It is Lawrence Frank's New Jersey Nets!
With 1:18 to go the Nets have a 7 point lead on the team with the worst record in the NBA.
Let me repeat that:
With 1:18 to go the Nets have a 7 point lead on the team with the worst record in the NBA.
My prediction for this road trip was 1-5. Coming into tonite they were 0-5.
They give up a three. They now have a 4 point lead.
Jason Collins is a Stanford alumnus. I went to Stanford. I want to like him. He took a charge at the end, to his credit, and it is THE only thing he can do.
Nets get the ball and Kidd finds a guy right under the basket. The guy is fouled with 58.6 seconds to go. Two free throws.
Unfortunately, that guy was Jason Collins.
Front rim. Air ball.
Question for the omniscient Lawrence Frank: Sirrah, you hoard all your precious timeouts for the end of the game so you can micromanage it. Why in THE world did you leave Mr. Collins in the game on the offensive end?
OK, so the Nets are back on defense. They just let Minnesota hit a 3. They just made it a 4 point game. One would think that the brilliant Lawrence Frank might somehow get his team to focus on guarding the 3.
TWolves hit a 3. One point game.
Timeout. Frank at least has the sense to take Jason Collins out of the game and not put in the other free throw embarrassment, Josh Boone. He puts in Sean Williams. Um, wouldn't it make more sense to put in a shooter?? Nets bring the ball down the court with 40 seconds left in the game. Carter takes a jumper which, of course, bounds off. Scramble for the ball, right in front of the ref. Clearly goes off the Twolves. Call?
You don't get calls when you are playing like crap.
So the Twolves bring the ball down, trailing by one. 21 seconds left. Nets play good defense, it seems. Wild shot. Rebound to... Al Jefferson and he is fouled!
Were it the Nets, they would have missed one of the pair, I swear...
Now we have 11 seconds left. Nets down one. The great and powerful Frank calls a play, bless him. Ball into RJ. Takes a shot. No one under. Front rims it. Twolves rebound. Who?
Al Jefferson drains both (of course) for his 39th and 40th point and the Twolves are up 3.
Timeout (of course). Nachbar put in for Williams. (Why wasn't he put in when he took Collins out?) Ball in to Carter. Attempted 3. Airball. Nets lose.
How many times have the Nets come up dry to end a game this season? How many times have they blown a lead with 2 minutes left? How come nothing changes?
I don't care how "well" the Twolves have been playing of late. They had 7 wins for the entire season. They outscored the Nets 10-0 to end the game, 34-21 for the 4th quarter.
This just in - Richard Jefferson is being interviewed on the postgame, and says "the game didn't come down to free throws" "free throws didn't factor in". I love RJ, but he is in serious denial. And what game was he watching??
I am tired of the Nets coming up short, blowing leads, missing free throws, failing to guard the three, failing to play defense. What has changed? Magic Johnson says it's Vince Carter's knees...
No. The problem is simply this, and everyone knows it but won't say it for some reason: The Nets are not listening, not reacting, not trusting their coaching.
They are thus now the worst team in the NBA. With Vince Carter, a scoring machine, Richard Jefferson, the fifth highest scorer in the league, and Jason Kidd, the best all around player in the game today, the Nets stink. How can that be?
How can every game play out like every other? How can a team time after time fail, irrespective of the competition, to finish a game? How can a team of professionals, against the worst fouling team in the NBA, not even break 70% from the line?
0-9 with none of the big 3 injured. 1-10 with none of the big 3 injured. The Nets have gone from a 9-6 team on the road to a 9-12 team on the road. Three blowouts, three collapses.
How does this clown keep his job?
How does this clown keep his job?
How does this clown keep his job?
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
Behold the shimmering brilliance of Lawrence Frank!
So here we are, 57 seconds left in the 5th game of an abysmal road trip, and the Nets are down by 10, by TEN, and the Great and Powerful Lawrence Frank calls timeout.
What in the world is he possibly thinking?
Did he call a play? Did the Nets have a chance? No, of course not, but the formidable Frank was the only person in the arena or the viewing audience who didn't know that.
