Rod Thorn's dilemma

Since 2000, the New Jersey Nets have had two coaches: Byron Scott, and Lawrence Frank. As of today, one of them has already been fired this season.

Guess what? It wasn't Frank.

Amazingly, the Nets' coach wasn't the first NBA head banana on the chopping block despite two consecutive losing seasons and a dismal 0-11 start. While Scott's New Orleans Hornets were a slightly better 3-6 when he was canned, he had the fatal combination of the worst home loss in postseason history and his players blatantly quitting on him. No coach survives that, even one two years removed from the Western Conference semifinals.

Frank's situation is a little more complicated -- or if you're Thorn, a lot more complicated. At this point, the Nets' GM must spend most of his time thinking about a different time and place. Namely, Brooklyn and 2010/11/whenever they actually break ground on a stadium. The biggest upsides for the Nets right now are next year's stacked free agent class (LeBron, D-Wade, Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire and Joe Johnson) and new owner Mikhail Prokhorov's massive bank account. If Prokhorov can provide enough cash to get Bruce Ratner the stadium he wants in Brooklyn and a marquee free agent next summer, the Nets might be a part of the national discussion outside of Leno and Letterman (jokes are almost too easy, fellas). Until then, they will be a bottom-tier franchise with no playoff aspirations.

Which brings us back to Frank. Since he took over for Scott in the middle of 2004, the pint-sized coach has seen his team go from good to mediocre to downright awful. The last two seasons brought identical 34-48 records, and that was before this year's NBADL-level squad. Thing is, most of it isn't his fault. Frank has watched Vince Carter and the two Jasons (Kidd and Richardson) get shipped out the door in return for admittedly talented point guard Devin Harris and... well... Bueller... Bueller...

(Feel free to point out that Rafer Alston and Courtney Lee were acquired for Carter. Suffice to say I'm underwhelmed by both.)

With Harris sidelined for all but two games so far and second-leading Chris Douglas-Roberts laid up with swine flu -- as if the Nets hadn't already suffered enough -- Frank has relied on talented second-year big man Brook Lopez and a cadre of supporters. The result is a team that scores 84.4 points per game despite having eight guys averaging at least 9.6 ppg.

If I'm Thorn, I see what Frank can do over a full season with this cast of misfits. See if he can work the same magic with Lopez as he did with Nenad Kristic before his injuries -- and Lopez has a much higher ceiling. Find out if he can turn the rookie Douglas-Roberts into a legitimate scoring threat once he gets out of quarantine. See if Frank can somehow win 20 games.

What he shouldn't do is follow PTI's advice and turn this Saturday's game against the Knicks into Frank's Waterloo. New York is eminently beatable even for the Nets, and this will probably be Frank's best shot to avoid the worst start in NBA history -- the dreaded 0-18. But even if New Jersey loses, Frank should be given a chance to get the most out of his young team. Can him after the season if you don't like the results.

For now, Rod, just sit back and watch. Or don't, if it's too painful. Just don't pull the trigger too quickly on Lawrence Frank.