Frank Vogel Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Central Notes: Hoiberg, Gibson, Vaughn, Pacers

April 1st, 2016 at 7:07pm CST by Arthur Hill

Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg has job security despite the team’s disappointing season, claims Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. In a video response to readers’ questions, Wojnarowski says GM Gar Forman and VP of basketball operations John Paxson “could not wait” to hire Hoiberg away from Iowa State last summer, claiming the front office and the coach knew the move was coming months before it was made. Hoiberg still has four years and $20MM left on his contract, and the Bulls are unlikely to absorb that much salary, especially after firing former coach Tom Thibodeau with $9MM left on his deal. Wojnarowski believes Forman and Paxson have no choice but to build a roster that fits with Hoiberg’s style, as their future is now tied to his success or failure.

There’s more from the Central Division:

Hoiberg has a strong defender in Bulls power forward Taj Gibson, who says the coach’s critics need to “shut up,” relays K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. “Everybody tries to discredit this man, and it’s rough,” Gibson said. “He’s a rookie coach taking on a veteran group. Give him some slack, man. It’s hard enough as it is to come in. You have the whole city of Chicago on your back. It’s tough. But I think he’s learning, doing a good job, staying with us. And I’m riding with him no matter what.”
Bucks rookie shooting guard Rashad Vaughn is getting his first NBA start tonight, according to Charles F. Gardner of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Coach Jason Kidd gave Vaughn the opportunity partly to keep Tyler Ennis with the reserve unit, but also because of Vaughn’s improved play of late. “Being sent down to the D-League and being asked to play minutes, he’s been a positive since he’s been back,” Kidd said.
There’s plenty of blame to go around for the Pacers‘ late-season collapse, writes Gregg Doyel of The Indianapolis Star. He claims the root of the problem goes back to president of basketball operations Larry Bird’s decision to make Indiana a smaller, faster team with Paul George starting at power forward. George resisted the move and has been a poor leader in general, Doyel claims. Coach Frank Vogel also gets blasted by Doyel, who notes that the Pacers have lost a league-high 20 games that they’ve led during the fourth quarter.

Larry Bird On Frank Vogel, Paul George, Roster

January 28th, 2016 at 3:06pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Pacers, at 23-22 and eighth in the Eastern Conference, are underachieving, and they suffer from having too many “good players, but not great players,” president of basketball operations Larry Bird said today to Mark Montieth of Pacers.com and Conrad Brunner from 1070 The Fan. Bird planned for the team to play at a fast pace this season but acknowledges his difference in philosophy with coach Frank Vogel, who prefers a lineup with two traditional bigs and has fielded that sort of team for much of the season. The entire interview is worth a read, especially to get an idea of Bird’s affection for Myles Turner‘s game. We’ll pass along a few highlights here.

On the dichotomy between his vision for the team and Vogel’s:

“We’re halfway through the season. My philosophy is, I’ve been watching this a long time. I’d like to play faster. I thought we might be able to do it. My vision was [Paul George] would play more of the four, not all of the time, but play it more. Paul’s a good rebounder. If he played the four he’d be a better rebounder. But I understand. He’s coming off a serious leg injury. He’s going to hit spurts like he’s hit here. It’s tough sitting out a year and coming back. That’s why I wanted him at the four more [laughing], so he wouldn’t have to guard [on the perimeter]. But I understand what Frank’s saying. I understand what he feels comfortable with.”

On the team’s holes:

“It’s according to how you want to play, and I think everyone knows how I want to play. I’d like to have an athletic big and I’d like to have – whether it’s a point guard or a guy who can get us in the offense and play George [Hill] off the ball a little bit or put Monta [Ellis] on the ball – we’ve got good players, we just don’t have the big athletic guys that we like and need. I think we’ll be able to get that. Paul’s getting through this year and Myles is going to be an outstanding player and [Ian] Mahinmi has had his best year. Mahinmi is playing great. [Against the Clippers], coming off an ankle injury and missing a few days, I thought he was excellent. I thought he played hard and aggressive. We have pieces, but we have some holes and we have to fill them.”

On goals for the season:

“We’ve got to find out who we are and what we’re trying to do here. I can say we’ve got to make the playoffs, and everybody says ‘Why would you want to be the seventh or eighth seed?’ I do. I want to be in the playoffs because you build on that. You build on everything every year and it ain’t going to happen overnight. I think we need to be in the playoffs and then we can put the pieces together and fill some holes and go from there.”

Central Notes: Hill, Cunningham, Antetokounmpo

December 11th, 2015 at 11:30am CST by Chuck Myron

Solomon Hill is one of Pacers coach Frank Vogel‘s favorite players because of his versatility and work ethic, writes Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. That’s in spite of a report last week that Indiana has made the swingman available for a trade and the lack of playing time Hill has seen since the team declined his rookie scale option for next season.

