Indiana’s offense, which ranged from bad to mediocre all season, has sliced apart Miami at a rate of 111.3 points per 100 possessions — a mark that would have led the league in the regular season, and more than 10 points better than the Pacers managed in either of their first two series. The Pacers finished the season 19th in points per possession. Miami finished seventh in points allowed per possession.
Not even Frank Vogel could have seen this coming, though his adjustments game-to-game have had a lot to do with Indiana’s shocking decimation of Miami’s coordinated chaos on defenseThe Pacers have gradually figured out how to get Hibbert the ball, and how to attack both Miami’s fronts and its hyper-aggressive trapping on pick-and-rolls. Here’s an example of one tactic they’re using a lot:
George Hill and Tyler Hansbrough are running a pick-and-roll on the left side, and Chris Andersen is fronting Hibbert in the post, his body between Hibbert and the ball. When Hansbrough rolls free down the left side, Andersen’s job is to shift toward the middle of the paint to protect the rim in case Hansbrough gets the ball.
The Pacers know this. The Hansbrough pick-and-roll is something of a decoy designed to get Andersen leaning toward the middle. We know it’s a decoy because Hill doesn’t even look to Hansbrough. Instead, he swings the ball to the other side of the floor to Lance Stephenson, and moving the ball has taken Andersen out of fronting position:
But that Pacers defense, like any elite unit, is capable of long stretches of stingy play, and they unleashed a 3:22 masterpiece after the Heat had taken a 60-54 lead in the third quarter. There’s nothing fancy about what Indiana does. They’re huge at every position, they have a lot of individual talent, and they work well together as a team. They understand Vogel’s priorities, and they rarely make mistakes.
Look at how they help on this Norris Cole drive into the middle of the floor in the early part of the second quarter:
This is a problem, but the Pacers respond to it well. George slides to the center of the foul line, and feels emboldened to do so in part because he’s guarding Wade — a non-threat from 3-point range. Young, defending the more dangerous Allen on the right wing, keeps both feet out of the paint, in good closing position. And when Wade caught the pass from Cole and swung the ball to Allen, Young indeed closed out before Allen could release a clean shot. Allen tried to shift behind an impromptu back screen from Birdman, but Young fought through that, too, forcing a very tough miss.
This is what the Pacers do for long stretches, even against the very best offenses. Miami went through killer sequences in that third-quarter clankfest, beautiful choreography in which one dangerous action flowed instantly into another, and the Pacers were game for all of it.The Pacers have also done remarkably well taking away any air space for Allen, Battier, and Miami’s other spot-up guys. The Heat have tried to free up Battier by using him as the screener in pick-and-pops, but West has done well cutting off the pick-and-roll drive and scampering back to Battier before he can get off a shot. “We want to force them to make plays off the bounce,” West said after the game.
Outside of his inexperienced mistake of overcoaching/overanalyzing by aking out Hibbert in game 1, elite coach Vogel has exhibited a coaching clinic against the Fili , tbh..
I included pictures, since the majority of the posters here don't understand basketball, especially coaching, tbh..
I'm interested in seeing what Vogel could do with intelligent players, actual ball-handlers and bench players one day, tbh..
He has definitely stepped up his coaching game especially after all the heat he took in Game 1. This guy (along with Lionel Hollins) deserved to get paid.
He'd be an even better coach if he didn't let Lance Stephenson dribble the ball for the first 20 seconds of every other possession tbh.
Jach Lowe's articles are always good reads,thanks for posting son.
I like Zach Lowe, shame he works for that knobjockey Simmons
What are his alternatives, though?..
You can't really bench him when your bench options are Gerald Green and Sam Young, tbh..
Vogel has flaws, obviously, he's not Pop or Thibs..other than that, I'd only take Carlisle and Adelman ahead of him, tbh..
Agree that his options are limited. But even though it worked in Game 4, Stephenson can't get free reign to take over a possession whenever he feels like it tbh, and they still take forever to initiate their offense leading to a lot of wasted opportunities IMO.What are his alternatives, though?..
You can't really bench him when your bench options are Gerald Green and Sam Young, tbh
Vogel has flaws, obviously, he's not Pop or Thibs..other than that, I'd only take Carlisle and Adelman ahead of him, tbh..
Regardless, Vogel is easily a Top 4 coach in the league which isn't a huge accomplishment since Bud is probably #5 already tbh
Lowe is insane at his job..love em
HH
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