At the same time, they have plenty of questions.
Advertisement
All of these assumptions are based on Bird’s non-committal comments about Vogel.
He said Bird said, “I don’t know what’s going to happen”. His job status will be resolved soon and could go either way. After a tough loss to the Pacers two years ago, Carmelo Anthony praised Vogel for making halftime adjustments that then-Knicks coach Mike Woodson couldn’t handle. IN was not necessarily a poor defensive team under O’Brien, but Vogel taking over truly pushed them into that elite category, and they were proud to be known as the hard-nosed, grinding team in the East. Before this season, Bird stated he wanted a more up-tempo, small-ball offensive philosophy. After reaching the Eastern Conference finals in two straight years, in missed the playoffs in 2014-15 and was eliminated in the first round this season.
Fast forward to this season- Vogel did some good things with a roster that had a lot of changes.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – The Indiana Pacers turned what was supposed to be a transitional season into one filled with promise. They were 1-7 in Overtime games. They were on the road, a raucous arena in which they had won once in eight games over the previous three years. Can Vogel devise an offense to help the Pacers score more points?
This seems insane, especially after Vogel’s Pacers came so close to upsetting the No. 2 seed and advancing to the second round. The main name that comes to mind is Kevin McHale, a long-time friend of Larry Bird.
Stuckey has one more fully guaranteed year on his contract, at $7 million. It wouldn’t surprise me if Bird has already been in contact with McHale asking about his interest in the in job. As it stands now, there is a robust Bird vs. Vogel debate between fans and media.
That he’s decided. And it doesn’t look great for Vogel and the Pacers. Barely given a chance to win the series against the Toronto Raptors, the Pacers kept grinding and grinding as they extended play to a seventh game. Other GM’s were watching the Pacers/Raptors series, and Solomon Hill will probably get paid. Did anyone believe the Pacers could beat LeBron James and the Miami Heat in back-to-back ECFs? Ian had a great year, and he has expressed that he’d like to stay in Indiana. If I’m Vogel, this goes right at the top of my resume’. IN could always look at Lawson as trade bait as well, because there are still teams who are desperate for a point-guard with his skill set.
In the National Basketball Association, a truly great coach is hard to come by.
This season was kind of a mixed bag with this topic. This will probably depend on who the Pacers bring in this summer.
There is nothing wrong with making a move to try to the franchise better.
Advertisement
And with another offseason to fine-tune the roster, Bird is expected to be active. Although, I’m pretty sure Simon was free on Tuesday night considering up until Sunday, he had to keep his schedule clear to watch the Pacers had they advanced.
