Hassell: "We Lost a Good Coach"
by Net Income on Mar 23, 2010 7:21 AM EDT
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PrintTrenton Hassell spoke about the Nets' losing ways with his hometown newspaper before Monday's loss to the Heat. Hassell explained the Nets' problems this way, "We had a bunch of injuries at first and got off to a slow start. Unfortunately, we lost a good coach and just got into a bad rut. We should be a better team than we are now.'' Hassell added that he often doesn't know when he'll be starting and when he'll be sitting. "It's a pattern,'' he said, telling the Clarksville (TN) Leaf-Chronicle that Kiki Vandeweghe rarely communicates with his players. ""I kind of assume when I'm not starting I'm not gonna play, but you always have to keep yourself ready, no matter what. It's a job. You have to conduct yourself as a professional."
- Netting history - Jon Marks - Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle
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Betcha all miss Frank now huh
Now you see how much worse a coach can possibly be than your old whipping boy
I don’t miss Frank at all. Just because we gave the job to a guy who isn’t even a coach doesn’t make Frank a good coach. Thats like saying Raiders fans should miss Aaron Brooks because they have JaMarcus Russell.
Don't miss him a bit
I’m so glad he’s gone. Hell, even Kiki got more wins than Frank did this year.
No free agent was every going to play for Lawrence friggin Frank. Now we have the opportunity to land a huge coach, instead of being “loyal” to Larry.
Funny how nobody has asked the little general to be their head coach… Not even a college team.
That's Pretty Bogus
Because both the pro and college seasons were afoot when Frank was fired, AND because pure # of wins doesn’t measure coaching ability.
Also, Mourning signed here and Kidd, Jefferson, and Carter all voluntarily re-upped to be under Frank. SO I’d like to know the basis for the claim no one would sign cuz of Frank.
by Paul G. B. (formerly Paul B) on Mar 23, 2010 12:05 PM EDT up reply actions
Uhmmm...
…because he’s being paid millions to stay at home?
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then.
by John at the Jersey Shore on Mar 23, 2010 2:01 PM EDT up reply actions
You would lose that bet
Nope, I really don’t ever even think about Frank let alone miss him unless he is brought up here.
by ispartan on Mar 23, 2010 1:25 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
When you look at the talent on this team
there is no way they should be the worst team in NBA history. Last year they won 34 games with basically the same talent level. Funny how so many fans wanted Frank fired. He wasn’t even supposed to be good enough to coach a high school team. Oh yea he never played so he didn’t get respect according to a lof of fans… well some time you get what you ask for.. having fun yet?
One or two guys can make a big difference
VC last year. The team added 26 wins J Kidd’s first year which also included RJ as a rookie. With our draft picks and even one really good free agent we could add 30+ wins next year.
by GeoffreySchmits on Mar 23, 2010 8:38 AM EDT up reply actions
Frank > Kiki
That’s ridiculous. Frank had a skeletal crew to start the season. Didn’t have Harris, Lee, Hayes, Dooling, etc.
I don’t miss him one bit. Yes, Kiki sucks, but LFrank was done for. The players tuned him out and nobody respected him. And I remember quite a few people here saying he’d have a coaching job by now. Besides going to Orlando to talk to VC, there haven’t even been rumblings of him coming back. Face it, he’s nothing great.
by JohnFromLongIsland on Mar 23, 2010 9:34 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Boy do I miss Opie!
To bad we let him go. I mean Quinn never had the chance to play PF for us. TWill at the 5. The possibilities are endless. He must be really buzy fielding those job offers. I wonder how many H.S. are looking for a coach.
There are only so many spots open for coaching, and no one wants to pay
A lot of guys you guys like also don’t have jobs.
Avery Johnson a coach of the year winner
Jeff Van Gundy
Mike Fratello
Etcetera
No one wants to pay for a coach when they can get any assistant or former GM
No team is gonna pay for another coach when they can get anyone they’re already paying and name him coach.
Since Frank was fired,
no NBA team has hired a new coach. And Frank said he doesn’t want to coach college.
NetsDaily.com
he
he never said he doesnt. All he said that is my last option to coach college.
Coaching wise LFrank is in another universe...
I can’t even believe how some people here can say that he’s worse than Kiki. Most of Frank’s games were competitive, and he did that with only 8 healthy players at times…
Kiki had the entire healthy roster to work with, but instead the team regressed (as the statistics showed at the time). It took him about 15 games before he could finally make a game competitive. Yes, Kiki may have won 2 games at first initially, but that’s because a change in coaching will always give a struggling team a bounce in their step. Frank won his first 13 games, but was he better then Byron? Kiki won 2 out of the first 3, and then proceeded to get blown to pieces for the next month.
