Nets getting off Scott-free?

In just more than three years, the New Jersey Nets have gone from the laughing stock of the Eastern Conference, dwelling in the shadow of the Big Apple, to the cream of the crop in the East, earning consecutive trips to the NBA Finals. \nSpearheading this revival in the Meadowlands was former Los Angeles Laker, Byron Scott. In his first year as head coach, the Nets struggled, but you can't blame a rookie coach for a tough first campaign especially when you start Jim McIlvaine, Johnny Newman and a rookie Kenyon Martin. Then, during the 2001 offseason, the Nets went out and swapped All-Star point guards with the Phoenix Suns, sending Stephon Marbury to the desert in return for triple-double machine Jason Kidd. With Kidd's arrival, the Nets were instantly transformed into a contender in the East with their up-tempo, fast break style of play. \nIn Kidd's first season as a Net, New Jersey won a franchise-record 52 wins, won the Atlantic Division, the Eastern Conference and earned their first ever trip to the NBA Finals. The Nets subsequently were swept by the Lakers in the Finals.\nThe Nets 52-30 record in 2001 represented the largest turnaround for any coach in Nets' history, and Scott became the first Nets coach to be named as the head coach for the Eastern Conference All-Stars. \nIn his third year as the head man in New Jersey, Scott once again led his team to the Atlantic Division crown, the Eastern Conference Championship and the NBA Finals, sweeping both Boston and Detroit in the playoffs before falling to San Antonio in six games. The 2002-2003 Nets finished 49-33, securing their first back-to-back winning seasons since 1994-1995. \nThis season the Nets, like much of the Eastern Conference, struggled out of the gate and after 42 games are only 22-20. Despite the team's mediocre start, it is still poised to capture its third straight Atlantic Division title, currently two games ahead of Boston in the standings. However, because of constant bickering with his star players Kidd and Martin, Scott found himself on tenuous ground regarding his future. During the offseason, the team did not extend Scott's contract, leaving some to believe Scott's time on the Nets' bench was coming to a close. \nAccording to the Associated Press, Kidd approached team management Saturday, the day after the team's loss to Miami, and said the team needed a change in leadership.\nOn Monday, the winningest coach in Nets' history was fired and replaced, coincidently, with an IU grad. The Nets' interim head coach Lawrence Frank never played basketball at IU, nor did he ever serve on the Hoosier coaching staff. Frank gives hope to all team managers everywhere, holding that position for Bobby Knight from 1989 to 1992. Frank, who is in his fourth year as a Nets assistant, becomes the second IU grad in as many seasons to be vaulted into the head coach's chair, labeled with the same interim tag that was placed on former Hoosier great Keith Smart last season by Cleveland. \nAnd while I do like to see IU alumni thrive and succeed, the New Jersey Nets are 100 percent wrong in their firing of Scott. How can you fire a coach who has led your franchise to heights never previously seen? That has created a problem in professional sports these days. Players have unofficially been given the ability to force a team to fire their respective head coach. It happened in the NFL with Oakland sending Bill Callahan packing just a year removed from the Super Bowl. \nSome argue that Scott's successes can be directly linked to Kidd's arrival. Of course they can be. Should he not get the credit for guiding his team to consecutive Finals appearances? Phil Jackson is considered "The Master," receiving great acclaim by having won nine titles, but Jackson's lineups were filled with the greatest players of all-time and Hall of Famers. Granted, I acknowledge the difference between nine rings and two appearances, but how can one coach be so easily disposed of? \nNets players commented that Scott wasn't the best communicator or teacher. Well, now interim head coach Lawrence Frank will put his IU degree from the renowned School of Education to work, as he tries to do something his fellow IU alum Smart couldn't do, win more than nine games.