Is Lawrence Frank bad at developing young players?

[NetsForce]

Is Lawrence Frank bad at developing young players?

I know upon first glance that many people will probably say yes and / or let their hate for Frank cloud their judgement but think about the "young" players that Frank has coached:

Antoine Wright
Hassan Adams
Josh Boone
Marcus Williams
Mile Ilić
Nenad Krstic
Sean Williams
Zoran Planinic

How many of these guys didn't develop under him that were actually NBA caliber players to begin with?

Antoine Wright developed under Frank, Josh Boone has developed under Frank, Krstic has developed under Frank, Sean Williams ended up giving the team more than anyone expected of him primarily because Frank actually played him despite management dubbing him as "extremely raw" and "not ready to contribute"... and arguably Zoran Planinic developed / improved under Lawrence Frank while it's true that during his third and final season in the NBA he took a step back can you really blame that on Frank?

In my opinion it's a double-standard if you do say it's Frank's fault that Zoran regressed without at least acknowledging that from year 1 to year 2 in the NBA Zoran saw a great improvement in his numbers while playing under Lawrence Frank...

So out of the list I posted above that leaves: Hassan Adams, Marcus Williams, Mile Ilić as players Frank has "failed" to develop... or did he really fail at developing these players?

It is in my opinion that Mile Ilić and Hassan Adams weren't NBA caliber players to begin with but just came in with so much hype that fans didn't have realistic expectations for them.

In my opinion the only player Lawrence Frank "failed" to develop was Marcus Williams, but even then while I do place a good portion of the blame on Frank it's not like he deserves all of it. You have to take into account the situation Williams was put in (playing behind Kidd and Harris) as well as the effort Williams was putting in to become a better basketball player (in other words you have to take into account that Williams wasn't in good basketball condition throughout his entire tenure with the Nets while this wasn't a problem with ANY of the other Nets players).

On one last note, among other coaches Jerry Sloan doesn't tend to throw his rookies into the fire and he's not considered a bad developer of talent, with that in mind while I'm not asking you to agree with every move Lawrence Frank makes I think some people need to understand that there is a method to his madness.

[Da big3]

Is Lawrence Frank bad at developing young players?

I know upon first glance that many people will probably say yes and / or let their hate for Frank cloud their judgement but think about the "young" players that Frank has coached:

Antoine Wright
Hassan Adams
Josh Boone
Marcus Williams
Mile Ilić
Nenad Krstic
Sean Williams
Zoran Planinic

How many of these guys didn't develop under him that were actually NBA caliber players to begin with?

Antoine Wright developed under Frank, Josh Boone has developed under Frank, Krstic has developed under Frank, Sean Williams ended up giving the team more than anyone expected of him primarily because Frank actually played him despite management dubbing him as "extremely raw" and "not ready to contribute"... and arguably Zoran Planinic developed / improved under Lawrence Frank while it's true that during his third and final season in the NBA he took a step back can you really blame that on Frank?

In my opinion it's a double-standard if you do say it's Frank's fault that Zoran regressed without at least acknowledging that from year 1 to year 2 in the NBA Zoran saw a great improvement in his numbers while playing under Lawrence Frank...

So out of the list I posted above that leaves: Hassan Adams, Marcus Williams, Mile Ilić as players Frank has "failed" to develop... or did he really fail at developing these players?

It is in my opinion that Mile Ilić and Hassan Adams weren't NBA caliber players to begin with but just came in with so much hype that fans didn't have realistic expectations for them.

In my opinion the only player Lawrence Frank "failed" to develop was Marcus Williams, but even then while I do place a good portion of the blame on Frank it's not like he deserves all of it. You have to take into account the situation Williams was put in (playing behind Kidd and Harris) as well as the effort Williams was putting in to become a better basketball player (in other words you have to take into account that Williams wasn't in good basketball condition throughout his entire tenure with the Nets while this wasn't a problem with ANY of the other Nets players).

On one last note, among other coaches Jerry Sloan doesn't tend to throw his rookies into the fire and he's not considered a bad developer of talent, with that in mind while I'm not asking you to agree with every move Lawrence Frank makes I think some people need to understand that there is a method to his madness.

okay Boone is NBA capable, that wasnt frank
marcus williams, cleary frank screwed him, he is a little fat and knucklehead, but had talent
Hassan adams, not very good to begin with
Antione Wright, could have been a defensive specialist, frank tried to used him as a offensive player
mile illic, never seen him on an NBA court
Kristic came in and beased, wasnt frank
Sean Williams, too early to judge, but frank is doin a terrible job, could have played more at the end of the season
Zoran Plannvic-not very good to begin with

Frank is bad at player development, furthmore FIRE FRANK...

[Preludepunk27]

Wright regressed since being drafted. He was straight up nasty offensively in college. He looked completely lost on offense in the NBA. He knew that he had to work his ass off to at least be a "defensive specialist" in the NBA. I think we overrate that part of his game too, but he was above average. Frank just always wanted a vet 2 or 3 to come off the bench instead of work him in the rotation. Detroit was able to work all their young guys into their rotation extremely well (maxiel, stuckey, aflaulo), I have no idea why we historically can't.

[halfHAVOC]

zoran plananic sucked.

[jerseyjac]

well...the coach always plays a role...specifically this year, I'm very interested in how he lets our younger guys develop...Is Frank going to let them play and make mistakes or hold them back by not letting them play through mistakes...I think this is not only key for the individual players but even more so for the Nets natural progression as a team this year...

[aussienet]

It all depends on wether Thorn has told him to relax and that his job is safe no matter what happens. If Thorn has not told him this and he is coaching for his basketball life then we will see Frank being a control freak and he won't help the young blokes at all. On the other hand if Thorn has told him to chill for the year and to let the kids play I think (hope) that we will see lots of court time for them

[ecuhus1981]

"Is Lawrence Frank bad at developing young players?"

Yes.

[SpeedyG]

It's not that he failed to develop them, it's that he failed to give them a chance. No one would blame him had these guys played and didn't developed. He's being blamed because these guys didn't get a chance. Frank plays his guys. There's no question about it. Doesn't matter if they are young, old, or superstars. He'll play the guys he feels comfortable with, and most of the time, the guys he feels comfortable with are the veterans because they understand the game more and make less mistakes.

Of the guys we've had, only Nenad got significant minutes his rookie year, and we all know what HAD to happen for that to happen (having pretty much our entire frontcourt traded). The next most successful young guy would have to be Boone. Yet, after he put up a great stretch run his rookie year after finally seeing minutes, he was just as quickly dismissed to the bench.

Swat had his moments, and again, after playing impressively against Miami (IIRC), was sent to the bench shortly after.

Marcus saw minutes, but got yanked immediately after making mistakes (let us also not forget the circumstance in which allowed Marcus to see minutes. Thorn basically forced Frank to play the young guys that year with very little veteran presence on the bench, and he still managed to limit their minutes).

Zoran, I think we now realize is a much better Euro player than NBA player. But was he put in the best position to succeed? No, and that you have one person to blame...Frank. How many times did we see Zoran come into the game just as the other team puts in their reserve PG (who is usually 6'0 or shorter, quick like a hiccup)? One minute later, Zoran is out of the game because he can't keep up defensively with the quicker PG he's matched up with.

Ilic is too much of a project, and really can't expect most 2nd rounders to stick, same with Adams. Rookies have to play to learn, and they will mistakes when they do play in order for them to learn. Neither of which works for Frank.