2016-17 Orlando Magic Player Evaluations

Frank Vogel

The Orlando Magic had high expectations for Frank Vogel’s arrival in Orlando. He brought with him the pedigree as one of the brightest defensive coaching minds in the league.

His dismissal from the Indiana Pacers was shocking and it felt like the Magic backed their way into a coaching improvement after Scott Skiles‘ surprise resignation.

The team largely still believes this. Vogel’s presence will remain a selling point for the Magic as they search for a new president of basketball operations. He remains relatively untarnished.

But like so many other parts of the Magic this disappointing season, Vogel is what he is. And this roster seemed to highlight every single one of his weaknesses that the Pacers’ synergy could hide.

Pacers fans warned Vogel was often slow to change rotations and would stick with his original plan until there was nowhere else to go. They warned his offenses were unimaginative. Then there is the insistence on playing with two bigs — although Vogel would claim he and, in fact, can coach teams that play at a faster pace.

Vogel has shown plenty of adaptability throughout his coaching career, but he never could quite figure out how to make this team work.

Indeed, his insistence on sticking with the same lineups proved to be a death knell for the Magic.

Even as fans — and even Serge Ibaka — asked him to play Ibaka at center with Aaron Gordon at power forward, that lineup never came.

Vogel said he felt he had to use his best players and that it left him in a quandary trying to play Nikola Vucevic, Bismack Biyombo and Serge Ibaka their fair share of minutes. He also said he had to try the original plan until it reached its end, lest he lose his team’s confidence.

But that lack of experimentation when things were clearly not working was a frustrating development. Add on the slow pace Vogel changed his rotation from a 10-man to a nine-man rotation when it was clear his lineup needed some staggering and it was rough watching Vogel manage his team.

He did help improve some of the players defensively. Vucevic had his best defensive season of his career. And the team had that strong start to the season on the defensive end. But it did not last.

The league, it seemed, changed much quicker than Vogel and the Magic anticipated. Vogel never really could adjust and so he was left trying to play an old style in a new world.

That will change this offseason. He will really prove how much he can change to this new landscape and adapt. Not to mention fill in the needs for his team after this disappointing season.