Frank Vogel made a major mistake last night, IMHO. I compliment him for everything he has accomplished this season, I admire his youthful enthusiasm, but I question his wisdom today — the day after Indiana’s season ended in a Game 6 loss at home in which the Pacers never fully took advantage of the big-man advantage they had with Udonis Haslem out serving a one-game suspension.
With exactly 3 minutes left in the first quarter, Vogel subbed out David West, who was 4-for-4 at that point with the Pacers leading 21-12.
With 1:29 left, Vogel subbed out Roy Hibbert for Louis Amundson as Tyler Hansbrough was at the line making a pair of free throws that put Indiana ahead 25-17.
West and Hibbert remained on the bench at the start of the second quarter with Indiana ahead 25-18. Here are the Pacers’ first three possessions of the 2nd quarter:
- Offensive foul on Paul George.
- Offensive foul on Tyler Hansbrough.
- Hansbrough’s 4-footer blocked by Mike Miller.
Over the first 66 seconds of the quarter, the Heat got 3s from Mike Miller and Dwyane Wade and another bucket from Wade to quickly tie it. Vogel quickly reinserted West with 10:15 remaining and Hibbert with 8:56 left, but the tide had already turned. Miami had withstood Indiana’s energized start, and the ballgame the Pacers had dominated for the first 12 minutes was tied.
If I am Vogel, there is no way in hell I take West out of the game. Ever, if possible.
Same with Hibbert.
Those guys are my hosses, and I’m going to try to ride them for as close to 48 minutes as possible with my season on the line — especially with Danny Granger playing on a badly swollen ankle.
That’s one of the points I make in the above video with CineSport’s Noah Coslov, in which we also discuss Game 7 of the Celtics-76rs series, and which team would be a better matchup for the Miami Heat.
i think another big mistake vogel made in the series was putting all reserves in game together. they never developed good chemistry once GEORGE HILL became a starter as the 2nd unit became more ‘one on one’ oriented. for example, HANSBROUGH did better when playing w/3-4 starters while w/no starters he hardly ever touched the ball.
you obviously haven’t watched many of the PACERS’ games this year or last. the biggest mistake vogel made occurred earlier in the season when he started cutting TYLER’S HANSBROUGH’S minutes excessively. until that, TYLER could be counted on for 12-20 points when his team mates would pass him the ball. David West is a really good player, and superior to TH at this time but HANSBROUGH is the future. although i acknowledge WEST definitely deserves to start, i strongly feel the following about TH: if he’d been given a fraction of the time and patience afforded PAUL GEORGE this year, he would have been more consistent and productive.
I first guessed Vogel last night when this happened. As a Bulls fan I have seen coach Thibs role with the 5 on the court for long periods of time. He has done this for defensive purposes or to put the foot on the throat of the other team. Vogel needed to keep crowd in game and keep Heat down. Going to bench and changing what strategy they had working by going to post game was all but gone.