It’s obvious that the players obviously prefer Frank over Kiki, as Hassell (probably the most professional player on this team) explicitly said that they had lost a good coach in Frank, and further says that Kiki rarely communicates with the team. They’re not even watching tapes, despite other players (Hayes/Lopez) saying that they’ve brought it up many times. And we all know the problems between him and CDR, and TWill before. He’s completely emotionless, and the entire team/beat writers noticed the instant change in energy level between him and Loyer (an energetic Frank-like guy).
I doubt that anyone who thinks Kiki is better than Frank has been following the team much this season…
If Frank had stayed on we would have more wins by now
People are quick to say that Kiki has more wins than Frank, uh Frank had only 18 games.
Does everyone forget already the great January implosion where we were blown out of how many consecutive games? At least under Frank we were competitive, and with Devin out too. As well as Dooling and Hayes. You think these guys’ contributions didn’t matter?
You’re seriously deluded if you think that the fact that Kiki has 7 wins means anything, let alone being a better coach than Frank. My mom could coach this team and get that many wins. Heck, no one could coach this team and they would be able to achieve that on their own. Seriously? You guys are making 7 wins a basis of comparison? How about judging on the number of blowouts instead?
How about this comparison wise guys
Number of times opponents reached 100+ points
Frank: 5
Kiki: 30
Number of 20+ point losses
Frank: 1
Kiki: 10
But Kiki played in the league! Therefore he must be better!
That was sarcasm, by the way.
Proud to hold season tickets to the only NBA team soon to be owned by a Russian oligarch.
by yellow fever on Mar 23, 2010 10:46 AM EDT up reply actions
Once again it is the players who tell us that Frank was a good coach. Kiki is a joke. He is clueless. This team runs nothing. It only stays in games b/c of the will and creativity of Harris and the will of Lopez. Frank is sorely missed and had a team with half as many healthy bodies competing and growing. Kiki has set us so far back and may have made other players reluctant to sign here. He must be gone or why would a free agent want to risk playing for him? Even his sub last night sat Yi for the 4th quarter. He gets it.
LFrank
you know the old saying “you don’t know what you got til its gone”
LFrank is a better coach than KiKi. No question. LFrank “probably” would have more than 7 wins by now but not much more. This is not a good team. Its not the worst team ever but with KiKi coaching they sure are close.
I’m suprised KiKi wasn’t fired after the Del Harris thing.
KiKi is not a coach and that fact will keep the Nets from winning 10 games
Frank footer
Some of you may still not want him around, but from my eyes, I feel like we would never be fighting for the worst record in history if her were still around.
FIRE KIKI!!
Let’s hope that Kiki is unemployed next year and LFrank has a job. That would be justice.
Hollah!
@ Sebastian Pruiti – If Mike Brown = Lawrence Frank, and the players say that they miss Frank, then just admit you were wrong about Brown all this time.
by diehardNFFLbarnone on Mar 23, 2010 11:37 AM EDT reply actions
Lets be frank about Frank...
If Frank is such a great coach how come no one has hired him?
Kiki never coached, did not want to coach but still won more games then Frank.
For Hassel to complain is very odd since Kiki gave him plenty of playing time.
I say get rid of all these subversive whiners.
You and I got off on the wrong foot, and I think you’re mostly a rational guy, but let’s be real about this.
If Avery Johnson is such a great coach, how come no one has hired him?
If Jeff Van Gundy is such a great coach, how come no one has hired him?
If Mark Jackson is such a great coach, how come no one has hired him?
Proud to hold season tickets to the only NBA team soon to be owned by a Russian oligarch.
by yellow fever on Mar 23, 2010 12:11 PM EDT up reply actions
These "great" coaches are starting to realize...
That they are over payed prima donnas, just like a lot of their players.
Frank had plenty of time coaching the Nets and he got fired at 0-16.
I don’t believe that Kiki could of fired Frank without Thorn’s approval.
In the NBA a coach has to motivate his players, be a leader of men.
I don’t see Frank as a leader of men.
Nice guy but without Kidd and Carter, thanks but no thanks.
I would rather have Pitino or Calipari.
You do realize that both Pitino and Calipari failed at the NBA level, right? So what exactly could that be based on?
