Sad News: Frank Vogel announcements that he is leaving the Vikings now present another significant issues for the team…
The Phoenix Suns fired frank Vogel on Saturday, two years after reaching the NBA finals and a year after he was the overwhelming choice as the coach of the year, two people with knowledge of the decision said.
The people spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the decision.
Frank Vogel won 63% of his games throughout his four successful regular seasons in Phoenix. However, the Suns’ three years of postseason anguish was probably too much to bear, especially considering that for the previous two years, Phoenix had trailed by 30 points at the half in home elimination games.
The decision was initially reported by ESPN and The Athletic
The Suns had a 2-0 lead in the 2021 NBA finals, only to lose in six games. They lost in the second round in each of the last two seasons, both times in an embarrassing finale – last year to Dallas, this year to Denver.
“Neither day feels good,” Vogel said after the loss earlier this week to Denver, when asked to compare last season’s debacle to this year’s season-ending loss.
The Suns now become yet another high-profile coaching opening, after Toronto fired Nick Nurse and Milwaukee fired Mike Budenholzer. Nurse won the 2019 NBA title with the Raptors, while Budenholzer was the coach who overcame Phoenix’s 2-0 lead in the 2021 finals.
In the 2021 NBA Finals, the Suns led 2-0 but ultimately lost in six games. They have now fallen in the second round in each of the previous two seasons, falling to Denver this year and Dallas last year in humiliating finales.
When asked to compare the disaster from the previous season to the season-ending defeat this year, Vogel responded, “Neither day feels good,” following the Denver loss earlier this week.
It probably didn’t feel nice on Saturday either.
The Suns have emerged as yet another prominent coaching vacancy following the firings of Mike Budenholzer by Milwaukee and Nick Nurse by Toronto. In the 2021 NBA Finals, Budenholzer was the coach who overcame Phoenix’s 2-0 lead, while Nurse won the 2019 NBA title with the Raptors.
It’s the second major decision made by new Suns owner Mat Ishbia in about three months since the closing of the sale that gave him control of the club. In February, Ishbia green-lighted a blockbuster trade that brought Kevin Durant to Phoenix and gave the Suns a core – him, Devin Booker, former No 1 pick Deandre Ayton and Chris Paul – that the team hoped would be enough to deliver a title.
It just didn’t work, at least, not this year. Paul got hurt in the playoffs to continue his run of bad luck on the health front in the postseason, Ayton sat out the finale and Booker and Durant simply looked gassed by the time it was over.
Vogel, after the season ended, blamed himself.
“I take that personally, not having our team ready to play in the biggest game of the year,” Vogel said. “That’s something that I pride myself on and it just didn’t happen. … That’s something I have to take a deep look at, everything I’m doing.
Ishbia clearly took a deep look as well, and decided to make the change.
