Frank Vogel lost his Phoenix Suns Head Coaching job after a first-round sweep against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The squad’s loss is particularly gut-wrenching because they could avail the services of a healthy Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal during the contest. This surprising fact prompted Gilbert Arenas to bring out a cooking analogy.
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New York Knicks’ Tim Thibodeau is up 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. The 66-year-old’s team has been winning consistently despite injury troubles and limited resources. Thibodeau has maximized his team’s output on both ends of the floor and has leaned heavily on his starters.
In the latest episode of Gil’s Arena, Arenas and his crew debated whether Vogel should be slammed for Durant, Booker, and Beal being unable to gel throughout the season. During the discussion, Agent Zero compared Vogel’s and Thibodeau’s cases to argue that the Suns made the right decision by firing the 2020 Championship-winning coach.
Arenas brought out a cooking analogy to compare the contrasting ways in which the two coaches have used their squads. While the Knicks HC brought the best taste out of “leftovers”, the former Suns HC couldn’t make something palatable even with “good meat”.
“He [Tom Thibodeau] got leftovers and he’s cooking up meals. You[Frank Vogel] got all the good meat over there, you got all the prime, you get first ride a refusal all the steaks and you telling me you can’t make me mother**king sh**,” Arenas argued.
The 3x NBA All-Star also opined that the Suns’ athletes should have taken the fight to Vogel instead of accepting his decisions. Meanwhile, the Suns Front Office relayed that they weren’t happy with the team’s trajectory under Frank Vogel.
The Suns didn’t think Frank Vogel was the right fit for the current system
After the embarrassing playoff exit at the hands of the Timberwolves, it took the Suns franchise around 10 days to decide Frank Vogel’s fate. They were not satisfied with the way Vogel managed the team during the 2023-24 season. Therefore, they decided to relieve the former Lakers HC of his duties after they had given him a 5-year, $31 million contract in the offseason.
Suns’ General Manager and President of Basketball Operations James Jones gave an official statement on the ouster of the 50-year-old HC, “After a thoughtful review of the season, we concluded that we needed a different head coach for our team. We appreciate Frank’s hard work and commitment. We are here to win a championship and last season was way below our expectations.”
Thus, after Vogel’s short-lived stint, the Suns are hunting for someone who can make their three key players sync. 2021 champion coach Mike Budenholzer has emerged as a top choice. However, the Arizona franchise have various depth issues as well that they need to solve, like the absence of a point guard.
