Frank Vogel became the head coach of the Indiana Pacers in 2011. Roy Hibbert was drafted by the team in the first round of the 2008 NBA Draft, but it wasn’t until after Vogel took over that the former Georgetown standout became an NBA All-Star.
Despite that, Hibbert’s seems to think it is advantageous for a player to play under a coach who has played in the NBA before. In a recent interview with NBA.com’s David Aldridge, Hibbert revealed that he asked his agent to work to find him a team with a coach who has NBA playing experience.
“I wanted to play for a coach who actually played in the league if I had my own choice,” he explained. “Not to say that Frank [Vogel] wasn’t great. I had some real good times with Frank and we played well. But I told my agent that I possibly wanted to play for a coach that played in the league.”
While Vogel deserves plenty of praise for getting the most out of Hibbert — especially on defense — and putting him in a position to succeed, Hibbert gave a lot of credit to former Pacers assistant Brian Shaw, who played 14 seasons in the NBA.
“Just playing for BShaw, he went through the things that a player has gone through. He had a lot of real good insight to help myself, my game, with other guys on the court,” Hibbert added. “Because he went through those things. And when you had two sets of four games in five nights, he was real with us. He would say, if I’m tired, you’re tired. It’s not a huge thing, but I’m really lucky to be in this position.”
Hibbert got his wish, as the Pacers traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers. He’ll now get a chance to play under Byron Scott, who hasn’t exactly turned his playing experience into success with the Lakers.
We know Hibbert had some problems with teammates in Indiana, and he didn’t seem to be taking a shot at Vogel. Still, the take was surprising from a player who was named an All-Star twice under Vogel.
