Frank Vogel had his choice of jobs, but hen he looked around the landscape the young talent in Orlando caught is eye — Nikola Vucevic, Victor Oladipo, Aaron Gordon, Elfrid Payton, Mario Hezonja, and whoever the team picks at No. 11 this NBA Draft.
Now we’ll see what he can do with it — Vogel and the Magic have reached a deal to make him the new head coach of the Magic, a story broken by Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.The Orlando Magic have reached a deal in principle with Frank Vogel for Vogel to become the team’s new head coach, the Orlando Sentinel has learned....
Team officials sped up their search because Vogel had received interest from three teams with coaching vacancies — the Memphis Grizzlies, New York Knicks and Houston Rockets.
Vogel was the best coach on the market, and he is an upgrade over Scott Skiles, who unexpectedly resigned from the position last week with three years left on his contract.Skiles had differences with management about the club’s commitment to some of the youth on the roster. Vogel beat out Magic assistant coach Adrian Griffin for the job.
Vogel makes sense following Skiles — he’s a defensive-minded coach who can build on the improvement seen on that end of the court last season, but Vogel will do it with a much more positive attitude. Vogel’s players in Indiana also liked him; he was let go because Larry Bird thought Vogel had been there too long and his voice had gotten stale. Skiles burns guys out.
There will be some pressure on Vogel — this is an organization expecting to make the leap into playoff contention.