“He knows the fact that he’s not in the rotation to start the season does not mean his days are numbered here,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. “We made that very clear that we’re going to give some other guys looks at that position to give us an offensive boost. We’re trying to improve on the offensive end this year and he’s got to stay ready. There are going to be times when he’s needed and he’s going to have an opportunity to get back into the rotation at some point.”

Hill’s best work comes on defense, so the notion that at least some of the Pacers braintrust isn’t sold on him is another sign of the team’s shift toward more offense, Buckner posits. Here’s more from the Central Division:

LeBron James has quickly formed a bond with Jared Cunningham off the court, but it’s unlikely to play much of a role when the Cavs must decide next month whether to guarantee Cunningham’s salary for the rest of the season, writes Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal.
The Bucks gave Greg Monroe a max deal and Khris Middleton a new five-year, $70MM contract, but the executives and scouts who spoke to Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times are higher on Giannis Antetokounmpo than any other player on the Milwaukee roster. Antetokoumpo, making slightly less than $1.954MM this season, becomes eligible for a rookie scale extension in the summer ahead.
Bulls management basically said this summer that they believe they have a roster with a real chance to win the championship this year, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune writes in a mailbag column, one in which he says he doesn’t think the team will make a trade this season.

Central Notes: Vasquez, Love, Budinger

November 10th, 2015 at 1:57pm CST by Chuck Myron

Greivis Vasquez is just 4 for 29 from behind the 3-point line thus far this season, but the Bucks aren’t fretting about the offseason trade acquisition, notes Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“He’s a vet. He understands he’s got to shoot his way through this. His teammates are telling him to keep shooting,” Kidd said. “If it helps him, I ended my career without making a shot. Hopefully that makes him feel better.”

Kidd was making a self-deprecating reference to his 0 for 17 performance in the final 10 games of his career. With the Bucks possessing a 4-3 record and apparently in a jovial mood, they aren’t the only ones with a relatively carefree attitude to start the season. See more from the Central Division:

Kevin Love is carrying a looser demeanor and he and LeBron James seemingly have a much more open dialogue than they did last season, observes Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal. Love, despite rumors that he would bolt, was the first of the major Cavs free agents to recommit to the team this past summer, as I noted when I examined the team’s offseason accomplishments earlier today.
Chase Budinger, a summer trade pickup, was struggling to find his role on the Pacers leading up to Monday’s game, as Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star examines, and coach Frank Vogel absorbs responsibility for it. “I haven’t really called Chase’s number very much at all,” Vogel said. “I told him a couple days ago that’s on me. I got to make sure we’re taking advantage of his skill set more.”
The Bulls received approval from the village board in suburban Hoffman Estates, Illinois for their plan to place a one-to-one D-League affiliate there starting next season, writes K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. The lease agreement for the team to use the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates isn’t final, but it’s expected to become so, according to Johnson, who adds that the Bulls have called a press conference for Wednesday. Presumably, a formal announcement about the D-League team will take place at that point.

Coaching Rumors: Vogel, Joerger, Hoiberg

October 9th, 2014 at 3:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird today called Frank Vogel a “perfect fit” for the team, as Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star notes (Twitter link), one day after Indiana granted an extension to the coach whose job appeared in serious jeopardy a few months ago. Much has changed for the Pacers since then, and Vogel’s task this year will be different than in years past, when he was in charge of a team on the rise. While we wait to see just how much Vogel can squeeze out of his depleted roster, we’ll pass along more on his deal and other news from NBA coaching circles.

Indications are that Vogel’s extension runs until the summer of 2017, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News, who also notes that Vogel is likely to have received a raise on the $2MM average annual value of the extension he signed in 2013.
Dave Joerger‘s contract calls for him to make about $2MM each season through 2017/18, as Deveney also relays in the same slideshow. The Grizzlies this summer added the 2017/18 season onto the deal as a team option.
Warriors GM Bob Myers acknowledged that the team engaged in discussions with Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg this spring before hiring Steve Kerr, but Myers downplayed the significance of the inquiry as he spoke to reporters, including Travis Hines of the Ames Tribune. “We focused on some other guys that had been around and got a pretty early indication from Fred that he was happy where he was,” Myers said. “We weren’t the first team to kind of at least put a phone call in. Mine was much more informal from our side just because I have a previous relationship with him so it wasn’t anything formal. I got the sense he’s very happy where he is.”

Eastern Notes: Mbenga, Pacers, Pistons

October 8th, 2014 at 8:44pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Knicks head coach Derek Fisher had good things to say about D.J. Mbenga, his former teammate with the Lakers who was signed by New York earlier today, Marc Berman of The New York Post reports (Twitter link). Fisher said that Mbenga was a solid teammate who has a good knowledge of the triangle offense, and also added that Mbenga could help the “vibe” out in training camp this month, notes Berman. Berman’s wording of “this month” seemingly doubles down on his earlier report that Mbenga was signed purely for preseason purposes.

