Friday, May 30, 2014

Pacers season ends with resounding dud

The visiting Pacers lost to the Miami Heat 117-92 Friday night in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference Final series. The Heat won the series 4-2 and now await the winner of the Western Conference Finals between San Antonio and Oklahoma City in a quest to win their third straight title.
Forethoughts
The Pacers and David West never found a way to slow down the Heat.
That resounding thud, or maybe I should say dud, was the Pacers season ending with a non-competitive loss in Miami. It wasn't the fact that the Pacers lost all three of their games in Miami in this series that was a big deal, but the fact that they really weren't competitive in the second half of any of those games. That was a big problem. I'm not going to get into finger pointing after this game, but the end result was the Pacers simply could not even match, let alone beat, the Heat in Miami. That dig-in-and-figure-out-how-to-win mentality just wasn't there on the road, and for many games in these playoffs. If someone said at the beginning of the season that the Pacers would lose again to the Heat in the Eastern Finals, it would be disappointing, but not a disaster. But the way they played in these games at Miami was a disaster. The Heat mostly did whatever they wanted, wherever they wanted to do it and whenever they wanted to do it. The homecourt advantage the Pacers talked about and coveted all season, didn't really mean a lot in this series. And there were signs before the playoffs started that it wouldn't. One was when Pacers President Larry Bird signed Andrew Bynum and traded Danny Granger for Evan Turner. It put a dent in the team's psyche and contradicted coach Frank Vogel's words of how much he liked the team he had. It turned out that Bynum got a $1 million for playing in two games and Turner was so inept defensively that he couldn't be trusted to get any kind of significant minutes in the playoffs. The other sign was though, maybe more significant. The Heat didn't really care if they had the homecourt advantage for this series or not. They rested key players in their final two regular season games instead of going all out to earn the top spot in the Eastern Conference. All that meant was that they believed with all confidence they could beat any team in the East, including the Pacers, in a key game on the road. That was a pretty big statement in itself and in the end, like or not, the Heat were right.
Big Plays
Let's just keep this real simple here. On the first play of the game when LeBron James got a layup off the opening tip, but missed and then got his own rebound and put it back in that was a bad sign as no other Pacers hustled back to get the rebound. One seemingly simple play with still over 47 minutes to go, but the Heat were first to the ball all night.
The Ups
Well, Paul George had probably the quietest 28-point second half in a playoff game that you'll ever see and finished with 29 points. The problem was he had only one point in the first half. But at least he didn't stop playing, even though the game was pretty much decided.
The Downs
1) The once defensive-oriented Pacers allowed the Heat to shoot 57 percent in this one. And it was the fourth time in the six games in this series that the Heat shot better than 50 percent. That's not winning defense during the regular season and it's certainly not going to beat many teams in the playoffs either. The Pacers lack of ability to adjust to what the Heat were doing on offense was a glaring theme in this series.
2) Hopefully the Pacers won't blame the referees for the series loss, or talk about how well they played after a defeat. One of the things we learned about some of the Pacers players is that they are pretty good at spreading blame, whether it be on the officials or on the coach. But it's pretty clear they need to take responsibility for what happened in this series. Too many possessions where they didn't hustle back on defense, too many lackadaisical passes that led to turnovers and too many quick shots on offense.
Next Up
The Pacers now will need to evaluate how they can get better to beat the Heat, and if Derrick Rose is healthy next year, the Bulls, too. They have some big questions to ask and answer during the season. Is coach Frank Vogel good enough to get this team to the NBA Finals? Is the bulk of this roster good enough to get to the NBA Finals, no matter who is coaching it? Is Lance Stephenson worth signing to a contract that will likely leave them no flexibility
against the salary cap? Do they need a more pure, traditional type of point guard to run the offense? Those are questions that will be answered in the coming days. All we know for now for sure, and it hurts to say it, but the Heat are still better than the Pacers  . . . without a doubt.

2 comments:

  1. I don't think the Heat are better than the Pacers. I just think they were better than THIS Pacer team that played in the playoffs. Actually, the Pacer team that has played since the end of November. I've said it all along I think those trades screwed us up and I'm sticking to it. They haven't showed me anything to dispute that. Once again, nothing says I have faith in my team to get the job done than a mid season trade. Talk about a ego crusher.

    We had so much trust and faith in this team at the beginning of the season and I think somewhere along the line we the fans lost that. On any given night no one on the team was safe from trade remarks. This team, these players, have proven they can do it. It was just the question of them doing it. As far as Lance goes, we do need him. Someone has to get dirty and he's the guy more than willing to step up to the plate and do it. Funny, when you're winning those antics are, well, funny. When you're losing, not so much. We can't have it both ways. We either respect the way he plays and support him or we don't. I think he compares to Rodman more than any other player in the NBA right now. We all know what he did. Will Lance ever be THAT good? He has the potential it's just up to Lance. I want to think more of the blame rests on the shoulders of Vogel and Bird. Sadly in Vogel's case it was the fact that he was too loyal to his line-ups. If it's not working tweak it until it does. We picked up Copeland in the off season because he is a solid three point threat and he lit our ass up in the playoffs last year just so he could dust our bench this year. I would really like to know the reasoning behind that and I'm not one of the ones chanting for him. I just seriously want to know. I will say I have a soft spot for Hill because well, he's my man and it's killing me that he is catching a lot of flack. For years I've never had a favorite player. I've loved all of players equally even when we had Reggie. Which makes me kind of irrational when I write about him so I try to limit it. I will say I think he was stuck in role for this team that did not suit him and he did the best he could do as a player with it. It doesn't make him a bad player. It will be interesting to see what changes are made in the off season. It's always hard to see good player move on to somewhere else. This is a great group of guys. It's hard to dislike any of them. Despite everything that has happened they made it this far once again and they brought back a lot of Pacer pride to people who didn't care anymore and couldn't name one player on the current roster. So for that, coming from a fan who flies her Pacer flag 365 days a year, I offer a huge thank you. You also deserve a huge thank you for taking the time out to update your blog after every game. Even the ones when crawling into a hole or fetal position would feel more suitable. Until next season, take care and peace. Bakergirl24

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  2. Absolutely agree you dont trade those players if you look back when it occurred the team went through a funk and it smelled rank with distractions off the court, I can't for the life me reason with the Bird for creating such an atmosphere just because Lance was up for a new deal , thinking Turner would somehow take the starting job over Lance so Bird wouldn't have to worry about giving him the money he well deserves. That was not the best way to get the team to the finals ,you keep what you have that got you there , I can't for the life of why they wanted to save a million over getting them to the promised land the finals but it was over money , we all know that now as for Vogel you can't play favorites and that's what he did and well he lost the team when he did that doesn't seem odd that when they showed pre game locker room speeches that the team looked down they didn't have the attachment of being ready for the game it was depressing to see such a speech that just faded into the walls, Vogel has to go they need a general to lead them someone who has been there before George Karl would be my favorite he has been there and done that they leadership on and off the court but I'm left to wonder if they will reach out and find the right coach you only play with confidence and professionalism when it exudes from the leader the coach

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