NBA Rumors: Pacers President Larry Bird Preempts Uncertain Future for Team Coach Frank Vogel

By Jenn Loro - 03 May '16 12:56PM

Indiana Pacers pulled off some surprises up their sleeves as they pushed the Toronto Raptors to a make-or-break Game 7 of their first round playoffs. Team President Larry Bird hoped for a comeback not just into the playoffs and semis but also into the championship if they could make it past the eliminations. But the Pacers fell short of burying down the Raptors with scores forcing them to exit from the conference playoffs.

Now the big question looming on everyone's mind is whether Frank Vogel will be allowed to coach the team once more as the franchise tries another shot at nabbing a good 2016-17 comeback. So far, Bird hasn't quite figured out yet what to do with him when Vogel's contract expires in the offseason.

While Indiana did make it to the playoffs, scoring remains a terrible issue that Bird has to deal with following their playoff elimination.

"I don't know what's going to happen. What I don't want to do is leave Frank hanging - there's other jobs out there he could get," Bird candidly remarked as quoted by Indianapolis Star.

The team exec hasn't provided any definite timeline for any change of roster, particularly on the coaching position, as he intends to meet up with Pacers owner Herb Simon before coming up with a decision on Vogel's fate. But his statement's undertone hints at axing Vogel from his job.

"We need to score more points. If Frank comes back, what can we do to get better offense? It's on all of us. Frank's a great guy. He's going to be fine no matter what happens. If he's back, he'll be fine here. If he's not, he's not. We'll see," Bird said as per ESPN report.

In the regular season, the franchise scored an average 102.2 points per game- a 17th in the league. In the postseason, however, the team was at 12th out of 16 teams with an average of 93.7 points per game.

As per LarryBrownSports, Vogel served as temporary coach for the Pacers after Jim O'Brien's departure back in the 2010-11 season. From that time forward, he led the team to post a 250-181 regular season record, 31-30 in the playoffs plus a number of postseason appearances in five in the last six years.