Vogel Q and A interview with OrlandoMagic.com

[Knightro]

ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: You’ve never experienced many seasons like last year, making the playoffs five times in your six years in the NBA prior to coming to Orlando. How long did it take you to get over struggling and missing the playoffs?

COACH VOGEL: ``I still haven’t gotten over it. I don’t want to do that again and I’m not going to do that again. We’ve got to have a better year this year. The whole summer has been spent on the upcoming season and getting ready for the job that we have in front of us. I’m excited about it.’’

ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: You are someone who likes to watch a lot of film in the offseason. How much video did you watch of how the team played last season and also in preparation for the small-ball styles that are sweeping the NBA?

COACH VOGEL: ``I did a ton of film watching. That’s what most of the summer was spent doing – looking back at what we looked like in those final 24 games last season (after trading Serge Ibaka and switching to a smaller, quicker lineup). We looked for the areas where we can improve and pick up where we left off in terms of playing some of our best basketball with that style that we had at the end of the season.’’

ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: You are working with new leadership now in President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman and GM John Hammond. What have you learned about them and how much comfort does it give you that they have nearly 60 years of combined experience at the NBA level?

COACH VOGEL: ``They’ve got great experience and they’re going to be cautious and not make any decisions that aren’t well-thought-out and very thorough. They should really help us out in a lot of ways right away.’’

ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: Jeff Weltman has talked about wanting to create competition and depth at every position on the team. How improved do you think the team will be this season with the addition of scrappy veterans such as Jonathon Simmons, Aaron Afflalo, Marreese Speights and Shelvin Mack?

COACH VOGEL: ``We’ll see how much better we’ll be. Those guys have really good reputations around the NBA and that’s why they are here. Hopefully they will give us a really good boost with their experience and toughness.’’

ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: Elfrid Payton and Aaron Gordon are going into their fourth seasons and both still seemingly have loads of untapped potential. How much are you relying on the two of them to make a jump individually so that it can benefit the team?

COACH VOGEL: ``We’re sort of banking our season on getting improvement from within, so those are two of our core guys and two of our starters who need to take a big jump. I thought they both did that last year in terms of their improvement and we need them to make another big jump this year.’’

ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: Your schedule will be extremely difficult early in the season with 28 of the first 50 games on the road – the most in the NBA. How important will it be for the team’s new players and returning players to bond quickly and form chemistry to avoid a choppy start?

COACH VOGEL: ``I feel night and day better right now than I did at this time last year when I was trying to get used to a new coaching staff, input a new style of play and get used to 15 new guys. There’s just a familiarity factor that I have already that gives me a lot more confidence. Knowing that they are going to be familiar with me and what I expect of them, I really think that’s going to give us a big boost. All of the continuity that we will have with me here and a lot of the guys back, it will be great for us.’’

ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: How much easier does it make your job having veteran players such as Simmons, Afflalo, Mack and Speights – guys who are known for being fighters and fearless – to set the tone for the team?

COACH VOGEL: ``That should help a lot, but they’ve got to come in here and be that image here. They’ve got to come in and raise the bar for how things have been done around here.’’

ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: As a coach who has been known for years for having elite, hard-nosed defensive teams, last year was a huge disappointment for you in terms of the Magic’s struggles on that end of the floor. What has to happen for you guys to be better defensively this season?

COACH VOGEL: ``We’ve got to work a lot harder are guarding our own man. That’s where it all starts. A big emphasis this summer was to not just go out and get up shots, but work on your defense every day. It starts there and hopefully with the defensive scheme that we’re running, everyone should be on the same page on that end of the floor.’’

ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: How do you find minutes for and develop rookie Jonathan Isaac – someone who has shown signs already of being NBA ready – while still keeping the focus on winning and playing the best players available?

COACH VOGEL: ``He’s got to get experience. We’ve got to get him in there and he’s got to play and practice a lot. We want him to get a lot of reps and be a sponge. He needs to learn everything that we’re teaching him – both about the NBA game and what we’re doing here with the Magic. His ability to pick things up quickly will dictate a lot of his success.’’

ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: Mo Speights has never met a shot he didn’t like, but he can really pile up the points in a hurry. How nice will it be having a stretch-center who can come off the bench and give you reliable scoring every night from that reserve role?

COACH VOGEL: ``Last year he added the 3-point shot to his game and he was already one of the best spread-centers in the league. He definitely gives us an entirely different dynamic (with his perimeter shooting) than what we’ve had. And he has great experience having won a championship. He’ll be a welcomed addition around here.’’

ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: Jonathon Simmons was a standout in the playoffs last spring with the Spurs, locking down James Harden and scoring well while Kawhi Leonard was out. What have you learned about him so far and how much of a weapon will he be for you this season on both ends of the floor?

COACH VOGEL: ``We’re still getting to know Jonathon because I haven’t spent much time with him yet. I’ve talked to him on the phone because he’s been in Houston a lot with the hurricane stuff. We’ll know more about him as camp goes along, but I really like him.’’

ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: What areas specifically are looking for to see improvement from Gordon, Payton and Hezonja?

COACH VOGEL: ``They’re all different in terms of their individual growth, but they’ve got to show that they contribute to a winner – whatever that looks like. It might take shape in different forms on different nights, but that’s what they’ve got to do. The biggest jump those guys have to make is being able to consistently contribute to a winner.’’

ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: You said repeatedly last season that because of the reliance on small-ball and space-and-pace basketball you have to re-think how you teach the game. How much are you better prepared to play that style and combat it now that you have a team full of versatile wing players?

COACH VOGEL: ``We’re prepared for it, and I believe that we’re playing the right style for today’s NBA. I feel like we have the right bodies on the roster in terms of having lots of (shooting guards), (small forwards) and (power forwards). Now, the positions could be broken down almost into point guards, centers and wings and we’ve tried to build our roster in that fashion.’’

ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: You said all of last year that every team in the league should have the goal of making the playoffs. Do you see this team as currently constructed having the talent and leadership to reach the postseason?

COACH VOGEL: ``It can be (a playoff team), but we’ve got a lot to do and we’ve got our work cut out for us. We’ve got to have a lot of improvement from within. That’s what a lot of this season is going to be about because that’s the way we’re set up as an organization right now. We won 29 games last year, so it can’t be small improvements if we expect to make the playoffs. We’ve got to have some dramatic improvements.’’

http://www.nba.com/magic/news/frank-vogel-qa-20170921

[Knightro]

A few interesting nuggets in there. Vogel still mostly speaks in generalities over specifics, but there's a few things in there that I liked in regards to Isaac, Gordon and Payton specifically.

[Blue_and_Whte]

Good read. Thank your for posting it.
I get a sense that Vogel is in the same boat we are in terms of not knowing what to expect from Payton, AG, and Mario. But they could be a huge factor in our improvement. That line up we used last season was very effective and I'm hoping it'll carry over into this season.

[OrlandO]

Orlando Sentinel also did a Q&A....

Orlando Sentinel: You’re a few days from training camp. Are you ready? Are you excited?

Frank Vogel: Yes, we’re getting there. I’m doing a lot of film study this week with the coaching staff and formulating the plan of everything we’ve been talking about and thinking about all summer with the way our roster is shaped up. I’m excited to get going.

OS: What needs to change for the team to win more games?

Vogel: A lot of things. We did not have a good year last year. We have much of the same team back and we’ve got to have a lot of improvement from within. This is our task as a coaching staff: to develop these guys. It’s going to take a lot of hard work and a lot of sacrifice. But I do think we have the ability. I think we’re going to get a boost from the continuity of these guys getting to be in the same system for the second year in a row. But we’re going to have to really work hard to make a dramatic improvement.


OS: The whole league, not just the Magic, has to adjust to the explosion of offense. How will your team adjust?

Vogel: You just have to play to your strengths. You don’t have to try to be somebody else. But our team in particular really has to play with the pass and equal opportunity — everybody sharing the basketball. That’s how it’s got to be done.

OS: Defensively will there be any major adjustments?

Vogel: Well, we’ve got to get better individually. It starts there. We’ve got to get better at guarding our own position and guarding our own guy. You can have the greatest team in the world, and if you’re not doing a good enough job guarding your own guy, you’re not going to be very good. So it starts there. Some of the things we did schematically towards the second part of the season, I thought, paid dividends for us, especially with the way the league is playing with five 3-point shooters out there much of the time. And I think those things are going to help us going into this season.

OS: Are you referring to switching often on defense and playing smaller, with one traditional big as opposed to two?

Vogel: Yes. That’s the style of play that I think this group has to play. We will be doing a lot more switching. But what we’ve got to get good at is all the details that go into being good at switching and handling all the unintended consequences of a switching scheme. Those are the things that come up that take time to develop that we planted the seeds with last season, and we’ll continue this year.

OS: Are you referring to taking better angles and fighting through contract?

Vogel: Angles. When to double-team. Where the double-teams are going to come from when you have to double-team a mismatch. What your bigs are going to do when they’re switched out onto guards on the perimeter and how we’re going to bring help to those types of guys. Which actions you’re going to switch. There are 100 different actions. Some are switches and some are not, and you’ve got to get on the same page with those. These are all just things that we have to fine-tune.

OS: Am I hearing you correctly that, for the most part, you’re wedded to playing with one traditional big at a time?

Vogel: Yes, for the most part. We’re going to be flexible and look at everything. Ultimately, you have to have your best players on the floor. Obviously, we’re just going to see how it goes. I think on paper we’re going to try to commit to this style of play.


In this video, Jeff Weltman discusses why Stan Heath was hired as coach of the G League's Lakeland Magic

OS: The first regular-season game will be on the 18th as opposed to the 26th [like it was last season]. How will that affect your plans for the next month? You’ll have two fewer preseason games.

