5:34pm: Bird said he’ll speak with owner Herb Simon at an undetermined point to figure out whether to re-sign Vogel, as Bird told Doyel. Finding a way to generate more offense is the key, Bird insisted. “We need to score more points,” Bird said. “If Frank comes back, what can we do to get better offense? It’s on all of us. Frank’s a great guy. He’s going to be fine no matter what happens. If he’s back, he’ll be fine here. If he’s not, he’s not. We’ll see.”
8:45am: Pacers coach Frank Vogel‘s contract expires this summer, and he and the Pacers have yet to discuss an extension, sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter link). Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post heard that Vogel might have been coaching for his job Sunday, when the Pacers lost the deciding game of their first-round series to the Raptors (Twitter link). President of basketball operations Larry Bird declined to answer a question after Sunday’s game about whether Vogel would return for next season, saying, “Come on, man, the game just ended,” according to Gregg Doyel of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter link).
Bird spoke in January about a philosophical difference between himself and Vogel, saying that he preferred an up-tempo attack with Paul George at the power forward while Vogel favored a more conventional approach with two traditional big men. George put up resistance to playing the four at the beginning of the season and Indiana largely abandoned the idea.
That Vogel is on an expiring contract is a surprise, since the Pacers announced in October 2014 that the extension he signed then was for multiple seasons, notes Scott Agness of VigilantSports (Twitter link). Sean Deveney of The Sporting News reported shortly after the extension that indications were that it ran through the 2016/17 season. However, it appears in the wake of today’s news that the multiple years to which the team referred included the 2014/15 season, which had already been a part of Vogel’s pact.
The 42-year-old Vogel would become an intriguing candidate on the coaching market were he and the Pacers to part ways, as Wojnarowski points out (Twitter link). He’s 250-181 in parts of six seasons with Indiana, his only NBA head coaching stop. That doesn’t include a 31-30 record in the playoffs, where Vogel guided the Pacers to back-to-back appearances in the Eastern Conference finals in 2013 and 2014. The Kings, Rockets and Knicks are the NBA teams looking for head coaches at present.
Do you think Vogel will be coaching the Pacers next season? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.
I think the Pacers (Bird) would be complete idiots if they let Vogel go.
I agree
If bird wants to play fast, then guess who will win that. A bigger issue than Vogel is that PG is not a super star. Pure bonehead plays, shots, and turnovers in Toronto series….but also all year. The number one issue is upgrading point guard. Hill is not quick enuff or fast enuff to break down a defense. He is a mediocre shooter…will never lead us to a championship. Conley/Teague are indy boys. Bring them home. Not to re-open a wound but bird traded kawahi Leonard for George hill. Maybe the simon’s memory is slipping. Nba is a point guard league and we don’t have a good one!!!
Paul George needs help Ellis was horible
Turnovers I’ll agree, but you obviously did not watch the series if you think that almost everything he did was a bonehead play. The guy is the only one out there who demands attention by the defense, hard to efficiently play offense when their best defender is on you, with all eyes on you and the rest of your team struggles to hit shots. Also George Hill is a good shooter, not mediocre. Is he a championship-caliber point guard? No, but to say both of them are mediocre/made terrible plays in the Toronto series makes me question if you even watched the game.
When Solomon Hill finally got back into the rotation, we saw how well it fit. I was surprised they didn’t use him more. The Pacers also have multiple useful bigs, so I’d guess that’s part of why they went back to those lineups. I personally think they should keep Vogel. I think he does a pretty good job, for the most part. They shpuld have won that game 7 though, and it could be argued they shouldn’t have even been in that situation b/c they should have won the series earlier.
I hope he is gone
Kevin McHale about to reunite with Bird.
Vogel kept the Pacers from collapsing after Paul George broke his leg. He’s a good coach and if Indiana doesn’t want him, someone else will.
I dont think Frank will be back but I also know Kevin Mchale isnt a good coach. Ive watched him for a very very long time and hes not got the job done. His record is not as good as Franks and he will not make the pacers better. Its clear we dont have enough talent to do what Bird wants and Franks getting the shaft because of it. I think Bird should start coaching the Pacers again. Hes the best coach for this Pacers team and the fans would go crazy over that.
pj i dont think so but he is a good basketball coach if the pacers don;t resign him i would like the knicks to give him a interview for the head coaching job.
i would like the newyork knicks give him a shot for an interview for the head coaching job.