Frank Vogel is one of the best coaches in the NBA. He’s an intelligent, charismatic team builder who has molded the Indiana Pacers into one of the most consistent teams in the league. He’s also out of a job.
After coaching Indiana to five playoff appearances in nearly six years as the team’s head coach, he was let go by team president Larry Bird because… well, I don’t know why:
Larry Bird: “My experience has been good coaches leave after 3 years.”
Watch Bird’s press conference live: https://t.co/tljOUT7GKr
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 5, 2016
“Good coaches leave after three years”. Larry Bird is the one of the best basketball players ever; what some forget is that at one time, he was a pretty good NBA head coach. Ironically, he led the Pacers to three straight playoff appearances and the franchise’s only NBA Finals appearance in 2000. Indiana lost to the Lakers, ending Bird’s third season as head coach. And then…. he left. Irony.
That being said, Vogel will have plenty of options if he wants to coach next season. Let’s look at a few of those here.
Honorable Mention: Portland Trail Blazers
Yes, it sounds crazy; the Blazers already have Terry Stotts, one of the best coaches in the game and the runner-up in this season’s Coach of the Year voting. Stotts, however, is at the end of his contract and while a deal should still get done, it will be interesting to follow whether this team and its coach come to an impasse in negotiations like the one encountered by Vogel and the Pacers.
It’s not likely that this job will be open, but it’s definitely one worth watching.
New York Knicks
Let’s just skip the formalities: there’s no chance Frank Vogel is coaching the Knicks next season. They’ve seemingly locked in on Kurt Rambis as their guy (for some reason) and aren’t conducting much of a coaching search right now. Vogel actually grew up in Wildwood, New Jersey and worked for the Lakers and Phil Jackson as an advance scout during the 2005-06 season.
Also, remember that Jackson, the team’s president, waited until June 10, 2014, before hiring Derek Fisher as its head coach the last time the job was open. Vogel won’t last until then for the seemingly unhurried executive. The likelihood of Vogel coaching the Knicks next season is easy to figure: zero. There’s no chance of this actually happening.
That being said, it is fun to imagine the Knicks making a good coaching hire, for once.
Houston Rockets
This one is really interesting. The Rockets have a superstar in James Harden who, believe it or not, is only 26 years old. Ironically, Paul George is also 26, and we saw what Vogel was able to do for him.
However, the problem with this move would be the Pacers’ and Rockets’ respective paces and styles of play. While Vogel’s Pacers have averaged just over 93 possessions per game over the past four seasons, the Rockets have been successful by pushing the pace and garnering more possessions. In fact, Houston has eclipsed 96 possessions per game over that same time period, outrunning Indiana… but not necessarily outplaying them.
The teams have basically had the same amount of success over the past four years, with the Rockets making the playoffs every year. However, the Pacers have found more success in the second season, with two Conference Finals appearances in 2013 and 2014 and a seven-game first-round series with the Raptors this year. The Rockets, on the other hand, have been eliminated in the first round in three of the past four seasons with a Conference Final appearance and a quick exit at the hands of the Warriors wedged in between.
Also, there’s the minor issue of the Vogel’s style of play and, more significantly, the ability of the Rockets’ personnel to hypothetically carry it out. Dwight Howard has an opt-out clause that he can use this July 1; needless to say, he won’t be back after the tumult of this past season. With his imminent departure, the Rockets are looking square in the face of starting Clint Capela at center unless, of course, the team can sign or draft a big man this summer. Vogel’s Indiana teams had the most success when his offense was allowed to run through David West and Roy Hibbert, each of whom was one of the best big men in the game at one time.
Much was made of the Pacers’ going small and playing faster this season; while it worked for one year, there is no doubt that Vogel is much more comfortable espousing an old-school, traditional style of play on offense. The Rockets wouldn’t be able to carry this out in their current form, so something would have to give.
But it sure would be intriguing to see what would happen if Vogel coached the Rockets, even if it would be different than what we’re used to from him.
Memphis Grizzlies
This fit is emerging as the most logical one for Vogel, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo.com’s The Vertical reports:
The preliminary stages of Memphis’ search to replace Dave Joerger include Vogel – the formerIndiana Pacers coach – who used the weekend to decompress after losing his job on Thursday, league sources said.
Vogel plans to start evaluating head-coaching opportunities early this week, league sources said.
The fit in Memphis makes the most sense for Vogel. His old-school, slow style of play with a heavy emphasis on big men suits the Grizzlies’ “grit-and-grind” mantra perfectly. If the team can secure Vogel as its head coach, it won’t have to change its style of play much, if at all. What the team will have to change is its health, and there’s not much that can be done about that.
This season, the Grizzlies used an NBA-record 28 (!) players en route to a 42-40 record and a first-round sweep at the hands of the Spurs. Key pieces such as Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, Zach Randolph and Tony Allen all missed significant time over the course of the regular season. Also, no player on the team started over 57 games for the team, forcing Memphis to use 28 different starting lineups over the course of the season, with 12 of those combinations starting just one game.
It’s easy to see why the Grizzlies took a step back last season. None of their best players could stay healthy for the entire year and the continuity of the team’s play was shattered. That being said, the team could be back to its old ways next season, and new leadership may be part of their potential improvement. Dave Joerger was almost inexplicably fired after this past season for the team’s subpar performance; now, it’s easy to see why he was canned.
The Grizzlies had something better lined up the whole time.