Here’s more from the east:

Chris Bosh hasn’t spoken with his former teammate LeBron James since James left the Heat to sign with the Cavs, ESPN.com reports. When asked by reporters if he had talked to James, Bosh said, “No. I’m in the mode where I’m trying to lead my team, help these guys out around here. If guys aren’t in this locker room, I don’t have much time for them — if any.” Miami’s first regular season game against LeBron and Cleveland is scheduled for Christmas day.
With all of the offseason turmoil the Pacers organization has gone through, Frank Vogel‘s contract extension will provide some needed stability, Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star writes.
Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders, in a video report with CineSport’s Brian Clark, discusses the uncertainties surrounding the Pacers and speculates that while Vogel is sticking around, some of his key players might not be.
With Indiana expected to to take a step back this season, it leaves the door open for the Pistons to improve their standing in the Central Division, Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio writes in his season preview for Detroit. Amico believes the talent is there for the Pistons to take the next step toward being a playoff team.

Pacers Sign Frank Vogel To Extension

October 8th, 2014 at 10:46am CST by Chuck Myron

The Pacers have signed coach Frank Vogel to an extension, the team announced. The arrangement covers multiple seasons, but no other terms are immediately available. Vogel had been set to enter the final season of his existing deal.

The 41-year-old Vogel revealed last month that he and the team were in extension talks and said that he wanted to remain with the Pacers “forever.” It seemed an iffy proposition this spring that he would hold the job much longer, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported that the Pacers would dismiss him if the team performed poorly in the playoffs. GM Kevin Pritchard dismissed the notion, but Mark Jackson loomed as a potential replacement, as Stein wrote later. There even appeared to be an outside chance that president of basketball operations Larry Bird would oust Vogel and come down to the bench and coach in his place before the playoffs began. Bird nonetheless expressed confidence in Vogel during the final week of the regular season after making comments earlier in the season that seemed critical of Vogel’s coaching style.

Indiana reached the Eastern Conference Finals and took the Heat to six games before falling, nearly matching the team’s achievement the year before, when the Pacers extended the Heat to seven games in the same round. Still, the Pacers took a circuitous path back to that point, with a hot start to this past season and a disturbing post All-Star malaise. Indiana nonetheless held on to grab the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, but the franchise suffered a pair of painful losses in the offseason. Lance Stephenson rejected a five-year, $45MM offer to re-sign and bolted for the Hornets, while Paul George broke his leg during a Team USA scrimmage, likely knocking him out for the season.

Vogel’s tenure as Pacers coach dates to the 2010/11 season, when he took over on an interim basis for the final 38 games of the regular season and secured the team’s first playoff bid in five years. The Pacers removed the interim tag the following summer, and the Pacers went a round deeper into the playoffs the next two seasons before plateauing this spring. Vogel has compiled a 167-100 record in the regular season and a 28-26 mark in the playoffs over the course of his time as Indiana’s head coach.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pacers, Vogel Discussing Extension

September 28th, 2014 at 9:11am CST by Eddie Scarito

Frank Vogel and the Pacers have had talks about an extension, the coach said to Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. No deal has been worked out just yet, and when asked if he would like to have an agreement in place prior to the season beginning, Vogel said, “We just have to see how it goes. I want to be here forever. That’s my thing. I’m interested in being here long-term and when the right time comes, hopefully we can achieve that.”

Vogel is entering the last season of his deal, and one would think that a 167-100 record over four seasons, including four trips to the playoffs and two consecutive conference finals would be enough to guarantee job security. But last year’s Indiana squad that began 25-5 limped into the playoffs and the Pacers seemed badly overmatched by the Heat despite extending them to six games.

A big point of contention involving Vogel during the playoffs was his use of center Roy Hibbert. The big man didn’t match up well with the Pacers’ first round opponent, the Hawks, nor with the Heat in the conference finals. Both teams employed smaller lineups which made Hibbert a liability on defense when trying to match him up with smaller, quicker centers and stretch-fours. Vogel received quite a bit of criticism for not figuring out a way to use Hibbert’s size to his team’s advantage, and allowing their opponents to dictate the style of play that Indiana used.

The concern for the future is if Indiana’s collapse was a fluke, or if there are deeper concerns in the Pacers’ locker room. Vogel has always been considered a player’s coach, and is not a staunch disciplinarian. This was a role that was filled by former assistant Brian Shaw, who left prior to last season to become the head coach of the Nuggets. Chris Huberty of SI.com points out that Shaw frequently played “bad cop” with the Pacers players when it was required, and that new assistants Nate McMillan and Popeye Jones didn’t assist Vogel in that capacity.

