Indiana Pacers head coach Frank Vogel: Miami Heat a bunch of floppers – NBA Update
The Indiana Pacers are set to face Miami Heat in the second round of the playoffs, and the Eastern Conference rivals are wasting no time in upping the ante. Pacers head coach Frank Vogel has fired the first volley in Miami direction, calling the Heat floppers.
Vogel contends that Miami are guilty of playacting far too often and try to deceive the referees at every instance. He was convinced that the super stars of Miami make the most of the slightest contact, if any, in order to gain an advantage in the game.
Frank called on the officials to be extra careful in the series as he wouldn’t want Miami to use the tactic too much, thus harming his team’s chances.
"It'll be very interesting to see how the referees officiate this series and how much flopping they reward," he said. "Every time you drive to the basket, they've got a guy who's not making a play on the ball, but sliding in front of drivers all the time.
They're falling down before contact is even made."
The comments are being viewed as a strategic ploy by the Pacers coach. Although Miami are a very physical team, they do have a reputation for flopping. With his comments, Frank would be looking to get into the minds of referees and make them extra cautious
when awarding fouls to the Heat.
On the other hand, Indiana are one of the most physical teams in the NBA and if the referees allow some contact during the series, the Pacers wouldn’t mind that at all.
Vogel went on to discuss his team’s strategies when dealing with Miami and their trio of superstars; LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Although the Pacers looked underhanded against the Big Three of Miami, they do have advantages in other positions,
such as centre.
The Heat do not currently possess a centre of championship calibre, while in the 7-foot-2 Roy Hibbert Indiana have an All-Star. Vogel was determined to use him cleverly to the Pacers advantage.
"We going to have to be conscious of how we're utilizing Roy to try to dominate on the defensive end," he said.
Another thing Indiana’s coach touched on was the strategy his side would use against LeBron James. He admitted that the Heat star was a very difficult man to contain.
"It's a tall order," Vogel said. "Obviously, you want to load to the ball. You don't want to leave our guys one-on-one in transition. You have to recognize that he's such a great passer, too.”
Indiana’s Danny Granger will be the player guarding LeBron for most of the time.
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