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...

Mark Ginocchio

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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.

Mark Ginocchio

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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 .

Mark Ginocchio

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GameFlow, Cowbell Kingdom, Sactown Royalty, Josh Boone Interview, Devin Harris Interview, Lawrence Frank Interview

It was a tale of two halves for the Nets last night.  Going into the game, many were wondering what kind of effort the Nets would give.  I talked about it too, but in the back of my mind, I didn't really think it was anything to worry about.  It was the Nets only chance to get a W in quite a while, so why would they come out flat.  I wasn't wrong initially, the Nets offense looked as crisp as it was going to be, and the Nets were getting looks, but they weren't going in.  That can be expected though, especially with this team.  What was disappointing though was the defense, the Kings came out, just tossed the ball all around the court and ended up with easy looks which they made (they shot 60% in the first quarter, and put up 33 points).  The lack of effort was noticeable, the terrific Zach Harper from CowbellKingdom said this in the Daily Dime Chat:

I don't want to say anything about the effort of this Nets team because you guys know better than me but Lopez and CD-R seem to be the only guys with any fire tonight.

It wasn't just the players though, Lawrence Frank made some curious decisions in the first half of this game.  Lawrence Frank decided he wanted to go small (what else is new), and he did it, playing the 6-5 Trenton Hassell at the 4 for most of his 20 minutes in the first half.  Now, when Lawrence Frank goes small, it doesn't really work, and that was only amplified when you took a look at the line-up that the Kings trotted out.  They had a very big front-line in Hawes/Brockman/Jason Thompson.  This was the reason the Nets were killed on the boards in the first half (27 yo 11).  With a very big front line there is no good reason that the only two PFs on the roster get a total of 11 minutes (they weren't in foul trouble either).  The playcalling from Lawrence Frank also left much to be desired.  Brook Lopez outclassed whoever was covering him in the post that first half, and everytime he touched it, he seemed to get a bucket.  The thing is, he didn't touch it that often.  Again, quoting Zach Harper from the Daily Dime (I am doing this because it is good to see an outside perspective sometimes):

Brook Lopez is having his way inside against Hawes. I'm perplexed by the Nets offense outside of him.

The second half was a completely different story for the Nets though, and dare I say it, Lawrence Frank made some nice adjustments.  He came out with the starting line-up, Boone playing the 4, and stayed with it, the entire 3rd quarter (save Rafer entering for Devin a bit).

The players came out and gave a whole lot of effort as well.  In the post game interview aired by YES, Devin said that the team "had an emotional halftime" so that might have had something to do with it.  Devin seemed to return to form in the second half, attacking the basket and finding the lanes he was so good at finding last year, and although he missed a lot of lay-ups (those will come with more minutes), I was happy to see him getting to the line and converting.  Brook also got a lot more touches in the post, and along with Josh Boone, the Nets were able to control the frontcourt.  Speaking of Boone, he played very well tonight, for the first time in a long time, it looked like he actually wanted to play tonight, and it showed.  If he can play like he played in the second half for the most part of the year, I will be happy with the effort.  Some bullets after the jump:

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Sebastian Pruiti

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Fred Kerber of the Post talks all about the losing streak this a.m.

Rafer Alston was putting the team first last night when he gave the starting PG spot back to Devin Harris.

Hoops World revisits the Devin Harris-Jason Kidd trade.

Net Income of Nets Daily fame continues his fantastic analysis of the Nets-Brooklyn situation, with another FAQ about what comes next now that the Court of Appeals has made its ruling in favor of the development.

Mark Ginocchio

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Well, in the pregame thread, I said that if the Nets let the Kings get going early, they were going to lose the game.  I hate to toot my own horn, especially in a loss, but that is exactly what happened.  The Nets gave up 33 points in the first quarter and let them shoot 60% from the floor.  The Kings remained hot for the entire game, shooting 54.9% from the floor for the entire game.  They were also 50% from three, hitting big ones anytime the Nets got close.

