Frank Vogel all set to become the Indiana Pacers Head Coach – NBA Update
Frank Vogel is set to be confirmed as the permanent head coach of the Indiana Pacers, it has been learnt. The league sources have indicated that the official announcement will come soon.
Vogel was the favourite for the job as he finished the season with the Pacers as their interim coach. He replaced previous head coach Jim O’Brien midway through the season when the latter was fired because of the underwhelming
performances of the team.
Vogel, after being installed as the interim coach turned things around for the Pacers and breathed new life into the side. Vogel shuffled the starting line-up, showing his trust in some of the younger players. He also completely
changed the way the team operated. Under O’Brien Indiana focused on a perimeter game that emphasized spreading the floor and taking shots from the outside. However Vogel turned the unit into a fast paced offensive side that prided itself on getting to the
rim as much as possible.
The players responded to Vogel and the Pacers finished the season strong, going 20-18 to make it into the playoffs as the 8th seed. In the postseason, they faced 1st seeded Chicago Bulls led by the enigmatic
league MVP Derrick Rose. Most people wrote off the Pacers before the series began, but Indiana gave the Bulls a real run for their money, battling hard for every game, although eventually they were shown the door by Chicago.
Still Vogel’s performance with the limited time and resources available to him was praised by most analysts. Indiana’s President of Basketball Operations, the Celtic legend Larry Bird, also spoke highly of Vogel when the season
ended. Although Bird hinted to this regard but he refused to name Vogel as the permanent head coach back then.
Bird believed it was his duty to give thorough consideration to the head coaching position and he would only announce a decision once he had deliberated on the pros and cons for some time. In the period that has passed since, many
of the Indiana Pacers players, who enjoyed themselves playing under coach Vogel, came out in support of the coach and backed him to get the job.
Rumours started a while ago that Vogel had indeed been selected to be the head coach on a permanent basis for the Pacers and the news does not come as a surprise to anyone in Indiana. It is believed the official announcement will
come when Pacers president Larry Bird and Frank Vogel jointly address the media on Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. ET.
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