Comments on: Highlights of Lawrence Frank’s introductory press conference as Pistons coach

By: Wednesday Bullets

Wednesday Bullets — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 08:28:23 +0000

[...] from Lawrence Frank’s introductory press conference, where he talks about the importance of “competency.” Pretty sure the better word is [...]

By: brgulker

brgulker — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 15:57:03 +0000

This is what i would say makes me nervous. Dumars sounds like Jason or Khandor or some of the other guys around here that actually think coaching matters.

I love this comment. So. Much.

By: brgulker

brgulker — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 15:55:54 +0000

Elite level basketball players get upset when they are not communicated with properly by their coach and their roles are not outlined clearly for them within the team’s standard rotation.

I honestly despise the way you talk about NBA players, as if they’re the next step in human evolution or some unique sub-species of homo sapiens.

NBA players are human beings, and they’re no more or less entitled to good managers than the rest of us. The reality is that we’re all responsible for doing our jobs and for having positive attitudes, even if we’re not managed effectively.

And frankly, it’s comments like this that make it next to impossible for me to believe you ever coached any “elite level players.” No coach worth his salt would treat these players like prima donnas the way you do.

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 14:07:20 +0000

I somewhat agree. Regarding the downplay of his offensive decisions you made I think you have to put some of that on what other players were doing and what our bad coach was trying to do. He was obviously out of it at times.

Gordon next to Prince to me is a good enough combination. If you put Daye in there then yes we would suck really bad.

I would trade Gordon if what we get makes sense. But I also think he can be our guy going forward at the 2. Just my opinion

JJ is not a 3. He can be forced at the 3 spot but he is a 4.

By: khandor

khandor — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 03:50:55 +0000

When the multitude of decisions that a competent head coach must make are what’s fundamentally broken with a NBA team then replacing the coach can fix that problem. The Pistons players will benefit from the decision-making skills of Lawrence Frank. It will be very interesting to see what the naysayers have to say once the Pistons are in the playoff hunt once again.

By: rob

rob — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 03:25:00 +0000

no prob, thanks for posting, its a good interview that everyone should see.

By: Laser

Laser — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 02:55:39 +0000

blech. madness. “the major problem” with this team isn’t about the players’ commitment to defense. you can’t get blood from a stone. personnel is the major problem. objectively.

and to you jokers who keep clamoring for a center, you act like monroe is this prototypical power forward. he’s a tweener. he isn’t particularly athletic, and i’d just love to see the dumbfounded looks on your faces watching monroe and a true center plod up and down the court and get beat in transition on 100% of possessions. in today’s NBA, dude is better suited to play center, ideally with someone who’s more athletic and can shoot a little, maybe even block a shot or two. he’s got the size to guard virtually any center in the game today, he’s a pretty superb offensive rebounder, he can bang inside. the power positions are basically interchangeable these days, but unless we pair him with a hyperathletic phenom center we’re probably better off if monroe is the biggest dude on the floor.

By: Patrick Hayes

Patrick Hayes — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 02:06:02 +0000

"And is he prepared to take the full blame that will be placed on him when he can’t because we all know Dumars won’t take credit for any of it."

See, I know I addressed this up above, but it's not like Curry and Kuester didn't deserve to be fired. They were terrible. And Dumars didn't fire them and say "it's unacceptable that these guys lost games." I think it was pretty clear both guys were fired for a multitude of shortcomings, many of which we as fans probably couldn't even see on a day to day basis.

A team can be lousy in terms of wins/losses and a coach can still prove his worth. Scott Brooks lost games in OKC but still was successful in implementing a culture, system, etc. Nate McMillan lost early in his Seattle career and was still clearly a good, valuable coach. Doc Rivers in Boston is another great example of it.

I think if Curry or Kuester had done anything whatsoever to show competency as leaders, as guys who preached a system and culture and lived by it themselves, they would've had different fates. I mean, to scapegoat someone, doesn't that imply that the person being scapegoated is competent? Maybe it helped take some heat off of Dumars that those guys sucked, but I don't see them as scapegoats. They were bad hires that Dumars deserves and has received blame for, but it's not like some coaching talent got away. A better coach could've done a better job with those rosters, even if it didn't translate to more wins.

By: Patrick Hayes

Patrick Hayes — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 01:55:11 +0000

Hey, nothing wrong with wishful thinking.

By: Patrick Hayes

Patrick Hayes — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 01:50:45 +0000

@Kamal:

They actually defended Lebron well for a good portion of that series. I mean, everyone remembers the two games that he went off in. But these were his shooting percentages in the other four: 27 percent, 42 percent, 37 percent, 33 percent. They held Cleveland to 91 or fewer points in four of six games.

Detroit's major problem was their own offense. They couldn't score. Prince was 16-for-66 (24 percent) in that series. Rasheed Wallace was 13-for-37 in the final three games. Yeah, it would've been nice if they avoided giving Gibson constant open looks, but if Prince and Wallace weren't duds offensively much of that series, Detroit wins it easily.