To continue with the theme of posts today, NAS asked some beat writers and NBA bloggers about their thoughts on Lawrence Frank's firing. For more internet reaction, check out this link dump from Ball Don't Lie. Meanwhile, we'll try to add to this post throughout the day, as we get more responses.
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Mark already did a great job looking back at the Lawrence Frank era and looking at who could be next, but I figured I should throw something up on the subject. And by throw something up, I mean post my Lawrence Frank offseason post for the third time. I think it is pretty relevant, plus I know for a fact that we have more readers than we did when I posted it the first two times. Also, at the end, I put some of my observations from this year and compared them to years past. So if you already read this twice, you can just skip to the end.
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As the Nets look to move on from Lawrence Frank, they now need to name an interim coach to take them through the rest of the season. Common sense says the Nets, who are a financial mess, will promote someone in-house to take over head coaching duties. Here are some of the possibilities:
Kiki Vandeweghe - The Nets GM, Kiki was looking like the odds-on favorite if you believed last week's media reports. But since the Frank firing, reports say the team may be backing away from Vandeweghe, and looking instead to one of the team's current assistants. It's not as if Kiki would have brought something definitively special to the table. He has no head coaching experience, though he's earned some praise for his talent recognition while working in the front offices of Dallas and Denver. Regarding his work as GM in New Jersey - since he assembled this losing roster, is it only fitting that he should be the one to coach it?
Tom Barrise - Barrise got the call last night against the Lakers and the game resembled the first 16 games of the 2009-10 season. The Nets got blitzed early, were inept offensively for most of the first half, and fell into a hole they were never able to climb out of. There was even some Bobby Simmons playing PF for those longing for Lawrence Frank's coaching decisions. Still Barrise is a guy who's paid his dues for 14 years in the organization, first as an advanced scout and then as an assistant. He's a Jersey guy through and through - born in Paterson, with coaching experience at Ramapo, William Patterson, Farleigh Dickinson and St. Peter's - which could make him a hometown favorite.
John Loyer - Loyer's in his first year as an assistant coach with the team, after spending four seasons in that capacity in Philadelphia. A word that comes up often when discussing Loyer is "respect." Yes, he has no head coaching experience, dating back to his days as an assistant at the University of Cincinnati, but the current roster reportedly is already a fan of his.
Doug Overton - In his second season as an assistant coach, the longtime NBA point guard is an interesting dark horse candidate to take over for Frank. I personally wonder how his relationship with Chris Douglas-Roberts would impact Rod Thorn's decision to promote Overton. Both CDR and Overton have downplayed it, but both have engaged in some public screaming matches with each other in front of the media, including most recently during a game in Milwaukee where Overton was barking orders at CDR and the guard snapped back "we're losing!"
Roy Rogers - Another dark horse, Rogers has earned some praise in his two years as a Nets assistant because of his work with the Nets bigs - notably Brook Lopez. He does have some coaching experience in the NBA D-League as well, which could help his cause. A former NBA first round draft pick in 1996.
The Open Field - Again, it's doubtful, but the Nets could reach outside the organization for help. The names that are out there? Well, Patrick Ewing is reportedly already lobbying for a chance. Other names with NBA head coaching experience include Avery Johnson, Sam Mitchell, Reggie Theus, PJ Carlesimo, Terry Porter and Eric Musselman.
Few people knew who Lawrence Frank was when he took over as interim coach for the Nets after the organization fired Byron Scott in January 2004, but after a 13-0 start to his coaching career, and a history with the club that crossed over seven seasons, he certainly made his mark in New Jersey.
While Sebastian and I have definitely disagreed with some of Frank's coaching decisions over the years, it's never fun when a coach loses his job, especially a legitimate nice guy like Frank.
So, as we move into the next era of the New Jersey Nets, NAS is going to look back at Lawrence Frank's five biggest wins, and his five worst losses.