• Looking at the stats, it shouldn't have been as close as it was, but the Nets took care of the ball 11 turnovers while forcing 15.
• 1st half Nets were outscored by 17.  They outscored the Kings by 4 in the second half, but dug themselves in a way too big of a hole.
• Brook had another big night, going for 24 and 11.
• CDR had a nice night as well, going for 21 and 8.
• In the second half, Devin Harris started to regain his All-Star form.  Though he is still getting a feel for finishing in traffic (it will come), he was able to get into the lane and draw fouls.  He shot only 6-22, but got to the line 17 times and that is the reason he got 25 points.
• Josh Boone played well too, going for 10 points and 7 rebounds.
• In the first half, the Kings killed the Nets on the boards out rebounding them 27-11.  The reason?  It might have had something to do with the Nets' PFs logging only 11 minutes combined in the first half.  Against the Kings' large front line, Hassell was playing the PF spot.  Frank stuck with the small lineup way too long, but give him credit, he did make the adjustment, and played Boone for most of the second half.  The Nets responded by winning the 2nd half rebounding battle 28 to 18.
• Beno Udrih wasn't supposed to play and I really wish he hadn't.  He came off the bench for 21 points, including three or four big shots after the Nets got the lead down to 6 a few times in the fourth.
• Courtney Lee really must not be even close to 100%.  10 minutes last game, and 3 tonight.

Sebastian Pruiti

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With the Lakers coming up on Sunday, the national media is going to be all over this game, because if we win, no more losing streak, but if we lose, we are breaking the record.  No questions asked.  If the Nets can win tonight, all of the jokes about the Nyets, being terrible, and stuff like that goes away.  Even though it is the same roster and everything like that, the jokes will be gone because the Nets won't be breaking the record.

Before we continue to talk about the game, I wanted to point you guys to a great report by Chris Sheridan on the TrueHoop blog.  He takes a look at the three games the Nets should have won.  Those games?  The Minnesota game, the Miami game, and the Milwaukee game.  You have to go over there to read the whole thing, but his comments on the Bucks' game were interesting:

Rookie Terrence Williams was on fire, hitting his final seven shots of the first half as New Jersey went to the locker room with a 48-41 lead. But rather than stick with the hot hand, Frank told the rest of the team at halftime to feed off the example being set by Williams. Bad idea. Milwaukee opened the second half with a 15-2 run before Frank put Williams back in with 6:35 remaining in the third quarter, and the rookie shot 0-for-6 the rest of the way.

Looks like I am not the only having issues with Lawrence Frank's rotations at times.

Anyway, back to tonight's game.  Like New Jersey, Sacramento is a young team, if you let them get going early and allow them to build a big lead and gain confidence, they can blow you out (Like they showed against New York on Wed.).  However, if you keep it close, you can stay in the game and the Kings will make mistakes to allow you to win the game.  The Nets have a chance to avoid infamy here, they need to come out like they did against the Blazers though, not like how they came out against the Nuggets.

Beno Udrih vs. Devin Harris:

If anything tells you about Lawrence Frank's thought process going into this game, it's his start of Devin Harris.  Devin Harris has been slowly added to the rotation more and more, and now he is finally starting against a team that the Nets have a chance to beat.  Beno Udrih is no slouch though.  He originally lost the starting PG job to Tyreke Evans, but with Kevin Martin's injury, Evans slides to the 2-spot and Udrih is starting.  He is a quick guard who is at his best when he gets into the lane.

Advantage: Devin Harris

Tyreke Evans vs. Chris Douglas-Roberts:

Though I have been hyping up a Devin Harris vs. Tyreke Evans match-up (and it should happen at least a couple times during the game), the CDR vs. Evans should be just as good, if not better.  This battle of of former Memphis stars will be fun because both guys like to attack the basket, so they will be going at each other the whole game.

Advantage:  Push

Andres Nocioni vs. Trenton Hassell:

Nocioni is one of those guys you hate to play against, but when he is on your team, you love him.  He is one of those hard-nose types who will be physical to, and most of the times through, the whistle.  He uses his physical play to try and intimidate his opponents and take them out of the game mentally.  Don't let all of this fool you though, he can play.  Nocioni can knock down the open three, and when he attacks the basket, he is very aggresive.

