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Lawrence Frank hasn’t been wanted lately.

First, the Pistons fired him. Then, Jason Kidd used him and humiliated him. Lionel Hollins, hired by the Nets to replace Kidd, had no place for him, either.

But Doc Rivers wanted Frank, and now the Clippers have him.

Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/ ... -clippers/

Frank took over the Celtics defense after Tom T, and while he is not the level of head coach, or as good a defensive mind, he's a very good one, and Doc trusts him.

“Lawrence has been terrific. He is such an attention to detail coach. He’s funny as hell. He’s been great for the staff. He has done a spectacular job,” Rivers said, noting the difficulty Frank faced at first. “He comes in here and our defense has been set, we have a bunch of veterans who are set in their ways — ‘We do it this way’ — and then he comes in. And for him, he had to make sure we kept doing that. Then improve it. And Lawrence did that. As much as you say about our defense, our numbers are better than last year. Lawrence Frank is the reason.”

http://nypost.com/2011/04/22/frank-ly-f ... h-celtics/

Clippers biggest playoff need is still defense. These are the Ortg of the teams the Clippers have lost to since CP3 joined:

SA Spurs 11-12:
113.7 Ortg

MEM Grizzlies 12-13:
114.6 Ortg (still mind boggling that anyone let Memphis be that efficient over 6 games)

OKC Thunder:
112.9 Ortg

I'm not saying teams should be shut down, but this team has given up basically about 113-115 Ortg in their playoff losses each of the last three seasons, that's a lot to be giving up on offense, and that's puts WAY too much pressure on offensive production to win in the playoffs.

meh, fine with it. nothing great, nothing bad.

Absolutely awesome move
He was nothing too special as a head coach but his track record as an assistant, particularly the year he worked under Doc, is nothing short of brilliant. He actually improved Celtics defensive numbers when he replaced Thibs. Really glad we could snatch him up!

on defense...

is it that we need a good defensive assistant or better personnel?

Good move Doc. Good move.

Quake Griffin wrote:on defense...

is it that we need a good defensive assistant or better personnel?

Both, both. You can't be elite without the personnel, but you also can't maximize how good you can be without the needed coaching aspects on that end.

SUCH an upgrade drom that short haired little Cornhusker/ Laker!!! Lue was FREAKING HORRIBLE as :the Defensive" Coach, Frank will not suck!

Lawrence Frank is a great get and is now clearly Doc's top assistant. I wanted him more than Gentry last year, so I hope he makes a bigger impact on our team and individual defense than Gentry did for our offense. It is said that defense wins championships and that was evident last season.