Much has been said about Xs and Os, but in the heat of the moment, execution sometimes goes out the window. That’s precisely how Frank Vogel motivated the Indiana Pacers during deep playoff runs against the Miami Heat’s “Big 3”. According to David West, the 2020 title coach encouraged his team to outmuscle opponents and dictate the game with physicality.
“Man, we tried everything,” West said on “The OGs” podcast with Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller. “The one thing about Coach Vogel, he had this gift of pumping energy into you. He’s constantly gassing you. So, he really would push me to that line like, ‘Yo, get there. As soon as you can, get there.” That’s one of the advantages that we have, so he’d be like, ‘Beat those MFers up. Just beat them up.”
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“That’s the way we played and it gave us a shot,” added the two-time All-Star.
As D-West highlighted, the Pacers were a much bigger team than the Heat, who used to play without a natural center during their title runs. “The 17-foot Assassin” and 7’2 Roy Hibbert outweighed everyone by at least 20 pounds, so they had to do what they had to do.
Sound strategy but limited success
The physicality of the Pacers-Heat series in the early 2010s was evident in the number of fouls each team committed. For instance, the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals, which went the full seven-game route, featured 169 fouls from each side. Both squads averaged nearly 25 fouls per game, which means they probably got into the bonus almost every quarter.
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“I always knew that whoever would win between us would win the East. No disrespect to Boston, but the physicality that was what y’all brought. I always knew like, we gotta lace them up,” Haslem responded to West.
Nonetheless, the Pacers fell short against the Heat in three straight postseasons. They were dispatched in six games in the 2012 ECSF, seven in the 2013 East Finals, and six in the 2014 ECF. Despite the losses, West always brought his A-game as a physical presence down low. David averaged 17 points and nine rebounds in the 2013 series and a well-rounded 16/7/3 on 56 percent shooting in 2014.
As a testament to the physicality they brought, Vogel’s squads often beat the Heat up in the rebounding battles. The Pacers always held the advantage on the boards, especially in 2013, where they were a +8 in that department.
In desperation mode
Indiana may have dropped three straight to Miami, but West’s belief that the Pacers had a real chance still holds weight. In 2012, Indy held a 2-1 series lead, crushing the Heat 94-75 thanks to a balanced scoring effort and paint dominance by Hibbert (18 rebounds and five blocks).
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A guy named LeBron James had other plans, though. “The King” averaged 32.6 points, 11.3 rebounds, and eight assists over the next three games to end the series.
“That’s when I first knew LeBron wasn’t human was the Indiana series,” Miller said. “Because he would have to end up guarding every position on your floor. When Shane was crippled, he would guard you. When PG or Danny Granger get going, he would guard them. I was like, ‘This dude’s all over the place.’ To me, in playoff basketball, to have that luxury is unbelievable.”
“LeBron playing in that desperation mode, that’s the mode that we felt he was most dangerous,” agreed West.
Vogel’s approach gave Indiana a clear identity — lean into the contact, control the paint, and make every possession a battle. It kept the Pacers toe-to-toe with Miami and forced the “Big 3” to dig deep. But even with the right plan and mindset, they ran into a force that refused to break.