SACRAMENTO – He doesn’t have the staying power of Utah’s Jerry Sloan, who seems to have been around since dirt first appeared on Earth, but Nets coach Lawrence Frank is the longest tenured coach in the East – and he just may be doing his best coaching job this season.
“Lawrence is doing a terrific job; all the coaches on the staff are,” said team president Rod Thorn, whose voice on the topic matters most. “He has done a good job with all the teams he’s had, including the veteran teams.”
But this season’s team was re-made with a stunning seven players having two years or less of experience. Frank loves the teaching aspect. And guys with two years in tend to listen. A young, energetic coach for a young energetic team.
“He really enjoys all that,” Thorn said of the teaching. “It can be exasperating – and this team can be exasperating like no other – but you see him staying with it, coaching and being prepared. He’s done one heckuva job.”
Where Frank often has excelled this season is where he has been criticized in the past: the bench. There’s no better example than the Toronto game on Friday when Frank mixed and matched and chipped away at an 18-point deficit before Vince Carter’s endgame heroics won it.
Jason Thompson has been terrific for the Kings, who drafted him No. 12 out of Rider.
“I knew when I got here people doubted me because of the school I went to and the level I played at,” said the 6-11 Thompson, averaging 11.4 points and 7.0 rebounds. “But they didn’t know the competition I played throughout – I played against guys in the NBA now, the best college players in the country. I tried to establish myself early, knowing with more experience and work I can be a franchise player.”
Ex-Net Mikki Moore has taken Thompson under his wing – he even told the kid’s mother and father he’ll watch out for him.
“He’s raw but he’s hungry. He soaks things in like a sponge. He wants to play, he wants to succeed,” Moore said. “He’s not the average lottery pick-type guy. Some of those other guys think they know everything. Not with him. He asks questions and that’s a good thing.”