LAWRENCE FRANK
CONFERENCE CALL TRANSCRIPT

July 23, 2007

LAWRENCE FRANK: I’d like to thank Bruce Ratner and the other owners, Rod and Ed for their support. It’s a tribute to the players and our staff that I have been awarded an extension. I’m very appreciative of it and I look forward to continuing and improving on the winning tradition that we have established here.

What do you think of the moves the Nets made this offseason?

Starting with the resigning of Vince was a significant step towards showing the commitment from ownership to keeping our players. Having Vince for the next four or five years is a sign of the commitment ownership is willing to make. Everyone wanted to bring Mikki back, but he got a great deal, and to be able to rebound and bring in a guy like Jamaal Magloire who really wanted to be here is great. He, in fact flew into Orlando to meet with Rod and I to sell himself to come here on a one year deal to prove himself, when he had longer offers from other teams. He saw himself as a guy who could benefit from being here and we will certainly benefit from having him here. And as we stand today there is probably a move or two left to be made. I don’t think it is immediate, but I think we will continue to add to the roster.

Do you have anything going on as far as announcing staff changes?

We will release a statement, pending contracts being signed, but there is no timetable for it. We will add an assistant coach and I need to add another support person. Whether that person is going to be in advance scouting or to come in and help coaching that one I haven’t named yet and that one might take awhile. In the near future there will be an announcement about adding another staff member.

Can you talk about what it means to get the extension?

I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity and to receive the support from the top on down from the owners to Rod and Ed. You guys know in coaching you have to be able to endure the bumps in the road, and without the bumps in the road it would not be possible. I’m very grateful for their support. I am very excited and determined to go further than we have gone the past three and a half years. We want more and we will demand more and that is all possible on my end because we have the support of ownership and management.

Did you at any point worry about your status at all, or did you think things would work themselves out?

My concern is trying to live for the moment. Things I can’t control I don’t spend a lot of time or effort on. We as a staff do our jobs. We are all evaluated and feel fortunate to be rewarded, but I don’t think that you can spend a lot of time worrying about things you have no control over.

Do you think that in retrospect the strong finish and strong playoff showing helped to get this extension?

That question is better served towards Rod and Ed than me. It crosses your mind when you lose three games consecutively at the buzzer. But I say to the guys who are with us everyday, as a coach those are the times that you cherish. When the chips are down and whether as a coach or a player people are questioning who you are and what you do. That is what you thrive on because you find out about yourself and your players and your team. That has been a trademark of our guys and that I attribute that to Jason Kidd. It is the resiliency that we are able to bounce back. In a sick way I love those times. I don’t wish for those times, but that is where you test your mettle a little bit. In terms of agonizing over my future all you can do is put forth your best effort and try to get better and things you can’t control I don’t understand trying to exhaust a lot of time on it.

Do you see the team wanting to get past the point where they have been the past two seasons?

You can see it four days after the season is over. Jason Kidd is in the gym; Vince Carter is in the gym, Nenad Krstic comes back from Europe; Boki comes back from Europe; Boone has been here; you got Marcus Williams here. I think the drive is felt by everyone. It is so competitive in this league. The other teams and other coaches are doing the same things throughout the league. And many times it is chemistry, the ability to withstand injuries and stay healthy. I think that we are all very driven. We aren’t happy with the way the season ended, and we all want to do more.

Talk about what Jamaal Magloire does for the team this year…

I think that with Jamaal we know that he will bring toughness, he will compete, he will rebound and he will score in the paint. The biggest challenge for him on our team will be defending his position. Jason Collins is a superior defender. To get extended minutes on the court Jamaal will have to defend his position. I think that he will bring toughness, he will rebound, he will bring a competitor and hopefully he brings a nasty edge to our team.

How do you envision the post position playing out with Nenad, Collins and Jamaal…

What we tell our guys which is what we will tell you is that competition is open. You have Nenad coming back from knee surgery. You have Collins who has been a starter since his second year, and you have Magloire, who has played both roles in his career. It comes down to who earns it and what pieces fit best together, which is an important part of the equation. There is no reason for the carrot to not be orange for Boone too. Whoever wants it. If it means that much to you to start, come in here in phenomenal shape and establish your turf.

What do you think of Sean Williams so far?

This is the beginning of the process. He has tremendous upside. The good thing about summer league is that see where the foundation is and it gives you the start of the roadmap so that you have a confidence of where he needs to go. He came back a week after summer league and worked hard with Rich Dalatri, working on a base. He is going to go back to Houston to work with John Lucas. We’ll go out there and bring him back here. He is then going to Las Vegas to Tim Gurgovich and his camp to work with a bunch of NBA players to go out there and work on his game. It is a process, we have started the roadmap and as long as he works hard and listens, not just to his coaches, but also to his teammates, because of his athleticism he has a big upside.

Do you think Ed Stefanski is putting too much pressure on Sean Williams with all of the Kenyon comparisons?

I think what (Stefanski) was saying was in terms of helping writers who had not seen Sean play. Sean is an exceptional athlete and has some of the same athletic gifts as Kenyon Martin. Every player is different. I don’t compare players because each player brings something special in their own right. I think that the thing we should be careful about is that K-Mart was the college player of the year, he was the No. 1 pick in the draft and he was an All-Star. I think that what Ed was saying was that athletically he has a lot of gifts and people can relate that to Kenyon. He has upside, is a little green , but if he listens and works hard to become a player he can become a player based on his athletic gifts.

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