Frank Vogel Doesn’t Have Much to Say Before Game 3

The normally friendly Frank Vogel was all business while talking to the media before the Indiana Pacers’ Game 3 matchup with the Toronto Raptors.

Like most coaches, Frank Vogel can get a bit snippy with the media. But he is usually a cheerful, accommodating guy who made a bit of a name for himself by ending all his playoff postgame conferences by telling the reporters, “Good luck with your deadlines.”

What a nice guy.

But before Game 2, he didn’t have much interest in answering questions. Clark Wade of Indy Star captured his demeanor in the video below.

Though this is an edited clip and I’m sure he had a few longer responses, you can see that he also came with: Yea. No. Yup. Nope. Yup. Yup.

He certainly must have a lot on his mind.

The key to Game 3 will be containing Jonas Valanciunas. He seemed to beat the Pacers almost single-handedly in Game 2, dominating the paint and generally giving the Raptors complete control throughout the contest.

Given that Ian Mahinmi is dealing with a sore back — but will play in Game 3 — this will be challenging. On the whole roster, only Mahinmi and Myles Turner really have the size to bother Valanciunas, who is probably playing with the most confidence he’s ever had right now. Jordan Hill might be able to hold his own, but he isn’t much of a defender, so putting him on Jonas for anything other than spot, fill-in minutes is likely a recipe for disaster.

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The Pacers will likely also have to deal with an improved output from DeMar DeRozan and/or Kyle Lowry. Paul George has put the clamps on DeRozan in particular, so it’s possible that continues to some degree. But Lowry’s struggles have appeared to be more of the “he’s a bit off” nature rather than anything the Pacers are really. George Hill is certainly playing very good defense against him and that has been a big part of Lowry’s struggles. But he’s also just missing.

The bottom line is that neither have been comfortable so far, shooting a combined 8-for-32 (25.0%) in Game 1 then 9-for-31 (29.0%) shooting night. It’s hard to believe that continues no matter how good the D is.

So Vogel must figure out how to deal with Valanciunas, first, and then ensure his team is prepared from better output from Toronto’s All-Stars