MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Grizzlies interim coach Tony Barone is taking a cautious approach after taking over the NBA's worst team.
He certainly isn't invoking the name of New Jersey coach Lawrence Frank, who won his first 13 games when the Nets gave him his first NBA coaching job in 2004.
"That's heresy to do that," Barone said. "Now, we'll take that. If that happens, that would be fine."
Barone, the team's director of player personnel, got a start on Frank's record Saturday night after the Grizzlies beat the Toronto Raptors 110-104 to snap a five-game losing streak.
Barone was chosen as interim coach on Thursday after the Grizzlies fired Mike Fratello. Jerry West, president of basketball operations, noted the need for a leadership change after Memphis dropped its fifth straight in a lackluster performance against Milwaukee on Wednesday night. Memphis is 6-24, the worst record in the league.
West said the Grizzlies were not playing with emotion and had lost confidence. That forced the firing of Fratello, the franchise's winningest coach.
Barone, who served as an assistant for Brown's two seasons, said calls he's received were running about 80-20 — 80 percent congratulatory, the other 20 percent sympathetic.