Advantage:  Andres Nocioni

Jason Thompson vs. Josh Boone:

Jason Thompson is like the anti-Josh Boone.  He is a tall athletic PF, who has ball skills.  He can handle the ball, hit the outside shot, and attack the basket.  Josh Boone can't do any of that stuff.

Advantage:  Jason Thompson

Spencer Hawes vs. Brook Lopez:

What really impressed me about Brook's performance on Wednesday was that he had a "give me the damn ball" attitude.  I have never seen that from him, and just by looking how he was posting up made me think he was trying to break the streak by himself.  Spencer Hawes is a big-boy, just like Oden, but in my opinion, Oden is more skilled defensively, and if Brook comes out and plays just like he did against Oden, he could be setting another career high.

Advantage:  Brook Lopez

Prediction

Current Record 9-6

I have predicted the Nets would win 6 times so far this year.  I have been wrong 6 times.  This is the Nets best chance at getting a win for a little while, so how can I not pick them?  Nets win.

This is your open thread, but I will be over at the Daily Dime most of the game, so join me over there.

Sebastian Pruiti

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Zach Harper of the Kings' TrueHoop Network blog Cowbell Kingdom made up a real good highlight mix of Tyreke Evans game against the Jazz on November 7th.  This was the Kings' first game without Kevin Martin, and he put up 32 points and 7 assists.

I have said it a bunch of times already but Evans vs. Harris (who is expected to start tonight) is going to be very entertaining.

Sebastian Pruiti

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Since NAS had so much fun reviewing John Calipari's new book a few months ago, we thought we'd continue the trend of reviewing new books about the game as we get to read them. Because remember kids, reading is fundamental, even if it's not always Nets-centric.

Bill Simmons, aka, ESPN's "The Sports Guy," has long been one of my favorite writers - with his fan's perspective and irreverent sense of humor that often incorporates pop culture references galore, I love it - but he's definitely an acquired taste for those who are looking for more serious, "insightful" opinions in sportswriting.

So I'm fairly certain that Simmons' new book "The Book of Basketball," is going to invite a whole range of opinions. There will be many who call the book overlong and self-indulgent, with way too much focus on the Boston Celtics, and an blatant disregard for some of the newer statistical metrics that have been embraced by many of us in the True Hoop Network. Those critics wouldn't be wrong, but I enjoyed this book anyway, because it reads exactly how I would expect a 715-page magnum opus about basketball written by Bill Simmons to read.

It's uneven and rambles a bit, and can't say I learned a whole lot about the game, except the fact that Michael Jordan is a deadly, cold-blooded assassin (duh), and that Bill Russell was clearly better than Wilt Chamberlin (I'm too young to have seen either of them play, so it's an argument I could care less about). But again, I don't think you ever read Simmons to learn anything new. A Simmons column is the equivalent of going to a bar with a bunch of sports-obsessed buddies and talking about the game for hours - with the conversation devolving into such things as Rocky movies or OJ Simpson references as more and more drinks are consumed. You read Simmons, because you're just as much a fan of the game as he is. This is the mentality that got me into sports blogging in the first place. While a game recap in a daily newspaper is usually informative, I've always found the best insight comes from fan observations.  Fans are the ones who complain about a guy not getting enough playing time, and they're the ones who remember the otherwise inconsequential games in January where somebody made an incredible shot that makes us revere those players in such a way that it can sometimes defy logic. Sports blogging gives those of us who are lucky enough to have developed a regular audience an opportunity to share our own silly little observations about the game. I can only hope that my observations lead to additional observations and reactions from our readers. Simmons embraces this mentality, and for the most part, so does "The Book of Basketball."

The Nets actually come up in the book more than I expected - especially the ABA version of the team. Simmons appears to sympathize with how the NBA-ABA merger in the summer of 1976 decimated the Nets (then of New York). The Nets had to pay the Knicks $4.8 million over 10 for territory rights - a move that so financially crippled the organization, they had to unload their franchise player Julius Erving to stay afloat.

