And yet Frank Vogel doesn’t know who his employer will be next year.

Rumored Indiana coaching candidates Rick Adelman and Chuck Person remain available (though the Rifleman is looking elsewhere for a lateral move), but based upon everything we have heard from Mike Wells of the Indy Star and others, it seems as though Vogel will return the Pacers bench next season. The only hurdle to that becoming reality — that we have heard publicly — has been management’s insistence upon Vogel to rounding up an expert staff of assistants for offset his inexperience.

Wells has been reporting this fact frequently, most recently in a Q&A he did for the Star.

Bird’s waiting for Vogel to line up his coaching staff. Bird’s more worried about who the lead assistant will be. He wants somebody who has a lot of NBA experience to help Vogel out coaching wise and in the locker room.

There’s a possibility that the coaching situation could be resolved sometime soon because owner Herb Simon returned to Indianapolis this week and will likely be here through the draft.

Not many people thought the Pacers would still be waiting to name a coach in the second week of June.

On the one hand, it is nice that the Pacers have had the luxury of thoroughly assessing everything surrounding this decision. Bird has long talked about how the opportunity to have so many franchise-renewing decisions this summer — on management, coaching, the draft and free agency — has been three years in the making. Obviously, you don’t want to squander that opportunity. So deliberation and diligence are good things. Perhaps the position still remains vacant because Bird was hoping to get a chance to talk to the one guy he was considering who had so far been unavailable for an interview (Mavs assistant coach Dwane Casey)? Or not. Who knows? If so, it’s moot now because Casey will be head coaching in Toronto.

But on the other hand, it is a little disconcerting that the team has felt so comfortable with the fact that no other team would hire Vogel that they can just sit on their hands this long. What does that say about Frank? Or even if they didn’t think no team would hire Vogel, they at least haven’t seemed particularly concerned with losing out on the chance to get him back on the sidelines.

Or perhaps they are waiting until after the draft to make a decision? Or until after the lockout? I’m not sure why either would be particularly beneficial unless there are fiscal realities that fly over my head. Could be. I’m not that smart.

But at this point, of course Vogel is still the frontrunner.

No one else is left.

Former Rick Carlisle assistant with the Pacers/Cavs head coach/LeBron yes man Mike Brown, Pacers legend/rifle aficionado Chuck Person and former T-Wolves coach with a lifetime .434 record (53-69 in two years with Minnesota)/misspelled first name Dwane Casey are all in the mix. But it sounds like the billionaire who will be paying the coach’s salary likes the young fella.

[Pacers owner Herb] Simon is a big supporter of Vogel because he got the players to play hard, something that wasn’t always the case with Jim O’Brien. But it’s Bird’s call on who he wants to be the coach.

Vogel helped his chances when the Pacers competed in four of their five games against the Bulls.

Vogel will have to tighten things up with the players. Practices were too loose at times. That’s not good for a team that has a lot of young players.

Vogel doesn’t need to become an O’Brien clone, just make sure the players are focused when they need to be.

As noted, Bird will make the final decision but it can’t hurt to have a vote of confidence from Simon.

Know what else can’t hurt? This Stupid Human Trick he first performed as a eighth grader on Late Night With David Letterman. Hopefully he will break this one out during his interview. Should put him over the top. (Vogel comes on at the 5:04 mark)

Seriously though, Danny Granger or Mike Wells or someone needs to find out if Frank can still do this and, if so, encourage him to reenact this. It’s easily now my second favorite NBA-related appearance on Late Night in the 1980s after MJ’s wonderful interview in a track suit. (video via @HicksPD … h/t Ziller)

That all changed, of course, when the Pacers turned back into hot garbage. Under Vogel, the team has now literally inversed his strong start, going 1-7 in its last eight. And all this has naturally changed the tenor of the fanbase from “Let’s lock this Vogel guy up to a long-term coaching contract” to “Umm … yeah … let’s look around a little before we do anything drastic.”

