Bird says he's undecided on Vogel's future

Indiana Pacers President Larry Bird said Monday he hasn’t decided whether to bring back coach Frank Vogel for a seventh season, telling IndyStar: “It’s no secret — I want us to score more points.”

What Bird has to decide, he said, is the best way to achieve more offense in a league headed in that direction: Change the roster, change the coach or change both.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Bird said.

He doesn’t know when, either. Bird said he will make the decision after meeting by conference call with Pacers owner Herb Simon, but he said no call has been arranged.

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“He’s busy, so it could be a week or it could be tomorrow,” Bird said early Monday evening. “What I don’t want to do is leave Frank hanging — there’s other jobs out there he could get.”

Vogel has been suggested as a good fit for the Knicks, media reports have said. He could stay in Indiana, Bird said, although Bird makes it clear: The Pacers didn’t score enough points. Not to make a dent where it matters, in the playoffs.

“I thought we were going to win that game last night,” he said of the No. 7-seeded Pacers’ 89-84 Game 7 loss to the second-seeded Toronto Raptors. “If you’d told me we’d score 84 points …  You can’t go very far in the playoffs if you don’t score. When I tell people this, it’s not because I think I know it all — it’s because I experienced it as a player.”

Vogel earned his bones as a defensive-minded coach, teaming with assistant Dan Burke to make the Pacers especially stingy on that side of the court. Vogel has said he is comfortable coaching the faster style Bird prefers.

As for Bird, he said he doesn’t blame the Pacers’ point total in Game 7 on Vogel.

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“Hey, that’s on the guys,” Bird said. “They’ve got to make plays. George Hill (19 points) played well, Monta Ellis scored (15) points, Paul George (26 points) did what he does. But who’s that other guy?”

Bird was asked: As team president, it’s your job to provide “that other guy,” right?

And Bird said: “We need to score more points. If Frank comes back, what can we do to get better offense? It’s on all of us.

“Frank’s a great guy. He’s going to be fine no matter what happens. If he’s back, he’ll be fine here. If he’s not, he’s not. We’ll see.”

Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter: @GreggDoyelStar or atwww.facebook.com/gregg.doyel.