Prior to Sunday night's loss to the Lakers, a number of Nets players stepped up and took the blame for coach Lawrence Frank's firing.

New Jersey fired Frank just hours before the team dropped to 0-17, tying an NBA record for consecutive losses to begin a season.

"I do [feel bad]," guard Rafer Alston said. "He wasn't dealt a royal flush. It's almost like he had a pair of twos and he had to fight.

"I'm pretty sure in the NBA if they could fire some players, they would. When you're 0-16, players need to go. The easiest thing to do is put it on the coach and get a new coach. I take full responsibility of some games and other guys are doing the same thing. Coach couldn't put on a uniform and go chase down loose balls, rebound, and sprint back. We had to do that and we didn't get it done."

Frank was 225-241 in six seasons as New Jersey's head coach.

"I don't think he lost any of the players," guard Courtney Lee said. "Everybody was focused on trying to do whatever it took to get a win. Some nights it looked that way, but no. Everybody respected him and everybody followed his lead."