The Bernstein Brief: An NBA East Team Got Better, And It Wasn't The Bulls
By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) I always thought Frank Vogel was a good NBA coach, overseeing teams that were generally tough and smart.
Pacers president Larry Bird disagrees with me on this, apparently, at least enough to let Vogel go in favor of promoting retread Nate McMillan. The Orlando Magic then wasted little time snapping Vogel up to replace Scott Skiles after his latest burnout/meltdown occurred only a bit ahead of schedule.
The Magic beat the Bulls twice in three games last season, finishing the year at 35-47. Vogel brings a career record of 250-181 and 31-30 in the playoffs -- a place the young Magic could soon find themselves if Vogel and his staff can keep developing all the talent featured on the roster.
Meanwhile, the Knicks' hiring of Jeff Hornacek could mean a long-overdue scrapping of the outdated triple-post offense to accommodate an up-tempo system for Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis, and this is a team that even last year pantsed the Bulls in consecutive games to kill their phony postseason push.
As the Fred Hoiberg experiment enters its second year and the Bulls tread water, it appears that without a major trade their path could soon cross with that of at least one conference foe, headed in opposite directions.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.