RealGM

I just noticed this in a set of Truehoop bullets.

•NBA coaches or employees can't have any contact with players. Got to believe that's a major boon for unemployed coaches (right this way, Larry Brown!) and unaffiliated private trainers and the like. Serious players will be seeking out serious help.

I had always assumed the reason that Vogel wasn't already signed was because there was no point in paying a coach during the lockout. However, maybe we're taking advantage of this as well since Frank is free to work with the players if he'd like and if they sought him out. It's a little shady, but it will be interesting to see if stories come along about players meeting with Vogel during the lockout. Hopefully, this isn't eventually viewed as rule bending if we sign him as expected.

Yeah, I was wondering about the possibility of him being able to be in contact with the players, but Mike Wells tweeted this the other day:

For those who have asked, Vogel can NOT lead any type of workout with the players even though he's officially not under contract with Pacers

http://twitter.com/#!/MikeWellsNBA/stat ... 4359967744

I'm not exactly sure why it's not allowed, or if in fact that's the case, but from the sounds of things he'd be wise not to.

there are similar rumors with the Colts and Tom Moore. I doubt either is true but it would be nice.

In regards to how Bird has handled coaching changes in the past, we cannot put anything past him.

The longer this drags on, the less sense it makes to me as to why it was so important to announce that we had hired our lead assistant, and not our head coach. This might be the 1st time in the history of the league that a team announced the hiring of a lead assistant, before the coach. It makes me think that our lead assistant, might actually be our head coach before it is all said and done.

Another point is that after Dallas won the championship, Bird was quoted as saying something to the effect of getting Carlisle to come back to Indiana to finish what he started. It might have been in fun, but it's not exactly a vote of confidence towards Vogel either.

I am starting to wonder wtf is going on, and now that the lockout has paused all activity, it's like intercourse w/o the climax. It's a serious problem.

I don't like having coaching blue balls.

But on the bright side, Shaw would be a pretty good head coach, I think.

Perhaps Bird is holding out for the possibility of netting a specific coach? Maybe one of great experience yet doesn't have a job lined up yet?

why not just take Bird at his word? he's said he sees no hurry to sign a coach and that's true as long as Vogel is the man so there is no risk of losing him and the players are locked out so there is no summer coaching to be done. he also says there were locker room issues that he wasn't happy with and that he wants the new coaching staff to be able to fix them hence the concern about a experienced former player joining the staff. that's Shaw but you don't hire a lead assistant without the head coach's approval. my bet at this point is that we'll see Vogel hired before we have labor piece.