2017-18 Orlando Magic Player Evaluations: Frank Vogel

The Orlando Magic decided to move on from Frank Vogel. He was put in a no-win situation, but he still struggled to get the most from his team.

The Orlando Magic put the dominos in motion for their busy offseason the day after the season. Firing Frank Vogel was a move many predicted was coming for a long time with this team.

It had to be a thought after the team started 8-4 and won just 17 games the rest of the way. A total of 54 wins in two seasons with a team the Magic, at least, believed was close to the Playoffs will raise questions.

The belief the Magic would be competitive probably drove that decision. The desire to start over probably drove that decision. The Magic’s need to get something different from the bench probably contributed to that final decision.

Fans are still debating whether firing Vogel was the right call. There are good arguments for both sides.

The record was bad on one hand — and the statistics were not much better. But on the other, the team has seemingly been lost because of its instability at head coach. The Magic are now searching for their fifth coach in seven years. That is not exactly inspiring anyone to believe in the team’s growth and development.

Orlando is trying to start from scratch. Vogel was a casualty.

So how do we analyze the job Vogel did in his two years with the Magic, and specifically this past season with Orlando? How much of the blame for the team’s disastrous season falls on his feet and how much falls on a roster that had reached its dead end?

There were signs of some progress for Vogel and his team. The Magic got off to that hot 8-4 start, sharing the ball. Vogel’s hopes in modernizing the team’s offense were largely successful. So long as the team moved and passed it, they could create good shots, even without a great one-on-one player.

The team’s defense was solid at that point, but not without flaws. Flaws Vogel was quick to point out. But the team’s effort and intensity was there and that made up for many of those shortcomings.

But Vogel’s flaws were apparent. And this was a team that quickly exposed all those flaws. The very same flaws that plagued him when he was with the Indiana Pacers.

With the Pacers, he often was criticized for his unimaginative and stagnant offenses. He also got hit with his stubbornness with his rotations and his slow speed to adjust when things were going wrong.

All that was present. And the Magic’s lack of talent — where are you Paul George to save the day? — only made those weaknesses clearer.

Orlando’s season was losing steam and going off the rails. Yet, Vogel stuck to the same rotation with few adjustments. He never tried to mix things up or experiment with lineups. he was slow even to unleash the young players on his roster.

It is not like he had a ton of options to choose from throughout the year. The roster was devoid of talent and injuries further limited what he could do and where he could go. It still felt like he could do more. Or the players could give him more.

The final results statistically were not that great either. The Magic finished 25th in offensive rating with 102.8 points per 100 possessions. They then finished 19th in defensive rating with 107.7 points allowed per 100 possessions. That defensive finish was boosted by a strong end to the year — but even that has its reasons for doubt.

Vogel came to Orlando as a defensive coach. The defense never really took hold. And the team never really grabbed that identity.

And the Magic had some frustrating and puzzling efforts. The team fell off a cliff and never could right itself. Injuries are part of the problem, but Vogel did not get the team to play hard. Remember, effort goes a long way to overcome a team’s shortcomings. Eventually, it felt like the team tuned him out.

To Vogel’s credit, he kept up his spirits and did all he could. Years of losing have worn thin on this team. It was easy to see the team tearing apart. And the inability to play hard every night is as much an indictment on the players as it is the coach.

It all seems like there was no reason to keep Vogel. He was the wrong coach for this team whose flaws were exposed.

Vogel might have been the right coach for a team truly on the precipice of making the Playoffs. This was not that team. This team was more of a rebuilding team. And they needed someone who could develop them.

Then again, this team had few guys who needed to develop. Most of the players on the team are past their rookie contracts and are about what they are going to be for the rest of their careers.

It was encouraging to see Aaron Gordon take the leap he took as a player. It was even more encouraging to see Mario Hezonja turn himself into a useful player. That is a credit to their hard work. Can the coaching staff get credit for it too?

That is the part that is hardest to figure. So much is hard to figure out when analyzing the season Vogel had.

He both seemingly held the team back and was a victim of the team’s shortcomings. He gets credit for continuing the young player’s development… but how much of that improvement translated to what matters — winning?

That was the contradiction of Vogel’s season. And that uncertainty likely led to the final conclusion that Orlando needed to move on and find a coach they truly believe in.

In the end, Frank Vogel was not the right coach for this team. Then again, it is hard to find the right coach for any team that seemingly does not have a clear direction.

Was this team going for the Playoffs? Vogel did not get them to play hard together for long enough, sticking together through the injuries, to compete for a Playoff spot. If wins really mattered then finishing with the fifth-worst record in the league is clearly a failure.

Was this team trying to develop players? Sure. Several young players took steps forward — including Aaron Gordon, Mario Hezonja and Evan Fournier. But no one is pretending that group works together as a long-term core either. And if that is the case, what good is continuity?

There was something to say for the continuity with Vogel. The Magic started off fast and Vogel deserves every bit of credit for that. Players still lauded him for his positivity and his work with the team throughout the year as they exited Amway Center for the final time.

But that is not enough. Quite simply, that is not enough.

It was clear the Magic lacked a little bit of an edge. Their coach could not get them to reach deeper especially when they fit adversity.

Vogel’s style and his system had quickly become dated. He spent the end of last season modernizing the offense. He spent this season reshaping his defensive principles. And none of it worked with the Magic.

Orlando had a chicken or an egg problem. Its roster was topped off about as far as it could go. Probably no coach could do a whole lot more with this roster than Vogel did this year.

And yet, there was the sinking suspicion that Vogel was not getting all he could.

Next: Orlando Magic 2017-18 4th Quarter MVP: D.J. Augustin

That little bit of doubt is why the Magic opted to move on. It was always a no-win situation for him and now he has his release into the coaching wilds.