Frank Vogel: Coach of the Year?

Phoenix, Arizona (Burn City Sports)

Frank Vogel is entering into his first season as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns. Vogel has over 10 seasons of head coaching experience in the NBA. He coached five plus seasons with the Indiana Pacers. Two years with the Orlando Magic and three seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Despite the Suns having very high expectations, Vogel is not a top favorite to win coach of the year. According to DraftKings, Vogel’s odds are at +1300 to win the award. The long time Pacers coach has the seventh best odds for the award. He is behind; Denver Nuggets coach, Mike Malone, Boston Celtics coach, Joe Mazzulla, and Miami Heat coach, Erik Spoelstra, who are all tied as the favorites with odds of +850.

Vogel is also behind, Philadelphia 76ers coach, Nick Nurse at +950. Milwaukee Bucks coach, Adrian Griffin at +1000 and Oklahoma City Thunder coach, Mark Daigneault at +1200. It makes total sense for Mike Malone and Erik Spoelstra to have the best odds to win coach of the year with their teams making it to the finals last season. After those two, Vogel should be next.

The coach will not get credit for how good the offense is, when you have Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and DeAndre Ayton on your team. So, where Vogel will have his impact is on the defensive end.

In seven of his ten full seasons as a head coach, Vogel’s teams have finished top ten in opponent points per game. Vogel’s teams have also finished top ten in defensive efficiency in all of those seasons as well. The Pacers were first in defensive rating in the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons. The Lakers were first in defensive rating in the 2020-21 season.

The veteran head coach’s defensive plans are still very effective. If the Suns have a top ten defense along with what most fans assume will be a top ten offense. There is no way Frank Vogel isn’t a top candidate for coach of the year.