Fire Frank

After blowing another double-digit lead in the fourth quarter last night, the Pistons dropped another game to give them nine losses in their first ten games.  To those who don’t watch the Pistons regularly, you’d probably just think that the team doesn’t have any talent.  The truth is the team has plenty of talent; actually they’re quite good.  The problem is the team also has Lawrence Frank, who is solidifying his spot as one of the worst head coaches the NBA has ever seen.

Detroit is the second city in which Frank has head coached.  The first was New Jersey when he took over the Nets in 2004.  When Frank arrived midseason the team was slightly above .500 in winning percentage.  The team thought they could do better considering they were coming off of 2 consecutive Eastern Conference championships.  They fired coach Byron Scott and brought in Frank, then an assistant for the team, to replace him.

Frank finished strong, going 25-15 to end the season.  The team went on to lose in the 2^nd round of the playoffs to the eventual-champion Pistons.  That was as far as Frank would ever get this team in the playoffs.  When Frank was fired from the team in ’09 he had gotten the team off to a 0-16 start, 1 game shy of the worst start in NBA history (the Nets went to 0-18 after Frank was fired).

Last season, Frank took over the struggling Pistons team and got them off to a 4-20 record to begin the year.  A slow start was expected since the team was still in a state of rebuilding.  Detroit ended the year by going 21-21 to finish with a 25-41 record.  What I was thinking we’d see this year in Detroit was a team that could play at a .500 level, only with the an improved Greg Monroe as well as Andre Drummond and Kyle Singler coming on board.  What I’ve been forced to watch instead is a clueless coach who doesn’t know how to properly manage a basketball game.

Many times in these first ten games, we’ve seen the Pistons take strong leads late in the game.  They were up by as much as 13 both last night against the Magic and in the home opener against the Houston Rockets.  They also held an 11-point lead to start the fourth quarter against the reigning Western Conference champion Oklahoma City Thunder earlier this week.  After taking these leads, Lawrence Frank likes to change his lineup and watch the other team take the game over and regain the lead.

Most coaches do something to stop a big lead from being blown away.  Against the Denver Nuggets this week, the Miami Heat saw a 13-point lead quickly dropped to 6 in the fourth quarter.  They called a timeout, changed the lineup and took control of the game right back.  Scoring spurts happen in basketball, but it’s up to the coach to properly manage the game and bring such runs to a halt.  Frank won’t do this when his team sees the lead getting shortened, he’ll wait until it’s completely gone.  Every game the lineup that is playing better for the Pistons gets a good lead throughout the game and then is sat out to start the final quarter.  Frank then gives them less than 6 minutes to play catch-up, and that’s tough for a young, inexperienced team like Detroit.

Aside from his late game mishaps, there are several other problems in Lawrence Frank’s coaching tactics.  Though it has picked up over the last few games, he still remains very reluctant to play Greg Monroe at a power forward alongside Drummond at center.  What's even more disappointing is that the few times he has played the two together it works out great.  Monroe is a good passer who has smart court vision.  He can handle the ball at the top of the key, forcing defenders to step outside and put Drummond in a one-on-one situation with centers that he can handle with ease.  When Jonas Jerebko is playing with Drummond, defenders aren’t as scared to leave him unguarded and would rather play tighter on Andre.  Jerebko is a good basketball player, but Frank shouldn’t be using him at the power forward position.  He’d benefit much for at small forward, where he can match the speed of his opponents and beat them with his length.

The lack of knowing what position players fit into isn't the end of Frank's coaching inefficiencies either, as he also cannot arrange a proper starting lineup.  After the team got their first win with Singler playing in place of the ill Rodney Stuckey, coach Frank wanted to put Stuckey right back into his starting role.  Stuckey told Frank this would be a bad move and that the starting lineup worked better with Singler at the two-guard.  Basically Lawrence Frank needs his players to do the job of recognizing who plays well together and choosing a lineup based off that.

What upsets me the most about Lawrence Frank is his insistence that he’s not doing anything wrong.  He refuses to switch up his style of coaching, saying that things will fall into place for this team eventually.  He really doesn’t want to mess with that formula that led to a 1-9 record, he apparently thinks it’s working for them.  In post game interviews Frank gives the impression that there’s nothing more he can do with the talent he’s been given.  Personally, I think this is just one big slap in the face to every player on the roster.

Stuckey has been struggling every game, and Brandon Knight is having a tough time getting back into his groove as well.  Besides those two, the Pistons have been getting good production out of everybody.  What worries me is that the good players present on Detroit’s rebuilding roster may get discouraged from sticking around.  Among centers in the east, Greg Monroe ranks third in scoring, rebounds and assists in addition to leading in steals.  He will never get an All Star game selection playing on a team that can’t even get two wins in ten games.  He still hasn’t hit his full potential either, and he never will until he gets to play power forward.

If you’ve read my previous posts, you know how I feel about the weakness of big men in the NBA today.  Drummond and Monroe have the potential to be one of the strongest duos of any team around.  I don’t think Drummond should start quite yet, mostly because Jason Maxiell has really worked hard and deserves to be in the starting rotation.  He creates big plays that prove he belongs out on the court to get the team going.  Still, Drummond and Monroe just need more time on the court together.

The bottom line is that the Pistons have a lot of potential on their team, more than most teams have to work with.  They couldn’t be 10-0 right now by any means, but any other coach would have them with at least four wins through the first ten games.  The Orlando game, as well as the home games against the Thunder and Rockets were played well by the team and lost by Frank down the stretch.  What do we have to lose in firing Lawrence Frank?  Being 29^th out of 30 teams is nothing to be happy about and it’s time for him to go.  This team can hold their own and win games against just about anybody in the league.  It’s time that they stop being held back by poor decision-making at key points of a game.  Now is the time to fire Frank.