Right or wrong, a lot of blame falls on the Head Coach when things go south for a team. The Indiana Pacers have been entertaining but the unsteady play, off the court issues, and team fights could have Frank Vogel coaching for his job in the playoffs:
Sources close to the situation told ESPN.com that Vogel, despite a 56-win season that secured the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, is “coaching for his job” in the wake of Indiana’s alarming slide that has stretched into its third month.
Following Indiana’s 101-85 triumph over Atlanta in Game 2 of the teams’ first-round series, sources told ESPN.com that coming back to win the series against the Hawks would not automatically ensure Vogel’s safety. After a 40-11 start, the Pacers went just 16-15 the rest of the way before a humbling loss in the series opener against the eighth-seeded Hawks.
I would argue that Vogel has coached through a mentally weak team and guided them to 56 wins and a #1 seed. Can Vogel make Roy Hibbert get a rebound or score some points? Can Vogel get Paul George to stopped getting catfished or visiting Miami? He might be able to stop the fights on the team but I digress. This debacle falls on the players to me, but it can all be fixed with a deep playoff run.