And that's why Granger got open on so many 3s. Lebron didn't guard him at all, and played off of him for help defense, but also to help with the boards. I look for him to do more of that. If Granger makes shots, so be it. They need to keep up with the boards.
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The all bench move did surprise me...but I think the opposite - one of Vogel's big advantages in this series is depth. You've already had LeBron publicly ask for less minutes and admit that he's wearing out in the 4th. I thought the gameplan, starting out, was to have the Pacers push the pace and try to wear out the Heat starters. Vogel can afford to rotate his guys and keep them fresh - Spoelstra doesn't dare sit his guys for long. A high possession, high scoring game *should* favor Indiana. Unfortunately, it seemed to me that the Pacers went into halftime already letting off the gas, and came back out flat. They were no where near as aggressive, other than Collison and Barbosa. And Barbosa halfway shot them out of the game. Can't blame him too much, since the rest of the squad seemed disinterested in the 3rd. Bad timing for the entire team to go blank. Hansbrough with his shuffling feet Amundson tries but is just a mess with his hands on the ball Hill was a liability Hibbert and West disappeared Granger and George were okay, but got handled by LeBron and Wade The Pacers as a team can't forget that they've got to play harder than the Heat on both ends, all 48 minutes, if they want to come away with a win. Even without Bosh around. Game 3 Wade was a gift.
I think the Pacers were feeling themselves too much going into Game 4. They let the 2-1 lead get to them add that to the fact that they got of to a great start and I think they forgot where they had the huge advantage was and that is inside. Next game the Pacers should get back to their strength. This series should go 7 games.
Your rant is dead on. When Vogel left the bench in too long just to get slaughtered by LeBron and Wade, it changed the game. That was a very big mistake. He doesn't have to play each starter 45 mins, but he can't go with his normal rotation when the other team is pulling out all the stops to win. Bench players like Hansbrough that are proven failures in this series should not see the floor. Shaud, I don't think the Pacers had a problem going into game 4 but opening up the early lead may have been the worst thing that could have happened. They lost their edge and got careless on defense. Vogel stupid rotations as mentioned above made the problem worse.
They were definitely careless on defense but I also thought they took way too many 3 pointers. It got them the lead but when Miami couldn't score early on Indy kept the lead within striking distance because they kept missing 3 pointers. Indy needs Paul George to give them a little more offensively.
Well mind you, they were WIDE OPEN 3s. Most coaches would tell them to keep shooting them, just like the Heat do even when they can't throw a rock into an ocean. Like you said, those 3s got them out to a 9-0 lead, and a huge lead in the first. Those 3s got them the confidence. When you make 3s, you're going to keep shooting 3s. That happens to most teams. It's very hard to pull back when you start out the game making 2-3 3s in a row.
They seemed to press on those 3's though because like you said they were wide open but a few of them were not even coming close to being made.
Outside of Collison, no one else on that Pacers team can beat the Heat's perimeter players to get into the paint. No one. That's why they need to play Collison more; his speed gives the Heat's PGs headaches. That's why you saw Lebron guarding the Pacers' PGs late in the 4th. They did get away from going into the bigs, but West never showed up in the first place. And Hibbert isn't a guy you can pound it into the paint consistently anyways. But I'm sure they will make it a point to pound it into the paint next time. What the Heat have to do to counter is more offensive movement, screen Lebron into the paint on the weakside, and more high pick and rolls for Wade. That will counter the Pacers' length. And also get their bigs in foul trouble. People have to remember, the Heat weren't on "fire" in that game 4 win. I'm still waiting for the game where Lebron's and WAde's jumper are "on." But damn, can't watch game 5 b/c of work.
For a combination of Wade/James to have all-time great games in 2 of the next 3? Wouldn't surprise me. Probably not 40-18-9, but easily for both of them to go for near triple-doubles. More like what we saw in the first 2 games, minus that 4th quarter where they both missed opportunities. Hansbrough was rough last night. If I'm Vogel, I'm running Collison/Hill/George/Granger/Hibbert together. With Bosh out, I think it is a good combination out there. Mix in West and Barbosa and let the other guys keep their butts in their chairs (well, I guess you can let Dahntay Jones up to continue his cheerleading).
It looked like that was Miami's defensive game plan. Force them into taking 3's. They were leaving guys wide open and Indiana even shot a few air balls in that first quarter.
ESPN reports that Wade had his knee drained of fluids before game 3. So, he's been playing with an injury. Apparently he felt better in game 4 than he did in game 3, but I wonder how the knee is going to react the the upcoming games (and in the next series if the Heat win). This would seem to be a pretty important factor going forward.
LeBron James just plain beat the Pacers in Game 4. He was the one that got Wade started, he played defense, he wasn't taking bad shots, he rebounded, etc. He played not at an MVP-level but at a Hall of Fame level. It was an all-time great playoff performance, and it was needed, just to be up 5 with a minute to go. It won't happen again.
I think the injury stuff was played up to excuse him to be honest. He looked like game 3 Wade the first half and then exploded in the 3rd quarter when LBJ got him going with easy shots.