So he had them foul, which a) slowed down the game to a crawl, prolonging the agony, b) allowed the Nuggets to score from the foul line, and c) made things worse. And allowed a team, for the 6th game in a row, to score more than 100 points against you. While they were shooting 36%.
The Nets had 85 points at that point. When the final buzzer sounded, they had 85 points. What was accomplished?
The best thing that could have happened was to allow the Nets to get off the court as soon as absolutely possible, get them on the plane to Minneapolis, let them get some rest and get out of the building ASAP.
No. Use up your hoarded, precious (my precious!) timeouts, tell your humiliated troops to undergo more humiliation and dig the hole deeper.
If he is trying to make a point, what could it be?
No, he's way over his head. He relies on a formula, win or lose, irrespective of the deficit. OH! 57 seconds left! CALL TIME, CALL TIME! Foul them right away!
Hey brain boy - your team is dead. They stopped responding to you a couple of years ago. They don't respect you or your judgement. You have one ace in the hole - and owner who could give two whits about "his" team, "your" team. You think Rod actually believes that stuff about you as a coach?
What in the world is he possibly thinking?
Did he call a play? Did the Nets have a chance? No, of course not, but the formidable Frank was the only person in the arena or the viewing audience who didn't know that.
So he had them foul, which a) slowed down the game to a crawl, prolonging the agony, b) allowed the Nuggets to score from the foul line, and c) made things worse. And allowed a team, for the 6th game in a row, to score more than 100 points against you. While they were shooting 36%.
The Nets had 85 points at that point. When the final buzzer sounded, they had 85 points. What was accomplished?
The best thing that could have happened was to allow the Nets to get off the court as soon as absolutely possible, get them on the plane to Minneapolis, let them get some rest and get out of the building ASAP.
No. Use up your hoarded, precious (my precious!) timeouts, tell your humiliated troops to undergo more humiliation and dig the hole deeper.
If he is trying to make a point, what could it be?
No, he's way over his head. He relies on a formula, win or lose, irrespective of the deficit. OH! 57 seconds left! CALL TIME, CALL TIME! Foul them right away!
Hey brain boy - your team is dead. They stopped responding to you a couple of years ago. They don't respect you or your judgement. You have one ace in the hole - and owner who could give two whits about "his" team, "your" team. You think Rod actually believes that stuff about you as a coach?
Game 43 - 0-5, 0-8
Score with 2 mins to go in 1st - 14-11 Denver.
Score at end of qtr - 19-11 Denver.
Nets down to a team shooting 29% at the half. By 16 points.
What does a guy gotta do in this leauge to get fired?
And the refs in the NBA are the worst in all of professional sports. Case in point: A technical is called on Darryl Armstrong. AI shoots. Misses. Pounds ball into the floor so hard it goes up 20 feet. Should be a technical right? If so, Iverson is gone for the game. The refs don't react, they don't even conference. They leave him in the game.
A coupla minutes later, Nachbar, who is not even dressed for the game, gets a technical for standing on the court.
C'mon, Stern. Now more than ever you need good refs...
Not that it would make any difference to this sleep walking team.
The Nets score 31 point in the entire 1st half, and needed a three in the last minute to get that high. Miraculously, at the end of 3 they're down only 6 points. But Denver is allowed to reel off the first 12 points of the quarter, and the game is over. The Nets don't score until there is only 7:10 left in the game. They're outshooting Denver 41-36% and they're losing by 16.
I have seen some bad Nets basketball over the years, some really, really awful basketball. But those teams had no talent, no chance, lots of injuries and legitimate teams like the Knicks, Celtics, 76ers and Bulls in their division and conference.
This team has no excuse. They are the worst team in the NBA, and they are about to prove it against Minnesota on Sunday.
Rod, either trade them all or fire Frank.
Or resign.
Score at end of qtr - 19-11 Denver.
Nets down to a team shooting 29% at the half. By 16 points.
What does a guy gotta do in this leauge to get fired?
And the refs in the NBA are the worst in all of professional sports. Case in point: A technical is called on Darryl Armstrong. AI shoots. Misses. Pounds ball into the floor so hard it goes up 20 feet. Should be a technical right? If so, Iverson is gone for the game. The refs don't react, they don't even conference. They leave him in the game.