Who knows what Larry Bird (presuming he’ll still be here when the decision is made) and owner Herb Simon ever had in mind for Vogel’s future, but as far as candidates for next year’s job goes, Marc Stein has thrown out two names: Chuck Person and Dwane Casey. (h/t @MikeWellsNBA)

Lakers assistant coach and Pacers legend Chuck Person, according to our old friend Sean Deveney at the Sporting News, will also be a candidate for the job. But word is there’s another name on Indy’s radar that hasn’t circulated much yet: Mavericks assistant coach Dwane Casey.

Casey is still waiting for his second shot at a head-coaching gig after his unceremonious dismissal in Minnesota halfway through the 2006-07 season and serious (but ultimately unsuccessful) flirtations in recent offseasons with Philadelphia, Chicago and Atlanta.

The link to Indiana, though, was inevitable, given Casey’s good work on Rick Carlisle’s staff in Dallas and how close Carlisle and Bird remain after their time together as teammates in Boston and Carlisle’s years in Indy both as Bird’s assistant and as head coach.

Jay wrote about the Rifleman’s success in Los Angeles not too long ago.

Most immediately, Indy beat LA earlier this year so … tonight … the Lakers … are … back … WITH A VENGEANCE. Plus, we know that Pacers great Chuck Person is now coaching in the City of Angels. And we had that whole NBA Finals match-up thing.

Best of all … remember this fight between Reggie and Mamba? I bet Kobe does. He never forgets. He is like a hiphopopotamus that way. Or is that an elephant? Who can remember?

The video comes to us from Complex’s blog, which included both Mr. Bryant and Mr. Knick Killer in its 50 Dirtiest Players in Sports History list. (They rank number45 and number 41, respectively. Your boy Ron Artest came in at number 22.)

Person, as Pacers fans have experienced first-hand, was one of the premier shooters of his generation, and so it is no wonder that when he was brought in last season as a special assistant, he did not disappoint. The beginning of his Laker tenure, however, is an interesting study in interpersonal relations.

Person knew that as a newcomer last season, he couldn’t simply walk in and tell players what they needed to work on. So at first he would simply observe during practice. Then, when he thought he could help, he would gently ask permission to voice his opinion.

Person carried himself this way at the advice of former Pacers President Donnie Walsh.

“I told him, ‘Chuck, I’ll tell you what you do. You go in there and don’t tell them anything as to what they should do because they just won the championship. You should just sit there and watch these guys for a while, because they’re really good. … You learn from them and then once you feel comfortable, you can add what you know,’” Walsh said.

In such a fashion, he made sure to not, in the words of fellow Laker assistant Brian Shaw, “overstep any of his boundaries.” Slowly but surely, Person was able to endear himself to the team, and as time passed, Jackson began to entrust more and more duties to him. This progression eventually culminated with the Lakers hiring him for the entire 2009-2010 season. Quite a turnaround for someone who was initially brought in to work just during training camp.

His biggest contribution to the team began in December 2009 after Bryant fractured his right index finger. Bryant had started to trust Person, and so when he offered pointers on how to adapt his shooting form due to the injury, he fully embraced Person’s advice.

Out of this came a one-on-one partnership with Bryant to improve his mechanics. The results were successful. By the end of the season, Kobe had increased his free-throw percentage to a career-high 88% — despite what should have been a devastating impediment to his shooting ability.

Bryant has relished their time working together.

“He has the same kind of attention to detail that I have. I enjoy being around that. I enjoy talking to him about it. I spend a considerable amount of time shooting with him and working on different things and just strategically how he sees the whole puzzle, not just pieces of the puzzle; he sees the whole thing as I do. It’s important for me to have another set of eyes that I can communicate with and kind of work on things with.

“He’s just a great Southern dude, man.”

All this being said, Person’s coaching skills are not restricted to just offense; he also aides players in improving their game on the defensive end of the court — even power forwards and centers. Last season, for instance, Person was one of the coaches who assisted pivot man Andrew Bynum develop as a player.

This has earned him the praise of Jackson.