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GameFlow, Forum Blue and Gold, Tom Barrise Interview, Devin Harris Interview
I am a crazy optimistic person. I am so optimistic in fact, that I thought there was a chance that the Nets would come out last night, guns-a-blazing, a win one for their fallen coach. Brook Lopez and Sean Williams would then lift assistant-turned head coach Tom Barrise on their shoulders as the crowd chants Rudy! Rudy! Rudy...oh wait...sorry, I got my sports movie moments confused for a moment. Anyway, the Nets didn't win, but they did in fact keep it closer than was expected. Sure, some of it had to do with the fact that Kobe didn't play a minute in the fourth quarter, but Kobe only scored 30 points though (sarcastic) and the Nets did some good things (not sarcastic).
From the start, the game had a weird feel about it, and you couldn't tell if the Nets were mailing this one in, or if the talent gap between the Nets and the Lakers was so great it just looked like the Nets weren't trying. Again, it could be the optimist in me, but I tend to believe it was the latter. Why? Well, the Nets were all over the court from opening tip to final whistle. You know Brook always goes hard, but Devin was diving on the floor late in the game (under 2 minutes left), Sean Williams was running up and down challenging dunk attempts. Hell, even Rafer Alston gave up a hard foul on Shannon Brown when he spotted up for a 3 with 10 seconds left.
Speaking of Rafer, we can start talking about the negative with him. He had another poor game today going 2-8, including getting blocked as he jogged to the rim going for a lay-up as time expired in the first (Jordan Farmer, who was hustling all the way blocked him of course). Also, he had another one of those "dribble it off my foot and out of bounds" moments that always seems to make it on Sportscenter. CDR too had a poor game, part of it probably had to do with Kobe defending him, but he did seem to be pressing as if to break the win streak every time he touched the ball. He only got 1 shot in the second quarter. How can your second best option at this point only get 1 shot in 12 minutes? Oh well, this is his first poor game in a while, so he gets a pass here. Bobby Simmons still can't make wide open 3s anymore and it is getting so bad, teams start to close out on him, realize it is Bobby Simmons and go in for the rebound. No joke. It happened twice last night. After the jump, I get into the other positives (yes, there were multiple positives) in bullet format:
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Obviously, there's still lots of fallout over Lawrence Frank's firing in the papers last night/this morning.
Over at the Star-Ledger, Dave D'Alessandro talks about potential interim replacements, while Rod Thorn said the organization could even look outside to fill the position.
Steve Politi thinks Rod Thorn is the last thing to believe in with the Nets.
Chris Sheridan over at TrueHoop talks about the "wacky" history of Nets firings.
Rafer Alston says blame the players.
The Record looks back at the fantastic journey of Lawrence Frank.
The always demonstrative Stan Van Gundy, has some interesting things to say about Frank's firing.
Meanwhile, Vince Carter had "no comment" on the firing.
Mitch Lawrence of the Daily News says don't expect to see much improvement in the Nets now that they fired Frank.
Hardwood Paroxysm podcasts about Lawrence Frank.
Bleacher Report speculates that the Frank firing could affect the team's chances to land a free agent next summer.
Mark Heisler of the LA Times looks back at the Nets miseries.
Fanhouse also chimes in on the state of the Nets.
So that wasn't as bad as expected, I guess that is a good thing. After a first half where the Nets only scored 34 points, I was thinking the Nets could threaten the record for fewest points in a game (Like the Nets are going to need to break anymore records of awfulness). Since there has been so much negative today (the Lawrence Frank firing, the tying of the record) I am going to focus on the positives as much as I can in the bullets:
So the move finally got made. I am a little shocked by the timing, but like I said in my last post, since it was already leaked, no sense in letting Lawrence Frank hang. Again, quoting Wojnarowski's article:
Sources said Nets management had come to believe that Frank had lost much of the team, a fact that has played out in losses to Denver and Sacramento in the past week. Once the Nets played so poorly against the Kings – believed to be the most winnable game on the trip – management decided it could no longer go on with Frank as coach.
Despite the return of point guard Devin Harris(notes) and shooting guard Courtney Lee(notes), the Nets have played long stretches of uninspired basketball. “Most of the guys have tuned him out,” one source with direct knowledge of the locker room environment said. “This isn’t all Lawrence’s fault, but everyone knows that this can’t go on anymore.”