A coupla minutes later, Nachbar, who is not even dressed for the game, gets a technical for standing on the court.
C'mon, Stern. Now more than ever you need good refs...
Not that it would make any difference to this sleep walking team.
The Nets score 31 point in the entire 1st half, and needed a three in the last minute to get that high. Miraculously, at the end of 3 they're down only 6 points. But Denver is allowed to reel off the first 12 points of the quarter, and the game is over. The Nets don't score until there is only 7:10 left in the game. They're outshooting Denver 41-36% and they're losing by 16.
I have seen some bad Nets basketball over the years, some really, really awful basketball. But those teams had no talent, no chance, lots of injuries and legitimate teams like the Knicks, Celtics, 76ers and Bulls in their division and conference.
This team has no excuse. They are the worst team in the NBA, and they are about to prove it against Minnesota on Sunday.
Rod, either trade them all or fire Frank.
Or resign.
Game 42 - Warriors 121, Generals 119
What? You didn't hear? The Nets are now the Washington Generals of the NBA.
Sure, they're based in Jersey, but to call them the New Jersey Generals would be an insult to the USFL team that at least was competitive.
Those Generals featured a star player who just recently admitted to having multiple personality disorder. At least the Nets don't have that problem. Despite their protestations every year under Frank that they "are searching for their personality", they need search no more. They have a single personality - they are the foil to every other team's feel good story. They are the team you play to break a losing streak, to turn your season around, to play that guy who has missed 6 weeks to injury. They are the team you play to get it going. They are the Washington Generals to everybody else's Harlem Globetrotters.
The Generals are not supposed to win. Their very purpose is to lose, and to allow the Globetrotters to make astounding plays, and to be the fall guys in all the Globetrotters zany, funny routines. They're the guys who always say "Who's there?" when the other guys say "Knock, knock".
"Knock, knock"
"Who's there?"
"Josh Boone."
"Josh Boone who?"
"Josh Boone who couldn't make a foul shot if his life depended on it. Josh Boone who we're gonna foul possession after possession to kill your rally and kill your momentum and kill your confidence. Josh Boone who your coach won't take out despite having at least 3 other options sitting on the bench."
"Knock, knock."
"Who's there?"
"Lawrence Frank"
"Lawrence Frank who?"
"Lawrence Frank who has a set script from which he will not vary. Lawrence Frank who could be replaced by a computer. Lawrence Frank who is the only man in the building who doesn't get that Don Nelson is going to exploit Frank's team's weak point all night, daring him to do something about it. Lawrence Frank who doesn't even get that he's being dared."
Cheryl Miller interviewed none other than Rod Thorn in the first half last night. So Rod, with your team struggling so bad, is Coach Frank in danger? No, he's doing a good job. Our players are just underperforming for some reason, but hey, despite how poorly we're playing, we're only percentage points out of a playoff berth. Ok, so what about a possible player move? Well, we've gotten a lot of calls and there's nothing that we're remotely interested in.
Rod Thorn, along with Jason Kidd, turned an absolutely moribund franchise into an NBA Finals team in one year. I have never seen anything like it in the history of pro sports that I have been watching. Sure, I've seen Tim Duncan and Magic Johnson help their teams turn around and go to the finals, and even win, but we're talking the Spurs, who, due to the Admiral being out, had exactly one losing season at that time after having just had seasons of 59, 62, 55, 49, 47, 55 and 56 wins; and the Lakers. Enough said. Rod Thorn, who was the GM of the Bulls during the Jordan years, who engineered the Jordan years.
Rod Thorn, who showed passion and intensity and intelligence during the Nets brief finals run, who pulled out the Vince Carter deal after the twin debacles of Alonzo Mourning and the bonehead decision by ownership to let Kenyon Martin walk. Rod Thorn, who knew enough to fire Byron Scott when he needed to be fired.
Thorn basically says to Miller, well, what can I do? I can't fire the coach, and I can't make a deal. What can I do?
The Nets, who until this year, dominated their cross river rivals in the Jason Kidd era, are now becoming them. The Dolans are not stupid; they're just not motivated. Ok, maybe they ARE stupid, but either way they clearly are not motivated. Every night, no matter how many actually show, the Garden is sold out. Perhaps if the World's Most Famous Arena were as empty as the Meadowlands, they might be motivated to fire Isiah, as the crowd chants. No, the Dolans aren't stupid.