Proud to hold season tickets to the only NBA team soon to be owned by a Russian oligarch.
by yellow fever on Mar 23, 2010 12:24 PM EDT up reply actions
Huh... O.K. Frank is a hall of fame coach.
Pitino and Cal are bums compared to A.J., Franks and JVG.
Dude, no one’s saying Frank is a HoF coach. But he did have some success. Kiki is an outright disaster. That’s all. I think the Nets would probably win less than 20 games even if Frank had stuck around, but the point is he was unfairly scapegoated as the root of all evil. There’s a lot of blame to go around, but Frank deserved less than he got.
And your credibility takes a hit when you say you’d rather have two guys who failed in the NBA, including one who failed with the Nets.
Proud to hold season tickets to the only NBA team soon to be owned by a Russian oligarch.
by yellow fever on Mar 23, 2010 12:43 PM EDT up reply actions
Everybody you or muwu mentioned got fired.
Somehow Pitino and Cal head coach two of the most respected teams in the nation. Frank, A.J., Fratello and whoever else you mentioned would never even be considered for UK or the University of Louisville.
Are you sure you guys are not lawyers?
that's all be answered above, please look
by Paul G. B. (formerly Paul B) on Mar 23, 2010 12:11 PM EDT up reply actions
Uh, it’s all above.
Since Frank was fired not 1 single coach has been hired by the NBA.
He is not interested in coaching in the college level, I would assume even more so in the HS level.
Does no one see what every team is doing? No one is spending money for new coaches in season when they can get assistants or anyone else within the organization for free by naming them interim coach. No use paying extra money
First off, Trenton Hassell is mediocre at best and his opinion to me is thus rather useless.
Secondly, if anyone thinks that Lawrence Frank is a better coach than Kiki, they are most likely right. Of course he is. But that doesn’t mean Frank didn’t deserve to get fired. Frank might be a better coach compared to Kiki but that doesn’t say much of anything. Furthermore, I believe many players did not take Frank all that seriously. Ultimately it does not matter whether Frank or Kiki was the better coach because either way this team would not have more than 15 wins this season (dead last in the NBA0, and regardless both coaches would not be with the team by the end of the year.
But once again, who cares what Trenton hassell thinks?
"We aim above the mark to hit the mark." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Talent on the court has nothing to do with the value of their opinions.
Who’s the president of the NBA Player’s Association? Derek Fisher.
first vice president? Adonal Foyle.
secretary and treasurer? James Jones
vice president? Keyon Dooling
vice president? Maurice Evans
vice president? Roger Mason
vice president? Chris Paul
vice president? Theo Ratliff
vice president? Etan Thomas
These are the guys that negotiate and talk with the owners. Also notice these are some of the smartest players in the league. Etan Thomas has his poetry, and Adonal Foyle can appreciate fine art. Talent on the court is not correlated to value of opinion. Some of the most talented players in the league are the dumbest
Excellent
Opinionated posts supported by facts. Refreshing and informative. Thank you.
by navycavsfan on Mar 23, 2010 12:55 PM EDT up reply actions
I agree that the Nets would have been bad no matter what
But I’d take Trenton Hassell’s opinion and judgement as a professional over any fans that simply sit on the couch or stands and watch the games. Not everybody in the NBA is a star. As a matter of fact it’s guys like Hassell that become good NBA coaches not the stars. Phil Jackson became a great coach and he was at best a Hassell type player as was Pat Riley. Sooo I’ll give Hassell the benefit of the doubt.
How do you know players around the league didn't take him seriously???
I’ve never nothing but good things about him, J-Kidd probably got B-Scott fired for L-Frank, and JAson Kidd is real fickle about coaches so I mean????
Earth to Mars...
I would have more respect for Hassel if he went after Rod Thorn and Yormark, the heads of Nets management. Thorn is the one who forced Kiki into coaching. Kiki did not want to coach. He was hired as G.M. and did a pretty good job. Maybe Hassel does not have the guts to take on Thorn. Looking for another payday, you can bet on that.
So you want him to speak out on something he doesn’t have everyday exposure to as compared to about the coach whom should be involved in his schedule every day? aka speak out on something like he knows all the ins and outs of what’s happening?
Much… like… everyone… posting… here…
Ohhhh
muwu, you rule.
Proud to hold season tickets to the only NBA team soon to be owned by a Russian oligarch.
by yellow fever on Mar 23, 2010 12:45 PM EDT up reply actions
Just trying to do our part to enlighten the uninformed.
Proud to hold season tickets to the only NBA team soon to be owned by a Russian oligarch.
by yellow fever on Mar 23, 2010 1:00 PM EDT up reply actions
I think yellow fever is trying to get me banned from the site.