It makes sense when you think about it, but why the sudden change in effort? The Nets have been giving plenty of effort until the Denver game. Now, I have no inside information, but here a few guesses from me.
Anyway, I know I have been very critical (maybe too critical) of Lawrence Frank in the past, but I do want to wish him luck, and I think we all know he will get another coaching job soon. As for tonight, let's see if the Nets completely crumble without Frank, or if they go all out, trying to get a win for their fallen coach. Here are the lineups:
Devin Harris vs. Derrick Fisher:
In the second half of the Sacramento game, you saw the Devin Harris of old. He was getting to the rim and drawing contact. He wasn't making his layups, but that will come in time. It does look like he has his quickness back though, and against Derrick Fisher that will be a huge advantage.
Advantage: Devin Harris
CDR vs. Kobe
Along with Brook Lopez, CDR has been the only one showing any fight the last couple of games. His work is going to be cut out for him, on both ends. Kobe is a lot better defender than he gets credit for, and he will be hassling CDR all night. Plus with Courtney probably still not at 100% (only 3 minutes last game), he will be defending Kobe most of the night.
Advantage: Kobe
Trenton Hassell vs. Ron Artest
This is actually a somewhat favorable matchup for Trenton since Ron is a guy who likes to use his strength rather than his quickness. Trenton Hassell can and will bang with Artest. It won't be enough to stop him completely, but it should slow him down a bit.
Advantage: Ron Artest
Josh Boone vs. Pau Gasol
Boone had a very good game against Sacramento, though it probably won't continue tonight. The reason that Boone was successful is because the Kings' frontcourt while big, wasn't very athletic and Josh Boone was able to hang with them. Pau is a big guy who can move around and can hit from outside of the lane. Josh Boone is going to be in trouble tonight:
Advantage: Pau Gasol
Brook Lopez vs. Andrew Bynum
I scored 12 points on Andrew Bynum once. Well, not on him, but my high school played his (St. Joe's Metuchen) on my senior night, and I hit four threes. We played him again in our conference playoffs, and he responded by blocking one of my runners into the crowd. Brook Lopez is going to give Bynum some payback tonight!
Advantage: Brook Lopez
Prediction
Current Record: 9-7
So the Lakers will win, that isn't a question, but I think the Nets' players aren't going to like reading that they gave up on their coach. They are going to come out hard and will keep it closer than most expect it to be.
Welp, that was quick huh? Well, according to a number of sources, Lawrence Frank is done and Assistant coach Tom Barrise will coach the team in L.A. on Sunday. Adrian Wojnarowski has the report:
Frank will not coach against the Lakers on Sunday night, when the Nets will have a chance to tie an NBA record with a 17th straight loss to start the season. New Jersey assistant Tom Barrise will coach Sunday instead.
Yahoo! Sports first reported early Sunday that Nets president Rod Thorn had made the decision to fire Frank. Thorn was expected to meet with owner Bruce Ratner on Sunday to inform him that he would replace Frank on Monday, but sped up the process after news of Frank’s imminent dismissal became public.
To be honest, I am a little surprised about the timing, I thought it would not only be after tonight's game, but after Tuesday's game against the Mavs as to give coach Frank one final game at home. Here is Wojnarowski one more time:
“Rod didn’t want Lawrence to have that record attached to his name,” one source close to situation said.
Nets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe has been on the team’s Western trip, studying the team’s personnel. Vandeweghe has wanted to dismiss Frank as far back as last season, sources say, but team president Rod Thorn has resisted until now.
As I have already made clear, firing Lawrence Frank right now doesn't make any sense, but it was going to happen, especially since the effort (something that has been there for the first 12 or so games) was starting to fade. No word on who will replace Frank full time, Tom Barrise has officially been named as his replacement just for tonight's game.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo sports is reporting that the Nets organization plans to fire head coach Lawrence Frank this week when the team returns from its west coast trip. The axe could fail on Frank as early as Monday morning according to Wojnarowski's sources.
