By John Denton
Sept. 27, 2016
ORLANDO – Frank Vogel considers one of his greatest strengths as a head coach to be that he is a ``confidence-builder’’ among players and he often views the relationship between he and those on his team as a ``partnership.’’
Certainly, those are some of the traits that have made Vogel highly successful and someone who has always been beloved by his players over his 5 1/2-year stint as a head coach in the NBA.
But on Tuesday, as Vogel was nearing the end of his first practice as head coach of the Orlando Magic, all of those positive, feel-good vibes went out the window as the head coach observed some of the team’s players coasting through a drill that required all-out sprinting, precise passing and teamwork.
``We’re not jogging in this drill and we’re not jogging in our offensive basketball,’’ barked Vogel, after stopping the drill 20 seconds in to correct the speed and intensity.
When the Magic collectively failed to convert 82 sprinting, full-court, left-handed layups in the allowed two minutes, Vogel let loose with more pointed motivation.
``We need to play harder than every team that we play,’’ Vogel said with his voice rising with each syllable.
If Vogel was trying to send a message to his new team while simultaneously attempting to motivate the group, both seemed to work. Despite already being fatigued from a 2 ½-hour practice and failing on the first sprint test, the Magic’s players hustled their way to the desired goal the next time around. With that accomplished, Vogel wrapped up his first session as Orlando’s new leader.
``You’ve got to be perfect to achieve that drill and you’ve got to run hard,’’ Vogel said later about getting onto his team in the conditioning/fastbreak drill. ``Guys all think that they are running hard, but they really do have another gear. You’ve got to challenge them to find that gear. That’s the speed that we want to play at and we don’t want to be a jog-it-up team.’’
Those messages were made explicitly clear by Vogel in a team dinner on Monday night, again in a pre-practice meeting on Tuesday morning and also in the first practice of training camp. Vogel, who is directing the Magic now following a successful run in Indiana previously, mixed in supportive and motivational messages, sharp critiques and humorous jokes. That style seemed to go over well with both players returning to the Magic and the ones in their first practice in Orlando.
``He’s not loud, but he speaks up and he explains everything well – which is important so that we know everything so that there’s no confusion,’’ said Magic center Nikola Vucevic, who is playing for his fourth coach in the past three years in Orlando. ``(Vogel) does joke around and bring the positive energy, which is good because practices can be long and guys get tired. If your day isn’t going as you want and Coach throws a joke in here and there, I think it helps. It helps with the team chemistry with everybody laughing. As long as Coach says what he wants and we listen, then it’s all good.’’
Tuesday’s opening session was also the first official Magic practice for newcomers Serge Ibaka, Bismack Biyombo, Jeff Green, D.J. Augustin, C.J. Wilcox and rookie Stephen Zimmerman. Six other training camp invitees were also going through drills for the first time with the Magic, adding to the newness of the team following a busy offseason.
GM Rob Hennigan, the architect of the Magic’s revamped roster, feels that Vogel is the perfect coach to help the team quickly establish chemistry and togetherness because of his mastery of mixing motivation and accountability.
``Frank’s approach is very genuine and he really believes in not only coaching, but at the same time connecting with the player,’’ said Hennigan, who worked quickly back in May to secure Vogel’s services as he was being courted by four other NBA teams. ``His approach is to treat guys not only with respect, but to treat it like a collaboration. It’s like, `How are we going to get this done collectively?’ I think our guys will really respond to that approach.’’
The only negative from the first practice was starting point guard Elfrid Payton straining a hip flexor muscle as he fought to get over a screen during scrimmaging. Payton joined Aaron Gordon (mild sprained ankle) and Jodie Meeks (foot surgery) on the sidelines for the second half of the first session.
Ibaka and Biyombo, Orlando’s key offseason additions, said they had always admired Vogel’s supportive coaching methods and his brand of smash-mouth basketball from afar and Tuesday offered them a first chance to experience it with Vogel as their coach. A big reason why Vogel wants the Magic to sprint on the fastbreak and look to run every chance that they get is because of the athleticism of the two new big men. If Ibaka and Biyombo can outrun their counterparts down the floor it can lead to more easy looks and dunks for an Orlando team that has question marks about its ability to score enough points.
``It’s going to be a great opportunity for us, especially when Serge and I are on the floor because we can both run and we can both guard smalls,’’ Biyombo said. ``It’s going to be hard for teams to go small on us and we have to take advantage of situations. Going into training camp the coaches are emphasizing taking advantage of our abilities and the advantages that we have so that we can run the floor.’’
Added Ibaka: ``We’re going to play faster. That’s what (Vogel) wants and that’s why he’s key for us. We have bigs who can run the floor so have to use that.’’
Vogel was so dialed into the mechanics of the first practice that he said he never really allowed himself to stop and reflect on this being the start of a new chapter in his coaching career. Instead, Vogel said there is far too much to do in terms of building chemistry, installing the offensive and defensive principles and motivating the players to allow himself to be sentimental about an individual topic.
Still, Vogel oozed confidence and optimism as he discusses the prospects of his squad this season.
``It was a good day and I think everybody here sees what we can be,’’ Vogel said of the excitement already coursing through the team. ``I think there’s a healthy belief that this is going to be a good year for us.’’
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