Ouch. Couldn’t resist.
I just want to acknowledge and bid a welcome to Lawrence Franks to the Boston Celtics as their new assistant coach.
He takes the slot left open on Doc Rivers staff created by the departure of defensive guru Tom Thibodeau. Mr. Thibs is now in his very first head coaching position with the talented Chicago Bulls.
Larry Franks started off as an NBA head coach with the New Jersey Nets with a 13-0 winning streak, an NBA record to start a coaching career. He was fired after the Nets began last season 0-16.
You win some – and you lose some more.
In between, he distinguished himself as a pretty good coach, taking the Nets to 4 straight playoff appearances before dropping back to consecutive 34-48 seasons.
At one time the youngest head coach in the league, now 39, Franks is still very young and has 6 full seasons and parts of 2 others on his resume.
Last Season – Lost
After the Nets got rid of Vince Carter, you could see that things would be very tough for the Nets last season. Youth, multiple injuries and general lack of depth of talent would build the event horizon of the Nets black hole season (12-70). Not even light could escape. Time stood still as the Nets lost game after game. I would not judge Franks on the 0-16 start to the season that got him fired.
Known to be a very hard worker who concentrates on defense (like Thibodeau), and a potential candidate for other head coaching positions, he looks to be a good acquisition for the Celtics.
Hey, he got more out of Mikki Moore than anyone else ever could. That has to count for something.
Seriously, it will be interesting to see him takeover a very important role that belonged exclusively to the man that was the architect of the Celtics’ defense.
Larry Franks to Boston….
It is a natural….Franks and Beans.
