I agree with you that letting go of VC was the right thing for the style Frank likes to play. And Frank tends to play the hot hand and with a team of young players that will work out I think. The biggest issue all season will be the same as when Scott and Kidd were around. If Harris and Frank are on the same page, then the team will be and we will thrive as a playoff team. If we divide coach and player we are in for a kings season.

The one thing also that I love about this dribble drive team is that we have many great FT shooters which will add 5-7 points i think per game from the line, and Lopez with Yao out is the best shooting FT C in the league. Get him on the line as much as Harris and Nets fans will have a lot to cheer about.

Coach Frank has his shortcomings. Most importantly his handling of minutes. However lets be FRANK (LooL), the nets have had an awful team since K-Mart left. Frank got the best of the Vince era b/c those teams were trash. I think that with this roster he is the perfect coach. If the nets decide to actually build a decent team, then I agree we need a better coach b/c certain stars will roll right over frank for reasons mentioned in the blog. I think as nets fans we need to really start to question things if we can’t land a superstar like wade, bron, or bosh next summer. I’m being serious, if they don’t land a star, I am done as a fan. Thorn and Kiki are awesome, but when are we gonna get serious?

Pretty sure that the abstract notion that he doesn’t understand “flying down the lane” is not a valid argument. First, what would such an understanding entail? Second, I defer to the judgment of those, such as David Thorpe, Kobe Bryant & RJ (no Frank enthusiast) who have publicly endorsed his coaching.Third, I’ve not heard that particular criticism from anyone who presumably does have such an understanding.

Second: Frank is decidedly not someone who “throws his players under the bus”. You can probably count on one hand the number of times he’s publicly called out an individual player for any (subjective) failing.

Finally, as a mere “relative-in-law” we’re not exactly tight, so if I’m gonna tug on his sleeve it’ll be for some nice seats. But you’re in second, I swear.

I will say it again, with Vince Carter gone, we don’t really need a shooting 4, we need a guy who can create his own shot and take it to the lane. Courtney Lee is that. In my opinion it is easy to find a spot up shooter anywhere, guys with superstar potential (and I truly believe C. Lee has superstar potential) are much harder to find. I would have liked to be able to keep Ryan Anderson in the trade, but it just wasn’t possible, Orlando wouldn’t do it.

I also felt it was time for L. Frank to go. I agree with your assessment of his “shortcomings” as a coach, and want to add a few thoughts. You said Frank was never an NBA player? He was never a player at any level! It really seems to me there’s no way he can fully understand flying down the lane, throwing your body around expecting the protection of the refs and not getting it and how that messes with your game. I attended a couple of open forums with Rod Thorn, Kiki, et. al., and said at one of them Frank did not have enough passion and needs to get thrown out of more games. The point was he needed to show he understood the players are risking their knees, legs, and ergo their careers with every foray into the lane and he needs to show them he wants them protected.

He mishandled Ryan Anderson. When Ryan was getting minutes early in the season, he was shooting over 40% beyond the arc. Eduardo Najera returned from injury and Ryan’s minutes went to him. Eduardo Najera. First of all, Eduardo Najera is a late first half, late game defensive substitute, secondly, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!!! Here he shows his inflexibility and misplaced loyalty to veteran players (which is kind of the flip side of not developing young player). They will rue trading Ryan when he blows up in Orlando.

I, however, disagree with you on this. I do not think Frank is/was a good motivator. In fact, how can you say he’s a good motivator then say he’s losing his voice with the players? It was clear to me he could no longer motivate after those pitiful losses to the Wolves and the Bucks when the team was supposed to be making a move toward that 8th place. Of course you can argue that players at this level shouldn’t need such external motivation, especially in that kind of situation.

Lastly, the idea that the team “exceeded expectations” last year. That was such a slap in the face to begin with. I thought it was flat out wrong from the day I read it. To me, the expectations shouldn’t be based on what ESPN or Yahoo Sports said anyway! I thought it was an insult to VC (and you know the press didn’t like/respect him anyway); it did not recognize the potential a speedster like Devin had in his first full season as a Net in the Eastern Conference; it totally discarded the possibility that Brook would be as good as he is, or that Yi would perform in a way that would justify the Bucks using their 6th pick on him. I will say I did not see Brook becoming as good as he turned out to be, but I remember him saying he wanted to be a Tim Duncan, and I took him at his word. Also keep in context that he really had no choice to play Brook. He was ineffective coming off the bench, Boone went down with an injury, Brook stepped in and performed so well there was no way he couldn’t start him. Of course, the fact that Brook was shooting 75 – 80% from the line vs. Boone’s sub-Shaq percentage makes that an easy call.

P.S. This just in: Ryan Anderson recorded 33 points and 14 rebounds in a summer league victory over Boston. (July 7, 2009)

See ya!