And neither is Rod Thorn. He has an owner, a boss, who could CARE LESS about how that supposed basketball team in Jersey is doing. To him it's not a team, it's a big pawn in a real estate development scheme. Ratner was a client of mine in the 90s, and even 10 years ago Forest City Ratner had been trying to get the redevelopment of the Brooklyn rail yards for a decade, with no success and no momentum. Bringing Brooklyn its first professional sports franchise since the Dodgers left town in 1957 could be just the ticket to get the project going again, and done.
And so he buys the Nets who, for the first time in their ragged history, were catching fire, who, if it weren't for JKidd's bum knee, would have gone to the finals 3 years in a row and could well have knocked off a Laker team wracked with dissention. He buys them, in 2004, and says Hey - in 5 years I'm moving the team to Brooklyn.
Zo hears this and freaks. Kenyon is let go. Kittles is not re-upped. Kidd goes under the knife.
If the owner doesn't care about basketball, what can Thorn do? What leverage does he have with the coach? Can he go to Ratner, flush from the latter's courtroom victory against those who would stop the development project, and say, Hey boss, we need a new coach? What can he say to Ratner who would be on the hook for one and a half years' salary? Especially when they are a few percentage points out of a playoff berth? I mean, the owner has done everything but drive a stake thru the heart of this team, and yet they make the playoffs every year. What can Thorn say?
And do you think Frank doesn't know he's golden? What motivation does he have to change? Even if he had the creativity to do so, what motivation does he have?
So if the stubborn coach is not going anywhere, what motivation do the players have to play better?
Pride. That's it. And there is exactly one player who, night in and night out, plays with pride.
The Generals, when they play the Trotters, always have one guy who can play, who can drain a 3 or drive the basket and make it look a little like a basketball game. This team that "plays" in the Izod Center, they are the Generals.
Rod Thorn: Knock, Knock!
Cheryl Miller: Who's there?
Rod Thorn: Beats the heck outta me!
Sure, they're based in Jersey, but to call them the New Jersey Generals would be an insult to the USFL team that at least was competitive.
Those Generals featured a star player who just recently admitted to having multiple personality disorder. At least the Nets don't have that problem. Despite their protestations every year under Frank that they "are searching for their personality", they need search no more. They have a single personality - they are the foil to every other team's feel good story. They are the team you play to break a losing streak, to turn your season around, to play that guy who has missed 6 weeks to injury. They are the team you play to get it going. They are the Washington Generals to everybody else's Harlem Globetrotters.
The Generals are not supposed to win. Their very purpose is to lose, and to allow the Globetrotters to make astounding plays, and to be the fall guys in all the Globetrotters zany, funny routines. They're the guys who always say "Who's there?" when the other guys say "Knock, knock".
"Knock, knock"
"Who's there?"
"Josh Boone."
"Josh Boone who?"
"Josh Boone who couldn't make a foul shot if his life depended on it. Josh Boone who we're gonna foul possession after possession to kill your rally and kill your momentum and kill your confidence. Josh Boone who your coach won't take out despite having at least 3 other options sitting on the bench."
"Knock, knock."
"Who's there?"
"Lawrence Frank"
"Lawrence Frank who?"
"Lawrence Frank who has a set script from which he will not vary. Lawrence Frank who could be replaced by a computer. Lawrence Frank who is the only man in the building who doesn't get that Don Nelson is going to exploit Frank's team's weak point all night, daring him to do something about it. Lawrence Frank who doesn't even get that he's being dared."
Cheryl Miller interviewed none other than Rod Thorn in the first half last night. So Rod, with your team struggling so bad, is Coach Frank in danger? No, he's doing a good job. Our players are just underperforming for some reason, but hey, despite how poorly we're playing, we're only percentage points out of a playoff berth. Ok, so what about a possible player move? Well, we've gotten a lot of calls and there's nothing that we're remotely interested in.
