http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/30/sports/basketball/mike-woodson-and-lawrence-frank-resurface-as-clippers-assistants.html 2014-12-30 01:30:54 Mike Woodson and Lawrence Frank Resurface as Clippers Assistants Mike Woodson and Lawrence Frank, fired by New York teams, are now Doc Rivers’s assistants with the Los Angeles Clippers. === LOS ANGELES — After Toronto guard Greivis Vasquez sank yet another open jumper on Saturday, To his left was Mike Woodson. To his right was Lawrence Frank. Together they are not only Rivers’s new lieutenants, but also recent ghosts of New York’s dysfunctional basketball past. Both were jettisoned last season. Woodson’s exit as head coach of the It barely seems a coincidence that Woodson and Frank have now resurfaced about as far away from New York as geographically possible in the N.B.A. Rivers, who is also the Clippers’ senior vice president for basketball operations, remade his staff and restructured the front office after last season, his first in Los Angeles. Three coaches left the bench, and they were replaced by Woodson, Frank and Sam Cassell. “I’ve been fired,” Rivers said, relating to Woodson and Frank. “You want to learn. You take responsibility with what you didn’t do because something didn’t go right. They’re all motivated. They know they can coach and I know they can coach.” Woodson and Frank were not available to speak at the Clippers’ workout Monday morning, but were expected to address the news media before the team’s game against Utah Monday evening. A team spokesperson said Woodson would not answer questions about the Knicks, who will play the Clippers here on Wednesday. Though Woodson and Frank may be linked by their New York ties, and by Indiana — the school they both attended — they could not be more different in manner and background. That was apparent Saturday as they bookended Rivers on the bench. The 44-year-old Frank, clipboard in hand, looked as if he were hailing a taxi each time he jumped to his feet, shouting defensive instructions. Meanwhile, Woodson resembled a man patiently waiting for a bus, peeking down at the other end of the court, his hands clasped calmly between his knees. Perhaps this is the peacefulness that washes over someone no longer responsible for J.R. Smith. Indeed, the Knicks are no longer Woodson’s problem at all. Their current ineptitude — a 5-28 record that suggests this will be the worst season in franchise history — has given a sheen to Woodson’s two and a half seasons as head coach in New York. The 54 victories the Knicks piled up in 2012-13 with Woodson in charge are the most in their last 18 seasons, and even the mediocrity of last season’s 37 wins looks good compared to what is going on now. Somewhat curiously, Woodson’s imprint on the Clippers is at the offensive end. He developed a reputation as a solid defensive coach while playing under Bobby Knight at Indiana, coaching under Larry Brown with the Detroit Pistons and then running the show with the Atlanta Hawks. It is that reputation that originally brought him to New York as an assistant who would put teeth in Mike D’Antoni’s defense. Meanwhile, Woodson was often criticized for his isolation-heavy offenses in New York with Carmelo Anthony and before that in Atlanta with Joe Johnson. Still, the Clippers, who had the N.B.A.'s most efficient offense last season, have improved slightly this season, to 110.0 points per 100 possessions, just behind Toronto and Dallas. A few familiar plays from Woodson’s arsenal — like the triple dribble-handoff that ends with an alley-oop — have made their way into the Clippers’ playbook. “I’ve always thought he was under-rated offensively,” Rivers said of Woodson, who is 56. “It’s funny, you get this reputation and then people corner you.” Clippers guard Jamal Crawford credited Woodson for convincing him to embrace the role as a sixth man when he played for him in Atlanta. “He’s always upbeat, always positive, but if he needs more from you, he’ll tell you that,” Crawford said. “You don’t have to be curious where you stand.” Several Clippers lauded Woodson for his plays coming out of timeouts, referred to as ATOs. “We used to joke that Atlanta had the best ATOs,” said J.J. Redick, who regularly faced Woodson when he played for Orlando. “He’s introduced some of his and they’ve worked.” The best one? “I can’t say that. But it involves a DeAndre dunk,” he said, referring to center DeAndre Jordan. Meanwhile, the majority of the Clippers’ defensive responsibilities go to Frank, who is in his second stint working for Rivers. Frank was something of a wunderkind after he won his first 13 games as the 34-year-old interim coach of the Nets early in 2004. But five years later, he was dismissed after the Nets, in a full reversal, got off to an 0-16 start to the season. In 2010, Frank replaced Tom Thibodeau on Rivers’s staff in Boston. Then came a stint as the Pistons’ coach, and the falling out with Kidd. “He’s the same guy, very enthusiastic,” said Clippers guard Chris Douglas-Roberts, who played for Frank on the Nets. “You’re always going to hear his voice.” On Monday morning, as the Clippers players left the court after their workout, Woodson joked with assistant coach Armond Hill. Off to the side, Frank chatted with his two daughters. The two coaches, on a team with championship ambitions, were relaxed and comfortable, and a long way from New York.