If the Pacers and Vogel aren’t able to hammer out an extension prior to the season, it could only add to what looks to be a difficult year ahead for the franchise. They will be without the services of Paul George for what is likely the entire season after he broke his leg during a Team USA scrimmage. The Pacers will also be without Lance Stephenson, who signed a free agent deal with the Hornets this summer.

The Eastern Conference will be extremely top heavy this season with the Cavs, Bulls, and Wizards all looking extremely formidable as training camps begin. The Pacers aren’t in the discussion as a title contender without George, but still should have enough talent to compete for a playoff spot, even without their best player. But if being 4 for 4 in playoff appearances wasn’t necessarily enough to garner long-term job security, it will be interesting to see what the sentiments of Indiana’s front office are regarding Vogel if the Pacers struggle mightily without George and Stephenson this season.

Eastern Notes: Garnett, Vogel, Heat, Walker

September 26th, 2014 at 10:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Kevin Garnett finally dismissed all doubt that he would return for the coming season, telling reporters that while he considered retirement, he’s once more decided to put it off, notes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). A report in June indicated that Garnett would be back with the Nets, but Garnett hadn’t spoken publicly about his plans. Retirement could be a ways off, as the 38-year-old said he won’t rule out playing beyond this season, the final year of his contract, as Bondy also relays (via Twitter). Still, Garnett’s comments gave Tim Bontemps of the New York Post the sense that he’s planning to hang it up next summer (Twitter link). There’s more from the player once known as The Kid as we detail the latest from the Eastern Conference:

Garnett was in touch with Paul Pierce as the Wizards signee went through free agency and called his departure for Washington “bittersweet,” as Bontemps chronicles (Twitter links). KG said he was in the dark during former coach Jason Kidd‘s exit from the Nets, however, as Andy Vasquez of The Record tweets.
Frank Vogel is entering the final year of his contract to coach the Pacers, but he tells Scott Agness of Vigilant Sports that he’d like to remain in the job “forever.” President of basketball operations Larry Bird has suggested that the team is open to negotiating an extension with Vogel before this season begins, as Agness points out.
The Heat never made offers to veterans Andray Blatche, Ramon Sessions, Jordan Crawford, Wayne Ellington and others, team president Pat Riley and GM Andy Elisburg say, according to Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. Winderman surmises that the frustration that many veterans stuck at the end of the Heat’s bench expressed last year made the team wary of adding too many players with expectations of playing time.
The Hornets are just beginning extension talks with Kemba Walker, but GM Rich Cho indicated to reporters Thursday that he’s pleased with the point guard’s growing maturity, as Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders points out.

Pacers Rumors: Stephenson, Vogel, Hill, Rondo

June 2nd, 2014 at 11:36am CST by Chuck Myron

Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird today reiterated a stance he took early in the season, telling reporters, including Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star, that he wants soon-to-be free agent Lance Stephenson back in a Pacers uniform (Twitter link). A report late last week indicated that some within the Pacers had begun to question whether re-signing the mercurial guard was the right idea.

“When it comes down to it, it’s up to him whether he wants to be here or not. … I always want him back,” Bird said, as Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today notes (Twitter link).

There’s much more from the team’s exit interviews today, much of it coming from Bird, via Buckner, who live-tweeted his remarks. Here are the highlights:

Coach Frank Vogel also offered his support for re-signing Stephenson, as Buckner passes along via Twitter.
Bird confirmed that Vogel will return and that his job was never in jeopardy, pinning rumors to the contrary on far-flung reporters, Buckner tweets.
There appears to be less certainty about the future of George Hill, in spite of three more seasons on his contract, Bird indicated. “Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot about our point guard situation,” Bird said, according to Buckner (Twitter link). “I like George. But you never know what’s going to happen this summer.”
Bird also cast an eye toward Rajon Rondo, as Buckner notes in a pair of tweets. “He’s a very good player,” Bird said of Rondo, who’ll be a free agent next summer. “Been great for a long time. It’s always good to daydream and wish for these guys, but everything we do has to be through trades.”
The Pacers have only one pick, at No. 57, in this month’s draft, but Bird suggested there’s a decent chance the team will move up, either into the first round or the early part of the second, according to Buckner (Twitter links).
Bird also offered support for Evan Turner, Indiana’s major trade deadline acquisition and another soon-to-be free agent, saying that he loves the swingman’s game and predicting that he’ll average 17 points per game wherever he ends up, Buckner tweets.
Ex-Pacer Danny Granger helped in the locker room, but he “was never this leader that everybody thought he was,” Bird said, according to Buckner (on Twitter).
Bird refused to say whether anyone on the roster was an untouchable, and hedged about the idea of altering the team’s core, as Buckner passes along (Twitter links). “They’re young, I don’t want to make major changes … but we’re open, we’re going to listen and we’re going to see what’s out there,” Bird said.