In the wake of Frank Vogel’s decision to bench center Roy Hibbert for the final two defensive possessions of the Heat’s 103-102 win over the Pacers on Wednesday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, the Pacers coach directed some criticism toward Knicks coach Mike Woodson following yesterday’s practice.
“They had a more intelligent plan against Roy Hibbert than New York did, and we’ve got to adjust,” Vogel said following his team’s practice in Miami ahead of tonight’s Game 2.
With Hibbert sitting on the bench for the final 2.2 seconds, LeBron James took the inbounds pass and, after Paul George closed out too quickly, blew by him for an uncontested layup at the buzzer to give the Heat a heart-stopping win and leave the Pacers wondering what might have been.
But Vogel wasn’t willing to admit he messed up by leaving his 7-foot-2 center — who famously stonewalled Carmelo Anthony at the rim on a dunk attempt late in the fourth quarter of Indiana’s closeout win in Game 6 — on the bench for that final play.
“If there’s a mistake I made, I think you should take ownership,” Vogel said. “I don’t know if it was a mistake.”
Vogel chose to remove Hibbert because Miami had five shooters — including big man Chris Bosh, who has 3-point range — on the floor. The Knicks often had Tyson Chandler match up against Hibbert during the conference semifinals, and Hibbert dominated Chandler virtually the entire series.
* Anthony was rewarded for being the NBA’s scoring champion and leading the Knicks to a 54-win season with a place on the All-NBA second team.
LeBron James,
Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Tim Duncan and Chris Paul were named to the first team, selected by a panel of 119 journalistsin the U.S. and Canada.
Anthony had the fifth-most points of any player (397) and 24 first-place votes. Nevertheless, because he finished with far fewer votes than first-team forwards James and Durant he made the second team.
Nets center Brook Lopez fell short of earning a spot on one of the third team.
The Knicks’ Tyson Chandler (19 points, one first-place vote) and Raymond Felton (three points) and the Nets’ Deron Williams (six points) also received support.