Nets Are Scorching

So I got an interesting e-mail in my inbox last night, it was a couple links to a video interview and Rod Thorn’s breakdown of the roster.  Here is the video, you can also find it on the Nets’ official website:

I know that it is a long one, but I urge you guys to watch the whole thing.  It was interesting to hear Thorn discuss all these topics.  The most interesting thing I picked up from this video was around the 7 minute mark.  Here, Thorn was asked about the potential free agency pool, and while he can’t mention anyone by name (NBA rule) it seemed like Thorn went out of his way to call the pool “average”.  Now this is true, there aren’t any big names coming out, but after hearing this video, I don’t expect to see anyone new joining the roster besides the rookies (A complete change from last year).  This is a real smart move on Thorn’s part though, because the Nets are in a position where they want to save money (whether they admit it or not) and now Thorn is making an excuse not to spend this offseason (even though it is somewhat valid) that isn’t the money.  That way Thorn doesn’t come off as cheap to the fans.

Now this isn’t all we got from Thorn.  He also wen’t down the roster one-by-one and made a little statement about each one of them.  You can find the whole thing here, but I am just going to post and comment on a few of these.

Rod Thorn On Vince:

“I think Vince had a tremendous year, both on the court and in the locker room. I think he was a very positive influence on our younger players with his support. And there are very few guys in this league who can average 20 points, five rebounds and five assists, so you have to give him credit. I think he had a great year.”

Every statement that Rod Thorn has made about Vince as of late has been very lovey-dovey.  It is starting to become obvious that VC will be a Net next year unless some team makes us an offer we can’t refuse on draft day.

Rod Thorn On CDR:

“Give Chris a lot of credit; he hardly played at all at the beginning of the year, but continued to work hard, got better and when his time came, he took advantage of it. he’s as confident as anybody on our team, he’s got deceiving size: he doesn’t look as big as he is. When he goes to the bucket, he’s got great finish on his drive game. An improving shooter, and I think he’s got a good future.”

High praise for CDR here.  I like how Thorn talks about his height, what I read from this statement is that Thorn would like to see CDR get time at the 3 next year.  If this is true you can see the Nets drafting a 4 this year.  Sorry DeMar DeRozan fans (I am not one of these by the way).

Rod Thorn On Yi:

“Yi had his ups and downs early. Right before he got hurt, he was playing his best ball of the year. He can shoot the ball, he’s athletic and can run the court. He needs to work, needs to just play more, and add strength.”

Rod keeps this one short and sweet.  Now I know he can’t just flat out say that he made a mistake with this trade, but you have to believe that is what he is thinking now-a-days.

Rod Thorn On Josh Boone:

“Josh was kind of up and down, had some real good moments, some not-so-good. Athletic, good hands, nice feel for the game, understands how to play. Needs to work on his shot obviously, his free throws and really get himself in top condition.”

This is the most negative Thorn was in these comments.  Again maybe I am looking too much into it (or maybe I want it to happen so bad I am taking everything to mean it), but I think what Thorn says here is just screaming “Boone isn’t getting the job done and we need to draft a 4 this year!”  But hey, maybe that is the conspiracy theorist in me.

So maybe we won’t know the fate of Lawrence Frank’s job today.  Fred Kerber is reporting that Rod Thorn has yet to make a decision about Frank’s future.  Here is what Thorn said this morning:

“We shall see. We’re still in the process of evaluating our season and evaluating the different things we do.”

Kerber is also reporting that Thorn also said he needs to determine if the “voice” still is getting through.  In my opinion, this statement makes me believe that Thorn is leaning towards sending Lawrence Frank packing and ending his run as the longest tenured coach in the Eastern Conference.  Why?  Well, if Frank’s “voice” was getting through, there would be no question about it, and Rod Thorn wouldn’t have to look into it.

Word on the street is that we will know the status of Lawrence Frank’s job sometime tomorrow morning.  This is when Rod Thorn is giving his end of season state of the Nets’ address, and apparently he will speak about Lawarence Frank.  It is safe to say that things are still up in the air, because Thorn will meet tonight with senior management and owners to talk about Lawrence Frank.  Other basketball topics will be discussed, but you have to imagine that Lawrence Frank is going to be the main focus.

Now should Lawrence Frank be fired?  Meh, I don’t know.  Do I want him fired?  Kinda.  Now this might be a little unfair, but I haven’t really ever been too much of a Lawrence Frank fan (mainly because I thought Byron Scott got a raw deal).

The cases can (and have) been made about keeping him or firing him, but in my gut I think he is gone.

This biggest factor in this opinion is that I would think the Nets’ front office would want to avoid having a lame-duck coach (for those who don’t know, a lame duck coach is one who is in his final year and probably won’t be signed after his contract is up). A “lame-duck” coach presents two problems, one is that a “lame-duck” coach will sacrafice the future to win now because his job is on the line (An example of this is playing Josh Boone over a rookie 4 that we may draft just because Boone would give the Nets a slighty better chance to win now – and that would lead Frank not to get fired).  The second problem with having a “lame-duck” coach is that Lawrence Frank will be on a very short leash.  Lets say the Nets start the season off horribly and we have to fire Frank, then we are stuck with an interm coach, and coaches that we may have been able to hire might not be available mid-season.  I say if we are going to be firing Frank, we do it now so we can get the best coach possible in here.

We will see what happens tomorrow though, make sure you check it here to find out what happens to Lawrence Frank and to get some opinions on it.