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Wednesday the Pacers fulfilled the wishes of their players and fans by promoting interim coach Frank Vogel to head coach. The deal is for two years with a team option for a third.

Vogel is only 38, but he’s already been a Division III player at Juniata College, Kentucky Wildcats and Boston Celtics video coordinator, a scout, an assistant coach for the Celtics, 76ers and Pacers, and best of all, as a 13-year-old he was featured in a “Stupid Human Trick” on “Late Night with David Letterman” spinning a basketball on a toothbrush handle while using the other end to clean his teeth.

It’s not a traditional path to an NBA head-coaching position, nor is it dissimilar to that of Lawrence Frank, another New Jersey native who drew the attention of an established coach (Rick Pitino in Vogel’s case, Bobby Knight in Frank’s) before eventually climbing to the top of the coaching ladder. Like Frank, Vogel got off to a hot start as an interim coach and parlayed that into a playoff berth. And, also like Frank, he was able to turn a bitter team—several Pacers players complained about the Pacers’ communication under former coach Jim O’Brien—into a positive one.

After a critical win over Milwaukee back in February, Pacers point guard Darren Collison couldn’t help attribute the team’s success to Vogel’s influence.

“I think he’s making it easier for us to play more to our strengths,” Collison told the Associated Press. “For myself, he’s making it easier for me to get to the paint and create for myself and others. For Danny, he’s making it easier for him to get better shots. And Roy Hibbert, he’s keeping him at the blocks. He’s just simplifying everything for us.”

But Vogel was too humble to accept such praise, adding, “Our guys are starting to understand how good they are.”

He was right. Before the All-Star break, the team struggled to find a scoring complement to Danny Granger, partly because of injuries to Tyler Hansbrough, but also because there wasn’t much rhythm to an offense that was forcing up too many 3-pointers. After the All-Star break Hansbrough became a bigger part of the offense, averaging 15.3 PPG, and, because of their new interior threat, Indiana was able to reduce its 3-point attempts from 21.8 per game to 16.9 per game. Since they were attacking the hoop more frequently, the Pacers attempted 4.5 more free throw attempts per game after the All-Star break, which explains the small bump in their points per shot average (1.20 before, 1.22 after).

So what exactly took team president Larry Bird so long to choose Vogel?

“As I stated after the season, I was in no hurry regarding [hiring] the coach, mainly because I knew I had a good candidate in Frank,” Bird said at Wednesday’s press conference, as quoted by Sean Deveney of Sporting News. “But we wanted to get through the draft, and I wanted to have numerous conversations with Frank about a staff that will cover all areas. I feel strongly he is doing that, and this coaching staff, as a whole, will help this franchise continue to move forward.”

As you may already know, former Lakers assistant Brian Shaw will be an assistant on Vogel’s staff, and a possible threat to Vogel’s job security should the Pacers falter. But considering he pushed Indiana to a 20-18 record as an interim coach, Vogel could be poised for more success after the promotion.

“We took a huge step as a team and a franchise, but we’re not satisfied by any stretch,” Vogel said. “There’s a fearlessness about this team that’s exciting to be a part of. It’s going to be fun and exciting going forward. This is the new Pacers and we shoot for the moon. We dream big and work our tails off to reach those dreams.”

NBA Posts Response to Times

As Lang Greene mentioned in the NBA AM, the league responded to Nate Silver’s blog post for The New York Times, which raised doubts over the league’s perceived financial losses. Silver has acknowledged that he, “simply [has] no way to adjudicate the NBA’s claims.”

Anyway, if you’d like to read the rebuttal, here it is.

(Update: This wasn’t covered previously, but deserves some attention)

Following New York Times writer Nate Silver’s blog post titled “Calling Foul on NBA’s Claim of Financial Distress” and the subsequent reaction from the league, the NBA players’ association insists it has yet to be presented with accurate financial records.

Union spokesman Dan Wasserman told the AP’s Brian Mahoney that the NBA is using inaccurate projections in its accounting.

“In 2009-10, the NBA repeatedly offered projections that league revenues would decline as much as five percent, or $180 million while also projecting losses of $370 million,” Wasserman said. “Revenues were actually up in ’09-10 and the revenue projections were off by as much as $200 million. Yet, the loss figures were only adjusted by $30 million. So yes, we feel there is more than adequate bases for question their projections and financials.”

