Phil Jackson met face-to-face with with former Indiana Pacers head coach Frank Vogel last week, the Daily News has learned.

The clandestine meeting, which is believed to have taken place in Los Angeles, also included Knicks general manager Steve Mills, according to a team source.

Kurt Rambis, David Blatt and Vogel are the top-three candidates for one of more coveted NBA jobs. Jackson's meeting with Vogel also raises further questions to whether Garden Chairman James Dolan is opposed to signing off on Jackson's preferred choice, Rambis.

The Pacers announced they would not renew Vogel's contract days after Indiana was eliminated in Game 7 of its first round series against Toronto. Vogel is also under consideration with job openings in Houston, Orlando and Memphis.

Mills had contacted Vogel's agent the day after Vogel was ousted and amid growing criticism that Jackson's very deliberate coaching search was ignoring several quality candidates.

The Knicks president elected not to interview Tom Thibodeau or Scott Brooks, who were hired by Minnesota and Washington respectively. Nor has Jackson reached out to Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson or Patrick Ewing, who received good reviews after interviewing with both Sacramento and Memphis.

That the Knicks would not even consider the greatest player in franchise history is puzzling. Especially for a club that prides itself on the motto "Once A Knick, Always A Knick."

Jackson did contact Warriors assistant coach Luke Walton, but as the Daily News first reported, Walton informed his former coach that he wasn't interested in the job. Two weeks later, Walton was named Lakers coach.

Jackson then met with Blatt, former Cleveland Cavaliers coach who was once Mills' college teammate. Blatt appears to be the preferred choice of Mills, and if the Knicks hired Blatt, it could be interpreted as Dolan stepping in and siding with Mills, who figures to outlast Jackson in New York anyway.

Blatt and Vogel both remain in the running although it was erroneously reported by SNY's website two weeks ago that the Knicks and Blatt were close to an agreement. The fact that Jackson met with Vogel last week demonstrates that Jackson is undecided. Vogel spent one season as a scout under Jackson, but the two did not work closely together.

Jackson understands that Rambis would be an unpopular choice, but hiring Rambis allows Jackson to be more involved in coaching the team, which is what Jackson clearly enjoys most about his current position.

Jackson wants the Knicks to run the triangle and even held a two-day triangle seminar a week after the season for approximately 10 players.

Jackson cannot handle the physical demands of coaching an 82-game season, but he believes he can have a greater influence on the team by having Rambis, who shares his vision and philosophy, in charge.

Jackson can sell Rambis to Dolan on the idea that Jackson will be working closely with his long-time friend. Dolan should have known what he was signing up for when he signed Jackson. And if Jackson is most comfortable working with Rambis, he should be given the authority to hire Rambis.

Jackson did not attend the annual college scouting combine last week in Chicago, which is unheard of for a top executive. The Knicks don't have a first- or second-round pick in next month's NBA Draft, although it is likely they will buy a second-round pick.

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://twitter.com/FisolaNYDN/status/731933624044519424

newyorker4ever wrote:All you whining, crying, bytching clowns that just kept running your mouths about Phil not doing anything don't know shyt.

Too Soon??? lol

It seems like perfect timing to me. I just ignored all the crying. If you look at it year by year I think Phil has not done as bad as many other people have said. The 1st offseason he had to tear everything down to rebuild. Last offseason he rebuilt our frontcourt. I am pleased with our current frontcourt. Now this offseason has to be used to rebuild our backcourt and give us some more reliable parts off the bench and we are good to go.

crzymdups wrote:

wargames wrote:Well at least I was on the. Phil is going to probably do the interviews before he made the decision and its train and not the "he is definitely hiring Rambis" smokescreen train.

It seems like he wants to hire Rambis, but it being compelled to talk to Vogel and Blatt. Interesting to me that Mills reached out to Vogel and was present at the meeting.

Maybe at first, but we don't know he could of just been waiting for better coaches to become available (like Houston) but Isola and the NY media made his patience into a flaw.

crzymdups wrote:

newyorker4ever wrote:All you whining, crying, bytching clowns that just kept running your mouths about Phil not doing anything don't know shyt.

Too Soon??? lol

Not too soon, just a lack of reading comprehension on your part. The reporting in Isola's article is basically the exact way I've hypothesized what may be going down many times.

And yet you were still hating the whole time....hmmmmmmmmmm

crzymdups wrote:

wargames wrote:

crzymdups wrote:

wargames wrote:Well at least I was on the. Phil is going to probably do the interviews before he made the decision and its train and not the "he is definitely hiring Rambis" smokescreen train.

It seems like he wants to hire Rambis, but it being compelled to talk to Vogel and Blatt. Interesting to me that Mills reached out to Vogel and was present at the meeting.

Maybe at first, but we don't know he could of just been waiting for better coaches to become available (like Houston) but Isola and the NY media made his patience into a flaw.

We really don't know if it was patience or a disagreement behind the scenes on Rambis. It's been reported at multiple places, including by Ramona Shelburne, that Rambis was Phil's choice and that Dolan and Mills and Melo may not love that idea. Phil's first non-Rambis meeting was Mills' best friend Blatt and it's been reported Mills is the one who reached out to Vogel. Isola even states in his article that Phil may still prefer Rambis so he can be more involved.

It'll be interesting to see who gets hired, but I think it is somewhat plausible to say that if it is someone other than Rambis, Phil did not have full autonomy on this hire. That's a theory, but there are plenty of pieces to the puzzle that make that seem plausible, from Phil's vacation and on and on.

We shall see.

Or maybe Phil is just a very smart man and knows that Rambis shouldn't get the full time job. It's also been reported many times that Phil is a very smart basketball mind.....you don't say. lol

NY media is garbage

EnySpree wrote:Last week? How lame is that? They kill Phil for not doing anything then they miss a report by a week!

NY media is garbage

But from my LA days I could have told them that if they want to keep on top of
what Jackson is actually doing (rather than just making up stories about it),
they need to have a network of friendly informants in Thai restaurants . . .

Malcolm wrote:

EnySpree wrote:Last week? How lame is that? They kill Phil for not doing anything then they miss a report by a week!

NY media is garbage

I don't want to help the New York media, so I've kept my mouth shut about it.

But from my LA days I could have told them that if they want to keep on top of
what Jackson is actually doing (rather than just making up stories about it),
they need to have a network of friendly informants in Thai restaurants . . .

Chan Darae Restaurant 1511 N Cahuenga Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028

wargames wrote:The rumor online is Vogel has been hired by Orlando for 4/24 and that it will be announced tomorrow.

You got some links please??