Rod Thorn, along with Jason Kidd, turned an absolutely moribund franchise into an NBA Finals team in one year. I have never seen anything like it in the history of pro sports that I have been watching. Sure, I've seen Tim Duncan and Magic Johnson help their teams turn around and go to the finals, and even win, but we're talking the Spurs, who, due to the Admiral being out, had exactly one losing season at that time after having just had seasons of 59, 62, 55, 49, 47, 55 and 56 wins; and the Lakers. Enough said. Rod Thorn, who was the GM of the Bulls during the Jordan years, who engineered the Jordan years.
Rod Thorn, who showed passion and intensity and intelligence during the Nets brief finals run, who pulled out the Vince Carter deal after the twin debacles of Alonzo Mourning and the bonehead decision by ownership to let Kenyon Martin walk. Rod Thorn, who knew enough to fire Byron Scott when he needed to be fired.
Thorn basically says to Miller, well, what can I do? I can't fire the coach, and I can't make a deal. What can I do?
The Nets, who until this year, dominated their cross river rivals in the Jason Kidd era, are now becoming them. The Dolans are not stupid; they're just not motivated. Ok, maybe they ARE stupid, but either way they clearly are not motivated. Every night, no matter how many actually show, the Garden is sold out. Perhaps if the World's Most Famous Arena were as empty as the Meadowlands, they might be motivated to fire Isiah, as the crowd chants. No, the Dolans aren't stupid.
And neither is Rod Thorn. He has an owner, a boss, who could CARE LESS about how that supposed basketball team in Jersey is doing. To him it's not a team, it's a big pawn in a real estate development scheme. Ratner was a client of mine in the 90s, and even 10 years ago Forest City Ratner had been trying to get the redevelopment of the Brooklyn rail yards for a decade, with no success and no momentum. Bringing Brooklyn its first professional sports franchise since the Dodgers left town in 1957 could be just the ticket to get the project going again, and done.
And so he buys the Nets who, for the first time in their ragged history, were catching fire, who, if it weren't for JKidd's bum knee, would have gone to the finals 3 years in a row and could well have knocked off a Laker team wracked with dissention. He buys them, in 2004, and says Hey - in 5 years I'm moving the team to Brooklyn.
Zo hears this and freaks. Kenyon is let go. Kittles is not re-upped. Kidd goes under the knife.
If the owner doesn't care about basketball, what can Thorn do? What leverage does he have with the coach? Can he go to Ratner, flush from the latter's courtroom victory against those who would stop the development project, and say, Hey boss, we need a new coach? What can he say to Ratner who would be on the hook for one and a half years' salary? Especially when they are a few percentage points out of a playoff berth? I mean, the owner has done everything but drive a stake thru the heart of this team, and yet they make the playoffs every year. What can Thorn say?
And do you think Frank doesn't know he's golden? What motivation does he have to change? Even if he had the creativity to do so, what motivation does he have?
So if the stubborn coach is not going anywhere, what motivation do the players have to play better?
Pride. That's it. And there is exactly one player who, night in and night out, plays with pride.
The Generals, when they play the Trotters, always have one guy who can play, who can drain a 3 or drive the basket and make it look a little like a basketball game. This team that "plays" in the Izod Center, they are the Generals.
Rod Thorn: Knock, Knock!
Cheryl Miller: Who's there?
Rod Thorn: Beats the heck outta me!
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Game 41 - Um....
...so much for the team that "plays much better on the road"...
Margin of loss on this road trip:
LAC - 13 (in OT!!)
PHX - 24
SAC - 34
The Nets have just lost 7 of 8 after winning 7 of 8.
Sum of point differential in winning 7 of 8:
+9 (Avg margin of victory - 1.2)
Sum of point differential in losing 7 of 8:
-117 (Avg margin of loss - 14.7)
Losing streaks in the JKidd era:
Lost 6 or more Longest losing streak Losing record?
2002 0 4 N
2003 0 4 N
2004 0 5 N
2005 1 9 (with Jkidd out) N
2006 0 4 N
2007 1 6 N (.500)
2008 2 6 (so far) ???
The Nets are now 9-9 on the road, facing Golden State (25-18, 11-8 at home, 6-4 last 10) and Denver (24-16, 17-5 at home, 6-4 last 10) next before Minnesota, a team that has managed only 6 victories all season, 4 of them at home, and now on a 2-8 skein.