Vogel: It doesn’t really, to me, affect a lot. Your training camp is that first week leading up to the first preseason game. From that point forward, you’re just adding each day. You’ve got to have your bases covered on the defensive end in terms of all the actions you’re going to see, and then you just add offense at the right pace. If it’s a week less of time, then you have a week less of offensive versatility. But that’s fine. The good thing is we have a big group returning, and the system is going to be very similar to the way we finished the year last year.

OS: What do Jay Hernandez and Matt Hill [who were both recently promoted to assistant coach] bring to the table?

Vogel: I think they’re both very bright basketball minds and really, really exceptional at connecting with our players on the court with individual workouts and knowing when to push them and kick ’em in the butt and knowing when to give ’em a hug and knowing what direction that these guys need to take their games and the areas they need to work on. Obviously, Matt being in the video room [in the past] has an expertise with breaking the film down and the scouting that goes into being an assistant coach. And Jay got his feet wet last year and did an excellent job with scouting and preparation. He’s ready to take the next step as well.

OS: How do you plan to integrate [newly hired coaching consultant] Randy Wittman? What areas will he be contributing to?

Vogel: He’ll be for the most part an observer and an active participant in our meetings and someone that I’ll communicate with on a daily basis about what’s happening with our team and what we’re doing. I’ve asked him to just look at things a little bit from afar by not being on the bench and just kind of observing in practice. He’s going to write notes after each game: “Why did we do this? Why did we do that? I think we can do this. I think we can do that.” He’ll help me evaluate the performances of some of our players and just hopefully strengthen our decision-making process.

OS: Will he be in town, say, one week a month?

Vogel: That’s kind of the general blueprint. Nothing is fixed, really. He’s going to be around for most of the preseason. And once we get going, about a week per month, whether that’s on a road trip with us or a week here or whatever. And then he’ll watch every game, and we’ll talk on game days with him.

OS: Do you and Randy go back a little ways?

Vogel: We don’t, actually. We have a lot of common friends from our connections in Indiana. He, obviously, grew up in Indianapolis, played at IU and played for the Pacers for a little bit. So we have a lot of common friends and we share the same agent. And we’ve gotten to know each other through competing against each other. [When] you play a playoff series against another coach, you get to know him and how he thinks about everything. I have a great amount of respect for what he did as a head coach in Washington. So to be able to bring that experience and that set of eyes to our decision-making process is a big get for us.

[OrlandO]

Frank Vogel's magic word of the season is... "boost"

[rcklsscognition]

Surprised prayer wasn't mentioned more often as a strategy.

[ChosenSavior]

At least he doesn't sound so arrogant and appears to be humbled by the failures of last season so that's a good start.

[Bensational]

Nice. Vogel almost sounds a bit jaded from last year's veterans with his comments towards this year's new veteran unit. He's not anointing them as a guaranteed winning presence right out of the gate, which is good to hear. Let's see how it shakes out on the court.

I hope he's figured out how to get the defense in order. I don't remember our defense looking that crash hot in those final 24 games, but I wasn't watching with the keenest eye at that point.

The most interesting thing in those comments was Vogel referring to Speights as a "Spread" big. That's the same term that was used on the infamous Whiteboard. I wonder if Mo was on that list, too??

[Def Swami]

ORLANDOMAGIC.COM: Elfrid Payton and Aaron Gordon are going into their fourth seasons and both still seemingly have loads of untapped potential. How much are you relying on the two of them to make a jump individually so that it can benefit the team?

COACH VOGEL: ``We’re sort of banking our season on getting improvement from within, so those are two of our core guys and two of our starters who need to take a big jump. I thought they both did that last year in terms of their improvement and we need them to make another big jump this year.’’

Good luck with that.

[MagicStarwipe]

I have very little faith in Vogel after last seasons debacle.

[OrlandO]

The most interesting thing in those comments was Vogel referring to Speights as a "Spread" big. That's the same term that was used on the infamous Whiteboard. I wonder if Mo was on that list, too??

He was indeed on the whiteboard listed under "spread bigs trade"... https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?p=57807368#p57807368.

[Bensational]

The most interesting thing in those comments was Vogel referring to Speights as a "Spread" big. That's the same term that was used on the infamous Whiteboard. I wonder if Mo was on that list, too??

He was indeed on the whiteboard listed under "spread bigs trade"... https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?p=57807368#p57807368.

Interesting.

Next up, AG for Saric?

[Blue_and_Whte]

The most interesting thing in those comments was Vogel referring to Speights as a "Spread" big. That's the same term that was used on the infamous Whiteboard. I wonder if Mo was on that list, too??

He was indeed on the whiteboard listed under "spread bigs trade"... https://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?p=57807368#p57807368.

Interesting.

Next up, AG for Saric?

You never know. Especially if ji pans out.