Q & A with Lawrence Frank, Clippers president of basketball operations

[mkwest]

Q: What did it mean to strip Doc Rivers of his front-office duties during the offseason?

A: Doc and I are partners. Doc still has a huge voice in what we’re doing. What it allowed us to do is build our infrastructure, where we can attract other “A Level” people who can address some gaps we had in our organization. Between hiring Michael Winger (as general manager), Trent Redden and Mark Hughes (as assistant general managers) and Matt Elijah (as manager of strategic planning) and guys we already had in the organization like (special advisor) Dave Wohl and some of the other people we had, we were looking at putting together a really special team.

Q: What kind of direction are you getting from Jerry West, who was hired as a consultant?

A: I’m a believer that nothing ever happens just once. With Jerry, you actually have a living history of different situations that have happened to your team. He’s lived it. Instead of studying the history, he is that history. You can pick his brain. Plus, he still loves to watch games. He watches every freakin’ NBA game. He gives you different perspectives. He’s always going to shoot it straight. He’s just an unbelievable resource as a consultant.

Q: Have you embraced the new analytics, the fancy stats as a useful tool?

A: It’s a weapon. You’ve got to take advantage. Doc takes advantage from a coaching standpoint. Analytics aren’t new, but now they are so much more sophisticated. You and I, we can look at 10 possessions and we can tell what happened. Analytics can look at 10,000 possessions. It may raise an antenna and you can go back and watch the film. Different combinations. You never know. A certain player, if he gets fouled twice in a quarter, how it impacts his aggressiveness to attack the rim. You get so many different queries. It’s a great tool. You have to combine the head, the heart, and you’ve got to put it all together.

Elliott Teaford, OC Register

[esqtvd]

Q: What did it mean to strip Doc Rivers of his front-office duties during the offseason?

A: Doc and I are partners. Doc still has a huge voice in what we’re doing.

Thx for posting this, MK. Doc's critics--and by the phrasing of the question, some in the press--frame the power transfer as a hostile act, that Doc was "stripped."

Now, maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. Fact is that Lawrence Frank is Doc's man, friends and co-workers for over a decade. Doc brought him in as a coach, then kicked him upstairs as EVP of BO. "Partners" sounds plausible. And frankly, if I were FO talent--and we've attracted some exc talent--I'd be more comfortable joining an org set up the traditional way than joining one with Doc (or anyone) as Grand Imperial Poobah. You're sort of his flunky, and it's also impractical trying to get ahold of the boss while he's out on the road with the team. LF is manning the fort 24/7.

Frank on analytics:

It may raise an antenna and you can go back and watch the film. Different combinations. You never know. A certain player, if he gets fouled twice in a quarter, how it impacts his aggressiveness to attack the rim. You get so many different queries.

Whoa. I had no idea. Say 'Yo momma' to him in the 3rd quarter and he goes to pieces.

[Quake Griffin]

Hopefully the four new voices in the front office can dilute Doc’s influence on the front office. This is why certain people wanted Doc fired completely, not even as coach.

Make no mistake about it. I will want Frank’s head on a platter if he’s just going to be a Doc crony and capitulate to everything he wants.




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[esqtvd]

Hopefully the four new voices in the front office can dilute Doc’s influence on the front office. This is why certain people wanted Doc fired completely, not even as coach.

Make no mistake about it. I will want Frank’s head on a platter if he’s just going to be a Doc crony and capitulate to everything he wants.

Frank says Doc has strong input, that they are "partners." What are your objections so far? Be the first, the trailblazer, so you can be the first to say you told us so.

[Quake Griffin]

My objection is Doc having strong input on the goings on in the front office.

Partners? Well, there's 50/50 partnerships and limited partnerships. If Doc is a limited partner, cool with me.
If he's 50/50, I might just want both of them gone...Doc first.