What a long weekend it’s been for the New Jersey Nets. In just 4 days, they have a new boss, a new home, and now a new Coach, as Byron Scott was unexpectedly shown the door this morning.

In keeping with the franchise’s predilection for head coaches who have interchangeble first and surnames, someone called Lawrence Frank is the new man in charge. The Nets have had a bitch of a season so far, failing to perform up to the standard to which their fan(s) are accustomed, and this weekend will be looked back upon as the end of one era and the beginning of a new.

In a move the organisation has strangely taken pains to deny is related to their recent ownership (and future location) change, the New Jersey Nets have fired head coach Byron Scott. In pro sports, there is rarely smoke without fire, and those of us who’ve been reading the stories of disharmony between Scott and his team, and specifically Jason Kidd, over the past 2 seasons have now been fulfilled.

Byron is a decent coach, but if you were a betting man, you would have been more likely to have chosen Scott to be the first man fired this season out of Doc Rivers, Bill Cartwright, Frank Johnson and Don Chaney, rather than the last. A former player, and a successful former player at that, Byron’s team was more successful on the floor than they were harmonious off it, and over his time at the helm, criticisms were leveled at the Nets that they were winning inspite of him rather than because of him.

Scott had a deep roster, a front office which opened the check book and provided him with talented, veteran players, and the wisdom to surround himself with an efficient, competent staff. And a winning team. But even these strengths could become weaknesses, as for every personnel move which succeeded (swapping Eddie Griffin for Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong) and there were 2 that did not (sacrificing the future for Dikembe Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning), and as Scott lead the Nets to back-to-back trips to the Finals, he had to watch as assistant Eddie Jordan got much of the credit.

But whether it was untimely injuries, bad roster management, poor coaching, or the fact that Jordan has been in Washington all season, the Nets’ 20-22 start to the year simply wasn’t good enough for Byron to keep his job. Credit team President Rod Thorn as a man who wasn’t fooled by Jersey’s ability to hang onto 1st place in the Atlantic despite their recent 5 game losing streak. Although he himself is responsible for the Nets being a full $20 million over the salary cap this season, Thorn recognised that whilst Scott’s Nets were good enough to beat up on the minnows of the league (8-2 against fellow Atlantic Division teams), their current record wouldn’t even be good enough to make the playoffs in the Western Conference, let alone allow the Nets to compete in the NBA Finals, assuming they were good enough/lucky enough to make it again this year.

Put simply, this season, the Nets have struggled. They may be 1st in the insipid Atlantic, but they’ve got just the 5th best record in the Conference, and currently have less wins than Milwaukee, Denver and Memphis Grizzlies. Not surprisingly co-inciding with the loss of Jordan’s offensive supervision, the 2003/04 Nets are scoring a full 7 points per game fewer than they were last season, and rank 25th in the league in scoring. And no, their defense hasn’t compensated accordingly. Rebounding, a traditional Jersey strength, is also down, only partially explainable by the presence of Kenyon Martin and Rodney Rogers on the bench for stretches so far this season.

Thorn has tried, in vain, to fix these issues over the past 2 summers, yet still insisted on picking a pair of Euro prospects over the last 2 drafts. So it’s unfair to lay all the blame behind the Nets lukewarm first half of this season at Scott’s door. But the way Thorn saw it, Byron still had enough players, and enough time, to demonstrate improvement upon the team that should have come out of the last 2 NBA Finals hungrier and more determined. This is not the Atlanta Hawks. When you’re the reigning Conference Champions, such a significant decline is hard to accept.

And, if you believe the quotes coming out of Scott’s camp, Byron knew the chop was coming and is neither upset or vindictive about the team’s decision. It sounds as if he knew, possibly well over a month ago, that his days were numbered, and considered himself fortunate to have made it this far into the season without being canned. Perhaps, with his most recent, and now last, game against Boston won, he didn’t mind getting tossed and leaving on that irascible note.

Byron did, afterall, do a good job massaging Kidd’s not-inconsiderable ego, as well as helping Martin, still in many ways a raw talent sucked into believing his own press, mature. Kidd’s game may be a dream for any coach, but for some reason he and Scott did not always agree on the strategic issues, and although Scott was portrayed as the intractable one in many of their well-documented fractures, it’s likely he will look back and believe he actually wasn’t tough enough on his all world point guard.

Scott’s firing comes hot on the heels of the approval of the first stage in the sales and relocation of the Nets franchise, which was announced last Friday. Assuming the NBA’s Owners approve the sale, as is expected, the Nets will move across the Hudson to Brooklyn possibly as soon as 2006. The new ownership group has invested millions of dollars in the downtown Brooklyn area, and if they’re paying out $300 million – which, speaking of Atlanta, is more money than the up-for-sale Hawks and Thrashers combined – for a New York area sports team, they’re going to make sure it’s a successful one. Even more than it currently is.

Scott had his strengths; he made unheralded big men productive, he always beat the Celtics, and he took an ugly duckling of an ABA franchise all the way to the NBA Finals. But he didn’t embrace the league, the town, or many of his own players. He allowed dissention in the locker-room and, of late, permitted passivity on the court as well. He may not have blown his own trumpet, but he didn’t march to the beat of the drum, either.

Whether the Nets’ new coach, some chap every sports organisation around the country is pretending to know something about, will do any better remains to be seen. A change can be as good as a holiday, especially if you actually are on vacation at the time. But Jersey’s playing issues – roster, shot selection, shooting percentage, defense – will be the same tomorrow evening against Philly as they were yesterday, the day before, the day before that.

This is a move that was not unexpected, but nor is it one which, as has recently happened next door with the Knicks, is guaranteed to improve things. Expect the Nets to play hard for their new, formal, leader. They are young, experienced, athletic and have shown in the playoffs that they’re capable of big wins against other (Eastern Conference) powerhouses when it matters. But if Thorn wants this team to build upon the successes that Scott created, he shouldn’t expect the limitations of Lord Byron’s approach to vanish either quickly or categorically.

And nor should the residents of Brooklyn.