After the abrupt resignation of Scott Skiles from the Orlando Magic Head Coaching position, the Magic were in desperate straights to find a new man for the job.  Also surprising was the Indiana Pacers decision to not re-sign their Head Coach Frank Vogel.  Vogel, a graduate of Wildwood High School, compiled a 250-181 record while coaching the Pacers over five plus seasons.  During that time Vogel led Indiana to two Eastern Conference Finals appearances and the team reached the postseason four out of five full seasons.

On Friday the Orlando Magic formally announced that Frank Vogel will be their next Head Coach.  Also on Friday Alex Kennedy of BasketballInsiders.com was a guest on The Sports Bash and explained why Vogel is such a good fit in Orlando:

"In Orlando they have a ton of young players that love to defend, when you talk about Victor Oladipo, Elfrid Peyton, Aaron Gordon, these are guys that were drafted because they are excellent defenders....I talked a few different Magic players, guys like Elfrid Peyton and TJ Washington, who played with Vogel in Indiana, and those guys are so excited, they know he is really going to help this team. Honestly when I look at it I think that he is an upgrade over Scott Skiles. Initially when Skiles decided to back out and resign from the job after a number of coaches were already hired, it looked like it was going to be really bad for Orlando but I think it was a blessing in disguise...."

Indiana Pacers v Cleveland Cavaliers
Photo by Rocky Widner/Getty Images
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"There were reports that around January Scott Skiles started to have second thoughts about the job and doubted if he wanted to be there long term. And actually at that time they started struggling so i don't know if there was a correlation between him wanting to leave the job and the Magic struggling. I do think that with his style he yells at guys and sometimes that can have him lose the locker room. It happened in Milwaukee, it happened in Chicago, that's been something that he is known for. Whereas Frank Vogel is someone that is a 'Player's Coach', guys love playing for him, you still have players rave about him. I think that could be a good fit in Orlando as well because these young guys, it's one thing to have a disciplinarian and learn from him, but you don't want them to turn on the coach either. I think having a guy that is going to push them on defense while also be a Player's Coach and while these guys are gonna unite and want to play for him, I think that's important as well."

Checkout why Kennedy says the Sixers should draft Brandon Ingram along with why the 76ers should not trade away Jahlil Okafor and hear his analysis of the Cavs vs Raptors and Warriors vs Thunder playoff series

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