Mahoney points out that the league predicted a diminished salary cap for this past season—”as low as $50.4 million”—but the league surprised everyone and set the cap at $58 million because it earned more than the projections.

RIP Armen Gilliam

Former UNLV and NBA star Armen “Hammer” Gilliam died of a heart attack near Pittsburgh, WTAE-TV reported Wednesday. Gilliam, 47, reportedly collapsed during a pickup game and was rushed to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

After beginning his collegiate career at Independence Junior College in Kansas, the 6-9 power forward transferred to UNLV where he helped the Running Rebels pull off a 93-11 record over three seasons. In 1986 he played with David Robinson, Kenny Smith and Derrick McKey on the USA Basketball team that shocked Arvydas Sabonis, Valeri Tikhonenko and the heavily favored USSR squad at the World Championships. In 1987 Gilliam was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team and he set the school’s all-time scoring mark with 998 points in one season.

“He was one of the greatest Rebels ever and one of the best players we ever had,” former UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian said it a statement released by the school. “He was such a great person. Everybody loved him and he loved everybody. He was such a gentle person and such a caring guy. I am all shook up over it. I think the world of him and am just really shocked.”

In June of 1987 Gilliam was selected by the Suns with the second overall pick in the NBA Draft—a class that included David Robinson, Scottie Pippen, Smith, Kevin Johnson, Olden Polynice, McKey, Horace Grant, Reggie Miller, Muggsy Bogues, Mark Jackson, Reggie Lewis and Sarunas Marciulionius.

Gilliam played for the Suns, Hornets, 76ers, Nets, Bucks and Jazz during his 14-year career and retired from the game with lifetime marks of 13.7 PPG and 6.9 RPG. He also had coaching stints at Penn State McKeesport, Penn State Altoona and later became a player-coach for the Pittsburgh Xplosion of the ABA in 2005.

{AUTHOR_BOX}NBA Paying Fans?

Unsure about buying NBA tickets in advance? Well the league is promising to reimburse fans if games are lost to the lockout and that’s not all. Fans could even earn some interest.

“Season ticket-holders’ investments with teams are completely protected,” NBA senior vice president of marketing and communications Mike Bass told Craig Davis of The South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “The league-wide policy is that in the unfortunate event of missed games, all season ticket-holders have the option to receive a refund plus interest on a month basis for all missed games.”

That should come as a great relief to HEAT fans, who have already bought out the season tickets for 2011-2012. Some fans selected a Loyalty Renewal option, which means they can roll over their investment for a five percent payback on the value of their seats for any games missed. If fans, instead, choose to be reimbursed, they will get a refund and interest, which is based on the market rates for the canceled games.

“HEAT season ticker-holders (sic) indicated that discounts on playoff tickets and interest payments on any future unplayed games were the two most important renewal drivers this year, and so we crafted our renewal campaign accordingly,” HEAT president of business operations Eric Woolworth said.

Could Gallinari Play in Europe?

Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari admitted to to Il Cittadino that he would consider playing in Europe if the lockout lasted more than half a season.

“I did not think about my future yet,” he said, according to a translation by Sportando.com. “It is very hard to understand what is going to happen in three, four months from now. For sure, the season will start later than normal and I have to keep myself in shape. But I really don’t want to practice without playing for four months. I am suporting the NBPA: it is right to discuss and renegotiate the contract but I am not so convinced by the words of (commissioner) David Stern about the losses [the] NBA had in the last years.

“I did not have any contact with any team so far and I really don’t know if I can play in Europe even if I am under contract with an NBA franchise.”

Gallinari’s former coach, Olimpia Milano’s Sergio Scariolo said he doesn’t want anyone on his team who would leave during the season to re-join the NBA—a statement Gallinari said he supports.

Lockout, Eh?

The National Basketball League of Canada has invited locked out NBA stars to go north if the work stoppage continues, according to CBC News.

“What a great opportunity for NBA players,” league president Andre Levingston said in a press release. “NBL Canada can provide them with highly competitive play in professional arenas with great fan bases, while still being relatively close to home.

“I am confident that the NBL Canada can give NBA players and environment that will help keep their skills sharp and maintain their physical conditioning until the NBA resumes,” former Nuggets coach and current Halifax Rainmen coach Mike Evans said.

While the league might offer a nice distraction from the lockout, it’s struggling to be taken seriously. Three teams came from the Premier Basketball League, after complaints over officiating, and four more Canadian cities are in negotiations for a team.

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