During his post-season presser on Tuesday, Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel talked about the inevitable departure of associate head coach Brian Shaw. After joking that Shaw was nowhere near ready to be a head coach and needed at least one more year with the Pacers, Vogel went on to lay out an impressive endorsement of his right-hand man.
"Honestly, I'd be shocked if he does come back," Vogel said. "I'm actually shocked he's not a head coach already. He's got it all. He's going to be one of the top five head coaches in the NBA for the next 10 years when he finally gets his shot. There's not a doubt in my mind that's going to happen.
"I had high expectations for him coming in and he flat-out blew me away and exceeded those expectations much like our team did with everything he does. He has no weaknesses to him at all in terms of being ready to be a head coach -- end-of-game situations, managing players, Xs and Os throughout the games, adjustments, substitution patterns, prep work in the film room. He's a workaholic. He's got some of that Phil Jackson swagger that helped us this year, that confidence and arrogance that Phil had that helped him have his teams overachieve every year. Brian's got all that."
That pretty much covers it, doesn't it? Any fans in Charlotte or Orlando will certainly like to see those comments on Shaw. Especially the focus on the details of preparation, since you know Shaw has an abundance of player communication skills. I'd say that type of support should also help Vogel attract other quality assistant coaches to his staff in the future.
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