“Chuck has an analytical eye,” said Jackson. “He’s always seeking answers and looking for reasons, so that blends in well with the kind of process we like to go through. I can give him something we need to work on defensively and he’ll come in with some exercises and things we have to do, and he works really well with our post players even though Chuck was one of the great outside shooters in the game.”

Furthermore, Person’s coaching success is not only a function of his basketball knowledge, but his ability to communicate well with today’s NBA players. Unlike some coaches and players, Person is very upfront, not hesitating to tell players what they need to do to improve.

Because of this, Portland Trailblazers Head Coach Nate McMillan has long-known that Chuck would make a good coach.

“I thought he was a coach when he played and I had the opportunity to work with him then … I just feel that the things that he brought to the floor, his communication skills with players not only players but the stars, he will approach any guy and work with him. You saw times last year when he and Kobe were communicating during the playoffs. Chuck is just that type of guy that will pull a guy to the side, star or best player [included], and talk to them about what they need to do and won’t be afraid or intimidated by that player.”

Even more remarkable, however, is the fact that Person has managed to stay humble despite his coaching success. With regards to his feat of helping improve the game of one of the the best players in NBA history, he notes with an air of humility that, “Kobe was a great player before I came and he’s going to be a great player after I leave.” Likewise, he hesitates to even take credit for what he has taught the star, adding that “all the things I told Kobe are things Jerry West told me.”

Indeed, such is this former Pacer — brilliant on the court, but just as inspiring as a teacher and as a person.

Jay Ganatra is a contributor to 8 Points, 9 Seconds who is currently studying accounting at the University of Florida. You can reach Jay at jay.ganatra@ufl.edu.

Less importantly, I’m back to work. Sorry for the layoff. My sanity demanded it. We’ll be covering Draft stuff this week and starting in on a formal post-season look back at the year that was and the year the summer that will be.

All systems go. (photo via Sports Illustrated)

Nice work, Chuck. But you’re no Jalen

[TABLE=3]

Glossary: Offensive Rating | Defensive Rating | eFG% | Pace

Gilbert Arenas and his band of merry men come to Indiana on a night when the whole town will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of the House that Reggie Built. (Tom Lewis wrote a great tribute on Cornrows.) For a franchise that once had to host a telethon just to raise enough money to keep the team in Indianapolis, the opening of Conseco was a historic moment. The Eastern Conference success foreshadowed by Chuck Person’s late 80s squad and later realized by the Reggie-led rosters of the 90s had turned the Pacers into a legitimate NBA team and transformed Market Square Arena into a raucous environment to watch a basketball game.

And the construction of Conseco was a culmination of that success. The team was in Indianapolis to stay and, not only that, it was now going to play some 50 games per year in a building that is still regarded by many NBA insiders as the best NBA facility in the association.

It’s a fitting occasion for a night when the Pacers are once again trying to establish themselves as an NBA team worthy of respect. The JailPacers Era put a black mark on the franchise that evolved from minor embarrassment to endemic problem as time went on, and once the losing began, the team turned from punchline to afterthought.

That’s where the Pacers are now. The worst should be in the rear-view mirror. I mean, it has to be, right? Now the winning must begin anew, if not simply to help repair the broken bonds with local fans and garner greater national interest for a once-proud franchise than to simply stem the financial hemorrhaging that has to be weighing on the mind of the team’s owner more and more with each passing day.

So let’s set aside real basketball analysis, forgo the player breakdowns and save the stat-talk for after the game is done. Tonight isn’t about any of that. Tonight is about seeing whether or not this roster can be inspired to properly represent the state stitched on their jerseys.

The Pacers need a win. And Conseco deserves a win — if not simply for providing the current players with a hallowed house to shoot hoops than as a hat tip to the past glories that occurred under its roof and transformed the uniforms that today’s players wear into more than just blue and gold mesh. Sure, the problems that got the team to this point aren’t on most of the guys who are now on the team. But it doesn’t matter. They are the only Pacers that matter right now and they are the only ones who can help ensure that the road ahead overshadows the recent past.

So, as silly as it sounds, the only thing Jim O’Brien should say tonight is: Win one for a building.