While lawyers were still drafting Jeff Hornacek’s Knicks contract, the Magic introduced Frank Vogel as their new head coach Monday. And the Wildwood, N.J., native indicated Orlando was a better fit than the big-market Knicks of Phil Jackson and James Dolan.
Jackson interviewed Vogel, but chose Hornacek after getting blown away by the former Suns coach in last Monday’s five-hour interview. The Knicks probably won’t hold their press conference with Hornacek until after Memorial Day.
Vogel, considered the fan favorite in New York, also talked a little smack, claiming the moribund Magic are “going to win big.”
When asked what made Orlando the right fit over the other places he interviewed, Vogel said: “How long do you have?”
Vogel cited liking the Magic’s ownership, being able to relate to general manager Rob Hennigan and feeling he’d just as soon not live on his native East Coast. A few of his comments could be taken as subtle digs at the Zen Master after Jackson didn’t offer him the job.
“Everything about this job was appealing to me, starting with the ownership,’’ the former Pacers coach said. “I’ve got a lot of coaching friends in the business, in basketball and in other sports, that really when you talk about choosing jobs, you want to make sure that you have a strong ownership group.”
Vogel, who never played professionally, worked for Jackson as an advance scout with the Lakers. But Jackson appears to prefer coaches who have played in the NBA.
“Rob and I, from the minute we picked up the phone with each other, I felt like we had a great connection,’’ Vogel said. “We have similar backgrounds: We both played Division III, we both lived in Boston around the same time. And we have similar leadership styles. We know we don’t know it all. We make group decisions, and we study and we work. And we don’t take ourselves too seriously. … From the ownership down to the front office, things looked good.”
Was there a little snipe at the Zen Master? Jackson often has been referred to as arrogant by league personnel and agents through the years. Of course, he does own 11 NBA coaching titles with two teams — and two more as a player.
Even though the Knicks represented his hometown team of sorts, Vogel said he and his wife prefer being away from the East Coast as they raise their daughters.
“I wanted to make sure my family was comfortable,’’ Vogel said. “My wife and I grew up in the Northeast, but my daughters are sort of small-town girls, from the Midwest. And the similar market size here in Orlando, [compared with] what we had in Indiana, was very attractive to us as well. The weather, state taxes, Disney World. Those were probably at the bottom of the list, but all still factors. … You can check off every box, with the pros and cons you’re weighing, with this job versus other teams, and I just think this is a great, great fit for me.”
Vogel, calling Orlando “the perfect landing spot, expanded after the press conference about choosing Orlando over Memphis — not mentioning the Knicks. He was also a candidate in Houston.
“It’s been a really crazy time — probably the craziest two weeks of my life just from the emotions of being let go by the Pacers to figuring out what the next step was,’’ Vogel said. “But the phone was ringing and that was a good thing.It was a good kind of chaos, and I enjoyed meeting with some of the other teams that I met with. Ultimately, finding this situation here and everything aligning for what I was looking for with my family and my career, that part of it made it an enjoyable time as opposed to a stressful time.’’
Vogel also wanted to put an end to the perception he and Larry Bird differed on offensive philosophy, or that he refused to play the up-tempo style now in vogue. Vogel said his firing after five-plus seasons in Indiana stemmed more from just a franchise needing change.
“That’s a misconception about this whole deal,’’ Vogel said on ESPN’s “Mike and Mike” radio show. “Larry and I have been very well aligned all the way through these six years, including the decision to try and play faster and smaller. This is not something I was resistant to. It’s a style of play that I am going to try and implement with the Orlando Magic. We’re going to try and get up and down and run the floor. … It wasn’t about a difference of opinion or a difference in philosophy. It was really just about change.”
Perhaps Vogel already has gotten too much Florida sun, boasting about the Magic, coming off a 35-47 finish: “The number one thing for me is we’re going to win. We have a core that’s very, very talented and hungry and, quite frankly, fearless.”