Lawrence Frank works the sidelines during Wednesday's loss to the Brooklyn Nets, which turned out to be his final game as Detroit Pistons head coach when he was fired today.

(The Associated Press)

AUBURN HILLS -- The Detroit Pistons have fired Lawrence Frank after two seasons as head coach.

Frank was 54-94 as Pistons coach, including 29-53 this season.

The dismissal leaves the Pistons seeking a new head coach for the 12th time in 22 years, a pattern that has dogged the franchise through good times and bad.

Frank's job had been the target of speculation for weeks.

That speculation only heightened at Monday's home finale when Pistons owner Tom Gores said he was satisfied that the basketball operations staff has positioned the franchise for what figures to be a substantial roster overhaul this summer, but at the same time said he was "not content about how we performed this year."

That seemed to draw a clear distinction between president of basketball operations Joe Dumars, whose job is safe, and the coaching staff.

Before Wednesday's season-ending road loss to the Brooklyn Nets, Frank, whose $4 million salary next season is fully guaranteed, said he was more concerned for his assistant coaches than himself.

"Any time your job status is in question, especially for the head coach, your number-one concern is your staff," he said. "From a financial standpoint, it's a different deal. Families -- they moved families. But look, when you sign up for this job, you know what the potential consequences are. Whatever decisions are made, whether we're here for the next 10 years or whether we're gone in 10 minutes, you've got accept the consequences and you move on.

"But as the head coach, and as the guy that brought them here, you are always thinking about them first because you understand the sacrifices that they make."

Frank's two seasons in Detroit were marked by horrendous starts: 0-8 this season and 4-20 last season.

The 2011-12 season was marked by a stark turnaround, with the Pistons going 21-21 over their final 42 games to finish the lockout-shortened schedule 25-41.

But upward ticks were scarce in the second half of year two.

The Pistons had a successful stretch in late December and early January, and another to finish the season, when they won four of their last five games.

There also were losing streaks of 10, eight and six games, with the first of those coming in March, when the Pistons were 1-13.

The poor start, an inexperienced roster, the Tayshaun Prince trade that gutted the perimeter defense, and a string of second-half injuries -- none bigger than rookie sensation Andre Drummond missing 22 games with a stress fracture in his back -- crushed chances of a second-half turnaround.

The linchpin may have been the post-All-Star stretch from mid-February through the end of March, when the Pistons were 3-17, though Frank missed six games to attend to his ill wife during that span, all of them losses.

The Pistons' only wins during that period came against the NBA-worst Charlotte Bobcats (twice) and the Washington Wizards.

The Pistons nearly played a complete month of games without winning for the first time in franchise history. Charlie Villanueva's go-ahead basket and Rodney Stuckey's blocked shot against Charlotte's Josh McRoberts at the buzzer were just enough to preserve a 92-91 win on March 23.

Frank also came under fire for slow-playing Drummond's move into the starting lineup -- the rookie was ticketed to start the same week he was injured -- and benching players for weeks on end.

Jonas Jerebko, who finished the season strong but was ineffective early, at one point played six minutes over a stretch of 29 games. Veteran small forward Corey Maggette sat out the last 56 games despite good health and a need at his position after the Prince trade.

There were successes, too.

Drummond far outstripped any projections and might have been the NBA's second-best rookie, behind Portland's Damian Lillard. Kyle Singler started 74 games as a rookie. Khris Middleton, another of the five rookies on this season's roster, emerged in the second half as a potential long-term rotation player.

In the end, the positives weren't enough to save Frank, who took over the Pistons amid a sense of insecurity and upheaval which predated his tenure: He followed John Kuester's mutinous two-year reign and was the first coaching hire for Gores, who bought the team two years ago from the late Bill Davidson's family.

Frank had more success in his seven seasons as New Jersey Nets head coach from 2003-09, where his record was 225-241.

Frank took over the Nets after Byron Scott was fired during the 2003-04 season and won his first 13 games, a record win streak to start an NBA head-coaching career. That also was the first of three Nets teams he took to the Eastern Conference semifinals, where they lost 4-3 to the Pistons' 2004 championship team.

Frank was 157-129 in his first four seasons, with four playoff berths, before Nets management gutted the team by trading Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter in a 16-month period.

After a 0-16 start in 2009-10, Frank was fired and served the rest of that season as an analyst for NBA TV.

Frank, who never played high school or college basketball, was mentored by Bob Knight while serving as a four-year student manager at Indiana University. He began his coaching career as a college assistant for three years at Marquette and three more at Tennessee.

He then joined Brian Hill's staff for three seasons with the NBA's Vancouver Grizzlies. Hill later served as an assistant for Frank in both New Jersey and Detroit, and was the interim coach during the six games Frank missed this season.

Frank was a Boston Celtics assistant in 2010-11. The Pistons hired him as head coach on Aug. 3, 2011.

His firing leaves the Pistons in a familiar position.

Frank is the 11th Pistons coach since Chuck Daly's iconic 10-year, two-championship tenure, and none lasted more than three years.

Only Flip Saunders (2005-08) made it three full seasons. Doug Collins (1995-98) was midway through his third season when he was fired.

Don Chaney (1993-95), Rick Carlisle (2001-03), Larry Brown (2003-05) and Kuester (2009-11) all lasted two seasons. Alvin Gentry (1998-2000) and George Irvine (2000-01) were fired during their second seasons. Ron Rothstein (1992-93) and Michael Curry (2008-09) lasted one season each.

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