Larry Bird is pledging his unwavering support for coach Frank Vogel, even though the Indiana Pacers are in the midst of a 9-9 stretch that still could cost them the Eastern Conference's No.1 seed to the defending champion Miami Heat.
I back Frank 100 percent," team president Bird told ProBasketballTalk.com. "There was some things early on this season, like I said, I went to him and told him that we needed to clean everything up."
Recent rumors had the Hall of Fame Bird replacing his still emerging, young coach on the Pacers' sideline as the team once with the league's best overall record has struggled mightily over the last several weeks.
At one point, even Bird felt compelled to rip his team with the stern assessment "a lot of time we don't take the fight to them. A lot of times we sit back and and see how it goes. And that was the case even when we were winning a lot of games early in the season. We've got to be mentally prepared to really go after the teams we're playing. We can't have the mindset it's just another game; it's a very important game. All of them are."
Indiana Pacers reeling,pointing fingers
With a game remaining, the Pacers led LeBron James and the Heat by 1/2 game for the division crown.
Think Frank Vogel should remain as Pacers coach? "Tell us @SportsWN"
© 2023 Sportsworldnews.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