This decision will come regardless of how the Nets play against the Los Angeles Lakers tonight. As has been reported by the beat writers, the plan is for team general manager Kiki Vandeweghe to take over for Frank as an interim head coach, though Wojnarowski is reporting there is also support in the organization for assistant John Loyer.
I'm obviously not surprised about this report, but if the team is ready to pull the trigger, what are they waiting for? Or as Sebastian wrote about last week, why did they even bring Frank into this season in the first place? Oh yeah, we have a team owner that has financially run this team into the ground in his quest to move them to compliment his development plans in Brooklyn and was therefore too cheap to pay Frank to sit out for a the season. How could I forget that?
Regardless, after an 0-16 start (with more losses likely to come), this move will do very little to salvage was is already a lost season for this organization. I doubt Kiki will be the long-term solution here, especially if Mikhail Prokhorov takes over as owner in the new year. So let the chaos continue...
For Nets fans who have been under a rock for the first 16 games of the season, it's worth noting that a loss tonight against the Los Angeles Lakers would move the Nets to 0-17, tying the worst starts in NBA history currently held by the 1988-89 Miami Heat (an expansion team) and the 1999-2000 Los Angeles Clippers (might as well have been an expansion team).
In practice yesterday, Nicholas Lozito of the Star-Ledger, and the New York Post's Fred Kerber, spoke with players about the historic implications of tonight's game.
Here's Lozito talking with Lawrence Frank, who win or lose could be coaching his last game with the Nets tonight:
“It’s just a different test,” Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. “It’s a different type of test, and you have to embrace the challenge, and there are certain things we have to do in order to win games and that’s what we focus on.
“There’s no doubt that it wears on you, but I think what you try to focus on is just today. You know don’t let the past determine your future.”
Meanwhile, Kerber talks with Devin Harris, who's return to the team last weekend, and return to the starting lineup on Friday, has done little to stem the tide of losing:
"Guys were angry," said Devin Harris, who played far more aggressively after halftime in the Nets' 109-96 loss -- he got to the line 14 times in the second half alone of the 109-96 defeat, their 16th in a row, equaling the franchise-worst streak.
"It was the way we played," Harris added. "We're not playing like a team desperate for a win. We talked about we've got to will ourselves to win. . . . We're not going to get certain calls. We've got to do it ourselves, and we weren't playing like that type of team."
It's a bit astonishing to me that this team could possibly be playing like they're not "desperate" for a win. There's been a certain shift with this team since their heartbreaking one-point loss to Miami on November 14. The undermanned team that was laying it all out there but just coming up short against teams like the Philadelphia 76ers, the Boston Celtics and the Heat, started to get blown away by the Indiana Pacers and the Denver Nuggets, and playing only one half of competent basketball against the Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings. Meanwhile, the team now has a rotation of 10 players, though Courtney Lee only played 3 minutes on Friday night against the Kings.
Harris is right, there's no desperation and urgency with this team right now, outside of maybe Chris Douglas-Roberts (who Devin joked was on "suicide watch") and Brook Lopez. If this team wants to be known as a bunch of all-time losers, I guess it's their prerogative.
As a fan, this whole experience has been surreal. Both Sebastian and I thought the Nets were going to struggle this season, and we understood that the November schedule was especially brutal for even a fully healthy team. However, I never contemplated this Nets team being historically bad - just bad enough to not warrant any attention from the general NBA population.
Personally, I don't see how this team doesn't break the 0-17 mark and then some. They've already lost games against some very beatable teams (the Knicks, the Kings, the Timberwolves, the 76ers, the Bobcats), so who knows who they're capable of beating - especially if there's a cloud of inexplicable complacency hovering over this team.
Al Iannazzone believes tonight could be the end of the Lawrence Frank era. Daily News speculates the same.
Ken Berger of CBS Sports is reporting that there is "no change" in Frank's status.
The LA Times writes that the Nets record says they're bad, but they're on the verge of being historically bad because of injuries to key players .
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