Orlando Magic: 5 takeaways from 2017-18 NBA season
By Luke Duffy
5. Head coach Frank Vogel was disappointing
Heading into the season, the Magic were safe in the knowledge that they at least had a competent head coach in Frank Vogel.
His first season with the team hadn’t gone particularly well, but a revamped roster and continuity through him coaching the team were supposed to be difference-makers for the team.
He was anything but the right man. In fact, it became abundantly clear as the regular season went on that Vogel was not really helping this team in any way. Being stuck with players like Bismack Biyombo to try and fit into the rotation is a thankless task, but the Magic failed to make any sort of leap defensively.
The Magic’s defense has been a disaster since Frank Vogel took over. Defense is Vogel’s calling card. That says something big and bad about Vogel, this roster, or both.
— Cigamodnalro (@cigamodnalro) March 23, 2018
This was expected when Vogel came onboard, and it only got worse. Offensively, they had a nice early season peak before trailing off here too.
Some of the rotations were puzzling, as was failing to really take advantage of the clear positives players like Khem Birch were bringing to the team.
According to ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Magic have decided to dismiss Vogel. Giving him one more chance next season with yet another new iteration of this team was an option, but it appears the Orlando front office was ready for change now.