8p9s Roundtable: What to Expect from the Pacers in Game 7
By Ben Gibson
The 8 Points, 9 Seconds Roundtable talks about the Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors in Game 7.
Game 7 tips off in just a few hours and the Pacers and Raptors have just 48 minutes to decide who goes on to the second round.
With Indiana fans expecting disappointment and Toronto bracing for another first round exit, the series has a strange feeling where both sides are anxious as game time approaches.
With all that in mind, we gather the 8 Points, 9 Seconds staff to answer 5 questions about the end of this playoff series.
Who lost Game 5? The players or Frank Vogel?
Whitney Medworth: It was a combination. Frank should have never let an entire bench unit match up in the 4th with Lowry and DeRozan. By the time the starters got in the momentum was too far gone. That said, Stuckey make those two missed free throws. Pacers don’t turn the ball over, they still can win that game.
Will Furr: The players. Frank Vogel can’t play his starters for 48 minutes a night. C.J. Miles couldn’t buy a bucket, Ty Lawson did nothing, and Rodney Stuckey had an unthinkably bad performance on all fronts. You can argue that Vogel should play starters with the bench guys, but the Pacers starters are crushing Toronto for the most part, and breaking that up might take away the biggest Pacers advantage in the series.
More from 8 Points, 9 Seconds
- 2 Studs, 1 dud from gut-wrenching Indiana Pacers loss to Charlotte Hornets
- Handing out early-season grades for Pacers’ Bruce Brown, Obi Toppin
- 3 positives, 2 negatives in Pacers In-Season Tournament win vs. Cavaliers
- 2 positives, 3 negatives from first week of Indiana Pacers basketball
- Should Isaiah Jackson’s days with Indiana Pacers be numbered?
Ryan Barth: Frank Vogel. You have to really monitor momentum in the playoffs (especially on the road) as the head coach and he took a big dump in the 4th. He didn’t miss the shots and get careless on defense himself, but he did observe it rather closely for 10+ minutes without much of a plan.
Ryan Eggers: Ultimately, the players are responsible for the results of each game, as shown by the turnaround in Game 6. Vogel can’t force them to make shots. However, it’s obvious that Vogel was unwilling to adjust his lineup and it played a huge role in the downfall of the fourth quarter.
Jon Washburn: The players. Perhaps you think Vogel made a few rotation mistakes. That’s fine. I won’t argue with you. But Rodney Stuckey, Ty Lawson, and C.J. Miles picked the worst possible moment to have their worst games of the season…the same game together in game 5. Vogel wasn’t forcing them to miss open layups and fall out of bounds while dribbling. It’s a players’ league, and the Pacers players lost that game.
Next: Rebounding From Game 5