The Detroit Pistons next head coach will be none other than Lawrence Frank.
This will be Frank's second head coaching opportunity in the NBA, his first coming with the New Jersey Nets from 2004 through 2009. Frank started his head coaching stint sizzling hot as he won his first 13 games as a head coach. However, Frank's tenure with the Nets following this can be summed up as mediocre at best. His final record with New Jersey was just below .500 totaling 225 wins and 241 losses. To begin the 2009 season, the Nets lost their first 16 games before firing Frank.
Frank spent last season as Doc Rivers' top assistant coach with the Boston Celtics, replacing the popular and successful (especially on the defensive end) Tom Thibodeau. The season for the Celtics had a disappointing ending as they lost to the Miami Heat 4-1 in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.
It will be pretty interesting to see what Frank has learned from his first experience with the Nets and especially what he was able to learn from Doc Rivers, who has a very tremendous resume thus far with the Celtics. Frank is very knowledgeable and is extremely good with the X's and O's of basketball. However, one reason he ended up failing in New Jersey was that he could not relate to the players. To me, one of Doc Rivers' best attributes is his relationship with his players, most notably his three future Hall of Famers Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen. If Frank learned anything while he was in Boston about coach-player relationships from his former mentor, he will be pretty successful in Detroit.
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