I guess getting a dose of yellow fever can make you crazy. LOL
How exactly does him saying
“We had a bunch of injuries at first and got off to a slow start. Unfortunately, we lost a good coach and just got into a bad rut. We should be a better team than we are now.’’ Translate into anything that you are saying? He simply made a statement which happens to be true…
AND
He’s being a professional and saying that he’s going to be ready for whatever he’s asked to do… I don’t think he sholud be playing because I want to see the younger players, but Hassell has done nothing wrong. Even if he is trying to get another payday, it’s a business and it’s what he’s supposed to be doing..
All together now...
I wanna hear Hassel, muwu, yellow fever and all Frank lovers sing out loud….
“Those were the days, my friend
We thought they’d never end
We’d sing and dance forever and a day
We’d live the life we choose
We’d fight and never lose
Those were the days
Oh, yes, those were the days”
I can’t hear you… louder…
Thanks, I see the light. Here is my suggestion for possible coaches according to the criteria you’ve put forth:
1. Chuck Daly – he succeeded with the Nets, who cares if he’s not even alive?
2. Bobby Petrino – he’s never been fired, and he’s been hired by both professional and college teams and he’s always in demand
3. John Calipari – fired by the Nets, who cares? I’m sure he’s learned from the experience. Plus, he’s totally a leader of men.
4. My old high school coach – he has to be better than Frank! I mean, he has a job after all.
5. My dog – incidentally also named Kiki (seriously), she’s also really cute and is really inspirational
Proud to hold season tickets to the only NBA team soon to be owned by a Russian oligarch.
by yellow fever on Mar 23, 2010 1:23 PM EDT up reply actions
FRANK is better than most coaches in the NBA
He’s definitely better than Mike Brown, Doc Rivers and Byron Scott. The problem with him is that his plays can sometimes be too complex and he needs to let players play on instincs when in the game…you deal with the specifics in practice but once in the game all you have to do is make sure the players don’t stray away from the team philosophy but let them play on instincts instead of shouting out everything from the sidelines…
I’m not willing to say he’s better than Mike Brown or Doc Rivers, or even Byron Scott (though Kidd certainly seemed to think so), but I do think it’s hard to tell given the talent that he had to work with near the end.
Proud to hold season tickets to the only NBA team soon to be owned by a Russian oligarch.
by yellow fever on Mar 23, 2010 2:28 PM EDT up reply actions
Frank was decent coach. Millions of light years ahead of the clown named Kiki.
He will be employed soon. Maybe as soon as next season.
Eddie Jordan...
might be fired after this season…he is the first one I would contact for the Nets’ head coaching job…
If Trenton Hassell
who is a true pro, hardworker, always trusted by coaches, a 9 yr NBA veteran says Larry Frank is a good coach…I would believe him rather than guys who dont know what they’re talking about…
"Living in the past is a drag"...
We went through all this during the beginning of the season. Frank is gone and who knows, maybe one day he comes back.
But making him a poor victim, who was unjustly blind sided by that wicked Kiki, is a bit of a stretch.
The Nets players including Hassel have to bare some of the responsibility for all this losing.
Do you think Phil Jackson would of won all those titles without MJ or Kobe?
I need a new job so I could post 30 times a day.
Compared to Kiki, Frank is a HOF coach. When they fired Frank it wasn’t about getting an upgrade but just to ride out the season (which was a lost cause to begin with) and to show Kiki that Yi was as bad as the rest of the team. Hassell could be a smart man in thinking Frank is a good coach. Thorn, who I think has one of the best minds in the game would tell you Frank is a good coach. Nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes. We also are blinded by love. Hassell and Thorn did well with Frank for various reasons, I would expect them to support him. The point is you could ask 100 smart people who know Frank and still get different answers as to whether he is a good coach. My guess he will get a few opportunities but never succeed as a head coach in the NBA unless it’s a no brainer about the positions he has his players play. Once he gets creative with his small ball he is doomed.
Kudos to Hassel for speaking the truth.
The fact that he admitted that Kiki doesn’t communicate with his players speaks volumes. CDR falling into the toilet as soon as Frank got the ax is not a coincidence.
I just want this season to be over. I can’t even watch this stuff anymore, i held on for 70 games or so but enough is enough. Nothing to see here.
"No one stands on the top of the world. Not you, not me, not even gods. But the unbearable vacancy of the throne in the sky is over. From now on...I will be sitting on it."
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