guard: Roy, 19 years old, 6 inches 7 inches (201 cm) tall, 198 pounds (90 kg), can play, can score, can defend, all-around forward swingman, lacks some game experience.

Shooting Guard: Contney Lee, 31 years old, 6'5" (196cm) tall, 200 pounds (91kg), excellent three-point shot, aggressive defense, typical 3-and-D player.

Small Forward: Jae Crowder, 26, 6'6" (198cm) tall, 235 pounds (107kg), an all-rounder who can play from the second to the fourth position, and a passionate perimeter defensive man.

Small forward: Darrell Arthur, 28 years old, 6 inches 9 inches (206 cm), 235 pounds (107 kg), accurate mid-range shooting, defensive intelligence big 3-and-D player, the disadvantage is that his athleticism has decreased after the injury.

Small forward: Jaylen Brown, 20 years old, 6 feet 7 inches (201 cm), 220 pounds (103 kg), excellent physical fitness, strong confrontation ability, positive defensive attitude, high potential.

Power forward: Kristaps Porzingis, 21 years old, 7 inches 3 inches (221 cm) tall, 240 pounds (109 kg), extremely versatile in attack, both inside and outside, relying on his astonishing height and reach to help defend on the wings.

Power Forward: Kenneth Farid, 27 years old, 6 inches 8 inches (203 cm) tall, 228 pounds (103 kg), tough top blue-collar style, especially good at defense and rebounding.

Center: Joji Noah, 31 years old, 6 inches 11 inches (211 cm), 230 pounds (104 kg), very strong defensive and rebounding ability, and has a certain ability to play and pass, but due to injuries, the past two years have regressed greatly.

According to Honacek's judgment, these nine players are undoubtedly the nine players with the highest fighting power in the team. On paper, point guard and center are the team's weak link, and these two good buddies of the Chicago Bulls, one only offense and not defense, and the other only defense and not offense, have obvious shortcomings and advantages. And both of them have the same "glass", and they don't have decent substitutes, which is a big problem and a big hidden danger, and it must be solved first.

From a tactical point of view, only Rose and Roy need to play with the ball, while everyone else can play with these two off-ball offense, which is simply the staffing that every manager dreams of. However, when it comes to tactics, the team's current tactics are indeed relatively simple, and there are no systematic training of one or two complete sets of tactical play, except for the star's individual singles ("blind chicken X play"), there is only a shallow run-and-bomb tactics and blocking tactics, which is also a big problem for the team.

From a technical point of view, the current team has assaulters who are good at close-range fighting, fighters who attack cities on the inside, shooters who are stable and accurate on the outside, and singles masters who can't open the situation, but only lack of organizational experts who command calmly. From the point of view of defensive hardness, the team's main force and bench are not defensive experts who dare to fight except for Rose's average defensive ability, and if this lineup is handed over to Popovich or Budenholzer for training, then they will really wake up laughing.

Now that a good deck of cards is in his hands, Hornacek can't help but feel the pressure soaring.

First of all, we have to determine a core, for a team like the Knicks without big-name stars, it is not easy to convince anyone to be the core, Roy has this ability, but he is too young, and Porzingis is also a candidate, but his problem is also too young. On the balance, it's a good idea to let Rose take Roy to take over slowly.

And then there is a basic style of play, Hornacek played pick-and-roll tactics in the Jazz, and then learned the triangle offense, and when he coached the Suns, he developed a run-and-gun strategy, but to say which tactic is most suitable for the Knicks team in front of him, it seems that he can't find the way for a while, according to the staffing, they are somewhat similar to the 2003-2004 championship-winning Pistons team, does that mean we can also try practical defensive basketball?

Finally, it is to determine the player rotation model, it is obvious that the team has no other choice but to use Rose and Noah in the point guard and center position, and the scoring guard must also be the team's top scorer Roy, the big forward position Porzingis and Farid complement each other with one offense and one defense, but the small forward position is slightly bloated, Crowder, Arthur, Brown, these three can play a miracle role in key moments if the function is subdivided.

After a fantasy, Hornacek touched his face again, according to this lineup configuration, he must produce results in three years, and if the team can continue to introduce strong players this year and next year, then maybe there is a chance to impact the championship.

It's just that where do you start with so much work to be solved?

Hornacek is a junior manager after all, and just thinking about it makes him a little dizzy, let alone how to solve problems one by one.

If it were his mentor, Jerry Sloan, what would he do?

Hornacek had a sudden idea.

By the way, speaking of Mr. Sloane, shall I ask for his opinion? With his experience and wisdom, he should be able to give himself a hint that, as he did with the Suns, Hornacek needs advice from the elderly.

Thinking of his mentor Jerry Sloan, the door of Hornacek's memory opened, and he felt a wellspring of thought, not only thinking of the Utah Jazz's sophisticated tactics and strict game discipline, but also of the two old guys who worked well with him, John Stockton and Carl Malone.

Speaking of which, what if you copied the tactical play of the Utah Jazz back then? Speaking of which, the Knicks now also happen to have a pair of golden partners inside and outside, Roy and Porzingis, and it just so happens that Roy's overall vision is excellent, and Porzingis's mid-range shooting is accurate.

Speaking of which, what if all three mentors and friends of Sloan, Stockton, and Malone were invited to the team to mentor these young people? Anyway, he didn't bring a few coaches with him in a hurry, and the team's assistant coach Kurt Rambis, who was still left by former head coach Derek Fisher, was a good suggestion to add members to the coaching staff.

Speaking of which, if all the ideas come true, then this is really a good chance, a good chance to win the championship. Those guys' regrets may really be able to make up for it, this Knicks team is much more talented than the Utah Jazz team back then, as long as this group of young people is not affected by major injuries, their achievements will definitely not be low, and they will definitely have the strength to compete for championships.

By the way, when it comes to injuries and staying healthy......

A thought flashed through Hornacek's mind, and a name popped up when it came to the health of the players, and the role of the medical team was crucial. As for the medical team, the Suns he once coached have the best team doctor in the league, Mr. Thomas Carter.

That's right, Thomas Carter is the "miracle doctor" who is widely praised in the league and the global fan circle, and he is a rare sports medicine talent in a century.

Consultant Jerry Sloan, assistant coaches John Stockton and Karl Malone, team doctor Thomas Carter.

O, oh no, the team's logistics team is complete all at once.

Now all that's left is the final question: Should Phil Jackson bring all four of them over?