The long anticipated move by Indiana Pacers has been made official: Frank Vogel is their new head coach. He took over on an interim basis last season after Jim O’Brien was fired, going 20-18 and winning one game in the Pacers series against the Chicago Bulls. But that series was a decent one for the Pacers, who pushed the Bulls in three close losses (none by more than six points) until a Game Five blowout.
The Pacers didn’t exactly place full faith in Vogel, however. They hired former Los Angeles Lakers lead-assistant Brian Shaw for the same role in Indy. The obvious thought process there is if Vogel isn’t lightning in a bottle, the Pacers can let him go and have Shaw slide in and take over. Of course, Shaw thought he had that sort of deal in LA, but Phil Jackson rubbed enough people the wrong way for long enough to infect Shaw with the anti-Phil venom.
Vogel has bounced around the league with Jim O’Brien before taking over for him last year. He was one of Obie’s assistants in Boston and Philadelphia. He’s another one of those young guys who got his start as a video coordinator before climbing the ranks (Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra and Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti are others).
According to Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Vogel signed a three-year deal, with the third being a team-option.
