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Five Facts About Each Potential New York Knicks Head Coach

Frank Vogel – Former HC, IND

  • Vogel played Division-III college basketball in Pennsylvania before transferring to Kentucky. No, he didn’t play for the Wildcats, but he was the team’s student manager under head coach Rick Pitino in 1994-95. He’d play for the school’s junior varsity team the next year.
  • Like Rambis, but not to same extent, Vogel also has a relationship with Phil Jackson. Vogel was an advance scout for Jackson’s 2005-06 Los Angeles Lakers team. He also hired Brian Shaw, considered a Jackson disciple, and has praised the Zen Master’s approach to the game.
    • “From the standpoint of studying the NBA game, I was always a big fan of Phil Jackson and his approach,” Vogel told the Indianapolis publication Nuvo. “Obviously he had great players, but there were a lot of coaches with great players that didn’t win at the level he did. That was a big reason why I hired [Pacers associate head coach] Brian Shaw. He was as close to Phil as anyone could be and I thought I could rely on that experience and it’s been awesome.”
  • Like several other successful NBA head coaches (see Erik Spoelstra), Vogel began his coaching career as a video coordinator with the Boston Celtics, again under Rick Pitino. He would move around the NBA as an assistant coach before finally sticking in Indiana. When Pacers head coach Jim O’Brien was fired in 2011, Vogel led the team to its first playoff berth since 2006.
  • Indiana saw improvement for four consecutive seasons when Vogel took over. The Pacers were a top-11 team in defensive efficiency every season under his lead. Indiana missed the playoffs only once under Vogel: the 2014-15 season star forward Paul George missed after he suffered a gruesome leg injury at Team USA camp. That Indiana team still won 38 games. New York won 32 this season.
    • Vogel has also shown a willingness to adapt his offensive philosophies. He shifted Indiana’s offense to pace-and-space this season and, despite a bare bones Pacers roster, led his team to playoffs where it took No. 2 Toronto to seven games.
  • Vogel’s Pacers defeated Mike Woodson’s Knicks in six games in the 2012-13 Eastern Conference Semifinals. ESPN reported Knicks owner James Dolan felt Vogel out-coached New York in that series. According to the New York Post, so did Carmelo Anthony.
    • Via Marc Berman: “Anthony, lobbying for Jackson to continue his search, would probably be pleased with Vogel. Ironically, in a backpage story in The Post two seasons ago after a bitter loss in Indiana, Anthony praised the Pacers’ coaching staff for its halftime adjustments to which Woodson didn’t respond.”

Vogel’s contract with Indiana expired this season. Team president Larry Bird opted not to renew it, citing his preference the team scored more points.

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I cover the New York Knicks and the NBA for SB Nation, Vox Media. Previously: Elite Sports NY, About.com Sports, NBC Sports, Bleacher Report. Some people call me "chef." Twitter|Instagram|Snapchat: @Krisplashed