Frank Vogel looks as good as gone, just 2 years after leading the Los Angeles Lakers to the NBA championship. Since the news of Vogel’s expected departure came out, several further reports about how he has lost the faith of the players, some of whom used to text during games, have emerged. And it’s sadly become evident that the stars of the team no longer want to listen to what direction Vogel wants to take them in.
Throughout his career in the NBA, Vogel has been known as a defensive coach, someone who makes his teams tough to score against and beat. However, the Lakers this season were anything but that, and that might be thanks to the fact that the roster had several veteran players that needed to be played who perhaps no longer have the energy to fully commit on both ends of the floor.
In their last game of the season, when the Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets, Vogel was able to play a lineup filled with the roster’s younger players, and it seemingly paid dividends on the defensive end, with Vogel’s post-match comments praising his team but also seemingly throwing shade at some of the older stars and regulars (via MSN).
“Team win. Eight guys in double figures. We finally guarded!”
Signs of this have been showing all season, especially between Vogel and Russell Westbrook, with Frank recently throwing Russ under the bus as well. The Lakers managed to end the season without hitting the 50 losses mark though, so there is some understanding that it could have been worse.
Even if Vogel is to leave, playing guys like Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook, and Dwight Howard for extended minutes is never going to be conducive to great defense, even LeBron gives up on plays from time to time. Beyond moving on from their coach, the Lakers have quite a few things to figure out ahead of next season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VVzD7g8NNE
