The Indiana Pacers are in the middle of a very good season as they are 15-9 which has them in third place in the Eastern Conference. Considering nobody knew what to expect from Indiana this season their start has been extremely impressive but not everybody with the Pacers is happy with everything this year. Before Indiana defeated the Toronto Raptors on Monday head coach Frank Vogel praised Raptors forward Luis Scola and he reportedly is not happy that he isn't with the Pacers anymore this season, according to Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun.
Luis Scola played with the Pacers for two seasons from 2013 through last season and although he wasn't a starter he missed only one game in his two seasons and was very productive while also being a good leader. Scola became a free agent this past offseason and the Pacers didn't seem to show all that much interest as Scola only signed a one year deal with Toronto worth $2.9 million, a number Indiana most certainly could have afforded.
When asked why Scola left in the first place Vogel didn't seem too happy when he said "you would have to talk to Larry about that" referring to Larry Bird the President of the Pacers. When talking about Scola before the game Vogel had nothing but praise and it seems like if it was up to him the 35 year old Argentinian would still be a Pacer.
"One of my favorite players of all time, one of them, yeah. Just a guy who has a great approach in the locker room, did his job and it carries over to his teammates and the entire team. He's just a winner, he plays harder than everybody on the court every time he is out there and it's no surprise he is helping contribute to their winning culture," said Vogel.
While Scola was a big loss for the Pacers, in Vogel's mind, he has been a huge addition for the Raptors this season as he won the starting power forward spot preseason over Patrick Patterson, who was considered a near lock, and has played very well. Scola has unsurprisingly played in every game so far this season and he is averaging 10.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. The Pacers have been just fine without him so far but they have had to adjust their style and Vogel clearly thinks not hanging on to Scola was a mistake so we will have to see if letting him walk will come back to bite them at some point.