In another chapter, Simmons looks at the 2002 MVP race between Tim Duncan (who ultimately won) and then-Net Jason Kidd. Categorizing the MVP as "fishy but ultimately okay," Simmons sets up the argument where he sees the logic of a Kidd MVP: "Energized by the change of scenery, Kidd led the perennially crappy Nets to 52 wins, swung the New York media behind him and stood out mostly for his unselfishness and singular talent for running fast breaks …"
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Mark Ginocchio

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While NAS just recently called last week's match-up against the New York Knicks the Nets best chance to avoid an 0-17 - or worse - start to the season, tonight's game against the Sacramento Kings also provides the organization with a glimmer of hope to avoid infamy as they face the defending champion LA Lakers on the road on Sunday and then come home to face the 11-4 Dallas Mavericks.

I personally thought the Nets matched-up better with the Knicks, which was why I was willing to go out on a limb last week and call it a got to have win last Saturday. The Knicks do very little right, but they obviously did just enough right (and got the right calls from the refs) to push the Nets losing streak onward.

As for the Kings, they are the worst defensive team the Nets have faced this season, currently 27th in the league in defensive efficiency giving up 107.6 points per 100 possessions. That's a good thing for a team that has trouble scoring as much as the Nets do - who will likely insert all-star Devin Harris back into the starting line-up tonight. However, the Kings can score - they're 11th in the league in offensive efficiency while the Nets toil at dead last in that category. So even if the Kings let the Nets score more than they've been able to do so far this season, the Nets still have to figure out a way to stop them on defense. That won't be easy.

Fred Kerber in the New York Post today notes an important piece of coincidental history that could favor the Nets - when the Los Angeles Clippers got off to their 0-17 start in 1999-2000, a victory against the Sacramento Kings ended their losing streak. Of course, that was a Sacramento team that featured Oliver Miller and Jerome James.

Here's what Brook Lopez thinks about the losing streak, from Kerber:

"It's one game at a time. As good as those teams are, you've got to put it off," said Brook Lopez, who is coming off his career game: a personal high 32 points and 14 rebounds (an NBA season-high 10 offensive) in the 93-83 loss to Portland, defeat No. 15, Wednesday. "Either way, you have to focus on the game you're playing. You can't play tonight worrying about tomorrow."

For Nets fan looking for an injection of optimism, the Bleacher Report gives us five reasons why the Nets will win against the Kings. Some of the reasons include the aforementioned Kings' defense, and the starting lineup return by Devin Harris, but the list also includes the Kings' weak rebounding abilities, and the Nets "growing confidence" coming off a game where they battled the heavyweight Portland Trailblazers well into the 4th quarter before running out of gas.

Of course, the Nets have showed pluck and fight most of the season, with a few notable exceptions (hello Tuesday's game against the Nuggets).  None of this has led to a victory. And the article's last reason doesn't exactly inspire confidence:

THE LAKERS AND MAVERICKS ARE NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE. The first of those two games is at Staples Center. That means Friday's game in Sacramento is pretty much New Jersey's only chance for salvation. The Laker game is an automatic loss and the Mavs game is close.

Update: Over at the TrueHoop mother site, Chris Sheridan talks about the Nets chances for tonight, Lawrence Frank, and three games the Nets should have won this season: against Minnesota opening night, the heartbreaker against Miami, and last week's second-half meltdown against the Bucks. I would have also added at least one of the two games against Philadelphia to Sheridan's list, probably the home game where the Nets had three chances to tie or go-ahead and couldn't hit a shot in the final minute.

Mark Ginocchio

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Kiki Vandeweghe has been through a losing season like this before with the Denver Nuggets.

Randy Hill looks at the Nets and the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are battling each other for the worst record in the league.

The Daily News and the Bergen Record, react to the recent eminent domain ruling that sets the stage for the Nets to move to Brooklyn.

Fred Kerber of the New York Post believes tonight's game against the Sacramento Kings is the Nets best shot to end their losing streak.

Brook Lopez credits his patience, along with some sage advice from assistant coach Roy Rogers and teammate Chris Douglas-Roberts for his good night against Portland on Wednesday.

Hoops World looks at franchises that are in big trouble right now.

Mark Ginocchio

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Here is a pretty awesome video of the Nets helping out at a New Jersey Salvation Army before their trip out west:

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  See you all Friday.

Sebastian Pruiti

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