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Don’t just stand there- NJ Nets fire coach Lawrence Frank

The team is 0-16 and nearing the end of a 4-game Western Conference road trip. From ESPN-

The winless New Jersey Nets have fired coach Lawrence Frank with immediate effect.

The Nets announced the move Sunday shortly after ESPN.com’s report that Frank would not coach the Nets in Sunday night’s road game against the Los Angeles Lakers, when New Jersey tries to avoid matching the worst start in NBA history.

Nets assistant coach Tom Barrise will coach the game in L.A., but the Nets’ announcement said that Frank’s permanent replacement has not yet been chosen.

Sources with knowledge of New Jersey’s thinking told ESPN.com that the Nets — mired at 0-16 after Friday’s loss in Sacramento — wanted to delay the widely anticipated coaching change until after the team returned from its four-game West Coast trip. Yet it appears that Nets management determined that it had to make the move before facing the Lakers after reports became more widespread that Frank’s dismissal was imminent.

I don’t see what effect the firing of Frank will have on the team as they play Los Angeles. The Lakers will still mop the floor with the Nets.

Frank, who has worked for the Nets for over a decade, became the Nets coach in 2003-04 and had accumulated a record of 225-241. His contract was up at the end of the year. A new coach isn’t going to change New Jersey’s fortunes. In fact, I predict them to get to at 0-18 before the Nets get a win. After Los Angeles comes Dallas for the NBA’s worst team.

 
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