Nets Retain Lawrence Frank
By:
Alex Raskin
Last Updated: 4/29/09 3:03 PM ET
| 727 times read
According to the Associated Press, Nets President Rod Thorn has announced that the team will be retaining Coach Lawrence Frank for his sixth season. Many thought the Teaneck, New Jersey native was on his way out after the Nets missed the playoffs for the second time in two years.
However, Thorn and majority owner Bruce Ratner had tapered their expectations prior to this season, and felt that Frank has earned the chance to stay in New Jersey.
"I think this past year most people didn't think we would do well and we did better than expected," Thorn told the AP. "Our younger players got better for the most part and my feeling is we are on the right road."
Frank, the longest-tenured coach in the Eastern Conference, seems to be in good favor with the team because of his hard work and dedication.
"He works very hard," Nets GM Kiki Vandeweghe told HOOPSWORLD. "He's a guy who is extremely dedicated to his job. He thinks about it 24-7. It's all he thinks about… He's very up on what's happening in the NBA and in college. Just in terms of coaching, he's very up on what's happening. So, he's willing to experiment a little bit, which I think is important."
This past season he experimented with a new offense familiar to rookies Chris Douglas-Roberts and Brook Lopez.
"It isn't close to the same offense; it is the same," Douglas-Roberts told HOOPSWORLD of the Dribble-Drive Motion Offense. "It's not similar. It is the exact same offense."
Douglas-Roberts played in that system under John Calipari at Memphis while Lopez learned it in high school under its creator, Vance Walberg.
While Douglas-Roberts played sporadically this season, Lopez finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting after averaging 13 ppg, 8.1 rpg and 1.84 bpg.
"I think we're in a quote-unquote 'rebuilding stage,'" Nets point guard Keyon Dooling said. "Anytime you get rid of a pillar of a franchise in Jason Kidd, it's kind of a new start. (Coach Frank has) definitely adapted his style. We play a game that is more conducive to the players that we have."
The Nets have the 11th-best chance to get the top pick in this year's NBA Draft Lottery after finishing 34-48 this season.
About the Author: ALEX RASKIN
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Alex Raskin is HOOPSWORLD's senior Newslines Editor and also covers the New Jersey Nets and New York Knicks for HOOPSWORLD. Alex also serves as a New York Giants Correspondent for CBSsports.com
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posted By Kira, 29 April 2009 6:20:58 PM
An obvious but nonetheless smart move. Alex, do you know when the lottery is? It's during conference finals, right?
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