Frank Vogel hits the media circuit as Orlando Magic head coach

Frank Vogel began his first day as coach of the Orlando Magic hitting the media circuit with the Orlando media. He elaborated on his vision for the team.

Frank Vogel had a very busy Monday  as he was introduced as the head coach of the Orlando Magic.

He had his talking points well in order as he went from Mike and Mike on ESPN Radio, the nationally syndicated show, to explain what happened at the end of his tenure with the Indiana Pacers and why he chose the Orlando Magic as his next landing spot.

He then spoke to the media for his official press conference at Amway Center. He then hit the radio circuit in Orlando speaking to Scott Anez on ESPN Orlando, Jerry O’Neill and Eric Lopez on Tuck and O’Neill on Sports Talk Florida 1080 AM and the Sports RX with the Shot Doctor on 96.9 The Game.

Vogel repeated a lot of the talking points he made during his introductory press conference. If Vogel is good at one thing, it is staying on message. And certainly that comports well with his new boss in Rob Hennigan.

There is plenty to take apart from his appearance on Mike & Mike on Monday morning, but he noted the Magic were not just any job. As he said during his press conference, it was very much the right fit for him.

"“The Orlando Magic is a great organization. I wasn’t just going to take any job. I wanted to find the right landing spot for my family and I wanted to put myself in a position where I thought we could compete for a championship. This group isn’t there right now, but they have a great young core. Their roster is really strong and deep and to me they’re at the right stage of development in building a winner. They’ve gone through a lot of the growing pains with some of the young players in their first and second years and they’ve got those behind them. So I feel like their best days are before them. I feel like I had a great connection with their front office when I met with them and had conversations with them. And they’ve got a great ownership group. In terms of my family, obviously telling my daughters and my family that I was moving down to Disney World was something that was attractive to me. My wife and I are from the East Coast, but my daughters were raised in the Midwest. The market size of Orlando is comparable to Indiana. And I just felt like all of those factors led for me to believe that this is a great landing spot for me.”"

On the Sports RX with The Shot Doctor on 96.9 The Game in Orlando, Vogel spoke a little bit more about the roster.

Shot Doctor asked Vogel to compare his roster to the team he took over in Indiana and helped lead to back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals.

Those teams featured Paul George, Lance Stephenson, David West and Roy Hibbert, forming a killer defense and a somewhat plodding offense. There was no denying its effectiveness until free agency and injury began to break that core up.

Vogel believes this Magic team’s roster could be better if things shake out right.

"It’s tough to really make comparisons. I think this roster has more guys who have the ability to develop into stars. I think we have a number of guys here who are really talented, high character guys willing to put in the work. We have to have the wins to make it happen."

The Magic certainly have plenty of interesting young talent.  The kind of interesting talent that has attracted a coach like Vogel. It just has not coalesced around one player yet or one player has not emerged.

That has been the big mystery about this team and why the team has not turned the corner quite yet. If Vogel can turn Victor Oladipo or Aaron Gordon or Nikola Vucevic or Mario Hezonja into star players.

He certainly has a vision for how this roster should play.

He elaborated on that with Jerry O’Neill and Eric Lopez on Tuck & O’Neill on Sports Talk Florida 1080 AM:

"Just the youth and athleticism. You look at someone like Aaron Gordon, who is coming into his own. I think these guys are at a spot where they have had a lot of the growing pains behind them and are ready to take that next step. Aaron is a guy that I see exemplifying how we want to play. The ability to be athletic and quick on the defensive end and get out and run the floor. Aaron can run the floor for the lob game. He can rebound and push and handle. There is a lot of positives here."

It is not just Aaron Gordon either. Vogel has spoken highly of Victor Oladipo. He has spoken highly of Mario Hezonja.

And, yes, he has spoken about Nikola Vucevic and how Vucevic torched his team for several years.

It will all come together in October when Vogel gets his team together for the first time. There will be plenty to do before then.

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The message though seems pretty clear coming out of Monday’s introductions. Vogel believes this team can take the next step. He has supreme confidence in them to do so.