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While I never really liked the Detroit Pistons of the past decade that Dirk Nowitzki Jersey Pink included such players as Rasheed Wallace(notes), Ben Wallace(notes), Richard Hamilton(notes), Chauncey Billups(notes), and Tayshaun Prince(notes) I grew up a fan of the team from Motor City, and still have a tiny bit of sentimental feeling for Authentic Patriots Jerseys them.Thats why when I read in the latest article by Yahoo! Sports Adrian Wojnarowski that Pistons president Joe Dumars had selected Lawrence Frank to take over Phil Esposito Jersey White the coaching duties for the beleaguered franchise, I actually smiled.                                                                                                                                                                  I met Mr. Frank once when he was the coach of the New Jersey Fanzz Jerseys Shop Nets and I was living in New York City, and I can say with conviction that not only is he a New England Patriots Jerseys great Cam Neely Jersey Black guy, but hes a very knowledgeable basketball coach.Although Milan Lucic Jersey Yellow he spent the past year under Doc Rivers as an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics, and probably learned a great deal Milan Lucic Jersey White about the dynamics of Mavericks Shawn Marion Authentic Jersey coach-player relations under Rivers as Wojnarowski speculates, I believe Frank probably learned most of what he knows about basketball during the four years he spent as a manager of the Indiana Hoosiers basketball team under Bob Knight.While many may think Knight is abrasive and rude, and dont like him, those who deny his basketball genius just dont know much about the Bruins Phil Esposito Authentic Jersey game at all, and working under him over the course of four seasons Im sure Frank learned a lot.Knight obviously wasnt his only influence, though, and he probably learned a great deal working first as a staff assistant and then serving as an assistant coach Dirk Nowitzki Jersey Sky Blue under Head Coach Kevin ONeill at Marquette University and Premier Ray Bourque Jersey then the University of Tennessee.While he was with ONeill at Marquette he helped lead the Warriors to two trips to the NCAA tournament, as well as an appearance in the Sweet Sixteen in 1994.Following those years coaching college ball he spent three years working as Phil Esposito Official Jersey an assistant coach under Brian Hill with the Vancouver Grizzlies; a situation that would be reversed later when Hill would serve as Franks assistant during his tenure with the Nets.I remember that time with the New Jersey franchise well, too. I remember Frank beginning his career after becoming the interim Ray Bourque Official Jersey head coach of the team on Jan. 24, 2004 (taking over for Byron Scott who he had been an assistant coach for since the 2000-01 season) Dirk Nowitzki Jersey White by helping the Nets reel off 13-consecutive victories.Of course, how could I not remember considering those 13 victories to begin his head coaching career that set an NBA record for most consecutive wins by a new head coach, and were also the longest winning streak to begin a career by any coach of the four major North American professional sports?To put it simply, the story was plastered on the cover of every major New York newspaper when it happened, and I was an avid reader of all of them.It was about a year later I actually got to meet Mr. Frank when I attended a Nets game against the New Dirk Nowitzki Jersey Green York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on New Years Day of 2005.A friend of mine had invited me to see the game, and our seats were pretty good ones, which allowed me to get close enough to actually try and speak with Jason Kidd(notes) of New Jersey, who I wanted to get an autograph from.As it was, I never got the autograph from Kidd, but I did Premier Cam Neely Jersey get to speak with and shake Mr. Franks hand, and during the game was able to hear enough of his talks Shawn Marion Jersey Blue to his players during timeouts to understand this was a guy who knew what he was doing.The Nets would go on to win the Cam Neely Official Jersey game against the Knicks that night in an upset, 93-87, and I believe it had a lot to do with Franks coaching. Stephon Marbury(notes) was lighting it up, and would eventually score 31 points on 10-of-19 shooting to go along with four rebounds, eight assists, and three steals, but Frank had his New Jersey club playing as a team.Five players from the Nets would score in double-figures that night, including four of the starters, but none of them Cam Neely Jersey White would score more than Richard Jeffersons(notes) 17. Nevertheless, they found a way to win the game because they acted as a cohesive unit, moving the ball and finding the open man; where the Knicks seemed more like a team determined to see if Marbury could pull out a win for them by himself.I believe Frank will be the Ray Bourque Jersey Black same kind of coach with the Detroit Pistons, and I also believe hell bring a culture Phil Esposito Jersey Black there that will once again turn the Motor City franchise into a succesful team Bruins Phil Esposito Premier Jersey I wont detest.Thats not Dirk Nowitzki Jersey Red to say when they play my beloved Miami Heat I wont be rooting hard for LeBron James(notes), Dwyane Wade(notes), Chris Bosh(notes), and any other member of the South Beach Superteam to beat the snot out of the Pistons, but Shawn Marion Official Jersey at least itll simply be because I want my favorite team to win; not because I hate the other squad.Frank obviously has a big task ahead of him to make that happen, as Wojnarowski correctly points out, but I think hes up to it, and I wish him luck. Of course, I think the first order of business is going to be finding a way to get rid of the cancer that is Rip Hamilton, but Im confident Frank and Dumars will find a way.Game On!More from Yahoo! Contributor NetworkNBA Owners Should All Do Right By Their Season-Ticket HoldersPlayers Owe it to Themselves Not to Play Overseas: Not to Mention Their FansNike Pro City League Swingman Shawn Marion Jersey in New York is Where Kevin Durant Should BeMessage to Mr. Stern and Mr. Hunter for Mondays Meeting: Get er Done!LeBron James Has Blast Playing in Drew League in Los AngelesAll stats and information taken from personal notes and verified at Basketball-Reference.com, and Shawn Marion Jersey White Yahoo! Sports.Read more by Daniel Barber aka Hotnuke at TFS Sports.*Daniel Barber has been a fan of all Miami teams since he was a child or since their inception having been born right above Miami.Source:Basketball-Reference.comNote: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.By now its pretty well known that the NBA owners and players are set to resume talks on Monday, Aug. 1 in Authentic Ray Bourque Jersey hopes of bridging the gulf between the two sides and finding a way to end the lockout.The goal, of course, is to reach a new Collective Bargaining Agreement ( CBA) both sides can live with; just as the NFL did a little over a week ago in their labor dispute.However, not many people give the talks much chance of accomplishing anything other than allowing both sides to preen for the cameras, make witty sound bites for the media, and go on about the business of blaming the Bruins Cam Neely Authentic Jersey whole affair on the intransigence of the other Bruins Ray Bourque Authentic Jersey side.