Fansided

NBA Free Agency 2017: 5 reasons the Indiana Pacers are better off without Larry Bird

By Akash Anavarathan

May 16, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird speaks to the press during a press conference at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
May 16, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird speaks to the press during a press conference at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 5
Next
orlando magic
Mar 31, 2017; Boston, MA, USA; Orlando Magic head coach Frank Vogel reacts during the second half against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports /

3. The firing of Frank Vogel

Just after the 2015-16 season had ended, Larry Bird had to make one of his most important decisions. For the past few years under head coach Frank Vogel, the Pacers had become a tough-minded, defensive basketball team that took pride on that end of the floor.

But they didn’t have anything to show for it, in terms of championships and their offense hadn’t been able to live up to the defense. Bird decided that he was going to shake up the direction of his franchise and push them in a more offensive direction. At this time, this was a surprising move.

Vogel was one of the best young coaches in the NBA, who had been with the team since the 2010-11 season. In three of his first four seasons, Vogel led the Pacers to at least the Eastern Conference Semifinals. But in each of those years, they ran into LeBron James and the Heat and were dethroned by a better team.

The ex-Pacers’ coach led one of the top defenses during his tenure in Indiana, even though the offense often lagged. But with the given personnel, primarily defensive guys, Vogel worked his magic. Inexplicably, he was let go after the 2015-16 season when the Pacers finished 45-37. One of Bird’s biggest mistakes was that he didn’t fix the roster to Vogel’s needs, but rather wanted to fix the coach to match the roster. Bird decided to go the offensive route, hiring Nate McMillan.

McMillan was promoted from the role of assistant to be the Pacers’ new head coach. Per Larry Bird, his role was to fix the offense and get the Pacers moving forward in the right direction. In his first season, Indiana’s offense was ranked 15th, which was a step up from the 22nd ranking a year ago. But on the defensive side, Indiana was third in 2015-16, while they ranked 15th this past season under McMillan. Regardless of the rankings, their win total dropped off from 45 wins to 42 wins this past season.

Although Bird wanted to push in another direction, it still led to the same result, 40-something wins and a first-round exit. At least with Frank Vogel, the defense was elite and strong defenses can win you games in April, May and June.

A head-scratching move from a year ago, will add to this list of why the Pacers might be better off with Larry Bird.

Home/Indiana Pacers