They will come back for ONE game vs Milwaukee who, bad as they are playing, could have a better record than the Nets on that date.
OH - did I mention? ONE HALF OF THE SEASON IS OVER, and the Nets are 5 games UNDER .500.
2002 +15
2003 +15
2004 +1 (which got Scott fired that day)
2005 -11 (with JKidd out most of the first half, and this is with that 9 game losing streak)
2006 +3
2007 -1
2008 -5
Finally I heard an announcer on the radio (Tony Paige) speculate about Frank's job status.
Ya think?
Margin of loss on this road trip:
LAC - 13 (in OT!!)
PHX - 24
SAC - 34
The Nets have just lost 7 of 8 after winning 7 of 8.
Sum of point differential in winning 7 of 8:
+9 (Avg margin of victory - 1.2)
Sum of point differential in losing 7 of 8:
-117 (Avg margin of loss - 14.7)
Losing streaks in the JKidd era:
Lost 6 or more Longest losing streak Losing record?
2002 0 4 N
2003 0 4 N
2004 0 5 N
2005 1 9 (with Jkidd out) N
2006 0 4 N
2007 1 6 N (.500)
2008 2 6 (so far) ???
The Nets are now 9-9 on the road, facing Golden State (25-18, 11-8 at home, 6-4 last 10) and Denver (24-16, 17-5 at home, 6-4 last 10) next before Minnesota, a team that has managed only 6 victories all season, 4 of them at home, and now on a 2-8 skein.
They will come back for ONE game vs Milwaukee who, bad as they are playing, could have a better record than the Nets on that date.
OH - did I mention? ONE HALF OF THE SEASON IS OVER, and the Nets are 5 games UNDER .500.
2002 +15
2003 +15
2004 +1 (which got Scott fired that day)
2005 -11 (with JKidd out most of the first half, and this is with that 9 game losing streak)
2006 +3
2007 -1
2008 -5
Finally I heard an announcer on the radio (Tony Paige) speculate about Frank's job status.
Ya think?
Monday, January 21, 2008
Game 40 - Mailing it in
I did not watch this game. I was watching the Giants game. I flicked to it a few times, particularly in the 1st Quarter.
It was getting away from them very early. End of one, and they're already down 15. They never recovered, as bad teams do not.
As I flicked back and forth I saw the Nets be down by 11 several times, but they never made a serious run at the Suns.
They mailed it in. They are now 18-22, and have ensured themselves a losing record by the mid point. They're 9-8 on the road, still miraculously over .500. Too bad their home record is an embarrassing 9-14.
They've lost 5 in a row. Sacramento is next, their best shot at a win before they play at Minnesota, with games at Golden State and Denver intervening, both several games over .500. The best they can realistically hope for is a split of those 4 games. That would put them at 20-24. However, it is more likely they'll be 19-25.
What did we say?
It was getting away from them very early. End of one, and they're already down 15. They never recovered, as bad teams do not.
As I flicked back and forth I saw the Nets be down by 11 several times, but they never made a serious run at the Suns.
They mailed it in. They are now 18-22, and have ensured themselves a losing record by the mid point. They're 9-8 on the road, still miraculously over .500. Too bad their home record is an embarrassing 9-14.
They've lost 5 in a row. Sacramento is next, their best shot at a win before they play at Minnesota, with games at Golden State and Denver intervening, both several games over .500. The best they can realistically hope for is a split of those 4 games. That would put them at 20-24. However, it is more likely they'll be 19-25.
What did we say?
Game 39 - An L is an L
I did not watch this game. My wife did.
Her report - the Nets had a 7 point lead and collapsed. A clutch 3 by Kidd sent a game that should never have gone into overtime into overtime.
Overtime scoring - Nets 6, Clippers 19.
According to my wife, LFrank once again used his timeouts too late.
18-21. Phoenix next. Great start to a long road trip.
Not.
Her report - the Nets had a 7 point lead and collapsed. A clutch 3 by Kidd sent a game that should never have gone into overtime into overtime.
Overtime scoring - Nets 6, Clippers 19.
According to my wife, LFrank once again used his timeouts too late.
18-21. Phoenix next. Great start to a long road trip.
Not.
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