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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: PACERS v HEATJune 2, 2013Frank VogelMIAMI, FLORIDA: Practice Day Q. Do you want your guys to look at Game 7 as kind of a unique, separate entity, or is it just another game with higher stakes? COACH FRANK VOGEL: I don't know. I guess that's a tough question. I think we're looking to go in and get a win and execute to plan. That's really‑‑ my whole focus is just doing whatever I can do to get these guys to go out and execute the plan at the highest level. Q. You don't have any personal experience in Game 7s, but do you draw upon Brian or even Ian, guys who have actually been there? COACH FRANK VOGEL: Yeah, we'll talk to those guys in our staff meetings with the coaching staff. Jim Boylen has won two championships in Houston. Dan Burke has been to The Finals a couple of times. Got a wealth of experience in my coaching staff, and we'll talk about the experiences of Game 7 and see if it makes sense to share some of those with our team. Q. Coach, Hibbert apologized. Saw the e‑mail about some of the comments last night after the game. How do you make sure that's not a distraction and guys aren't (Indiscernible)? COACH FRANK VOGEL: Yeah, I just talked to him. He obviously made a great mistake. He's very contrite, feels horribly about it. But I talked to him and just basically said we've got to move on from it. I know you feel terrible and you want to take words back, but you got to‑‑ you issued your statement, and you have to move on from it and get your focus back on Game 7. Q. Did you approach him after you heard about it? COACH FRANK VOGEL: I talked to him this morning. Q. You talked to him this morning when you heard it? COACH FRANK VOGEL: Yes, I called him. Q. Can you share just the gist of it? COACH FRANK VOGEL: It was simple. Just I support him. I know he's not that person to do something like that or use those words, you know, and that it was a mistake. He knows he's wrong. I don't have to tell him he's wrong. He knows that. Just to understand we all love him, and we're going to help him move past it very quickly. Q. Game 7s are thought of as like a separate entity. Is it really any different than a closeout or an elimination game? I know it's both of you guys. Is it really that different? COACH FRANK VOGEL: Well, it is both. It is a closeout game and an elimination game. Our approach right now is not if we lose we're out. Our approach is if we win, we get to The Finals. And that's what we're going for. We're going to give our best shot and try to win the Eastern Conference championship. Q. Do you have to tell them pack for six days again? COACH FRANK VOGEL: We did. Eight days, I think is what they told me. I didn't do the math, but I think it's eight days. Q. Is it eight days? I only packed for five. COACH FRANK VOGEL: Yes. I might have a laundry bill somewhere along the way. Q. We see the emotions coming out from both teams late in Game 6 and probably will carry into Game 6. How do you contain that and keep the focus that you've been talking about here? COACH FRANK VOGEL: We just have to talk about it. We have to talk about the poise and the understanding of what the adrenaline is going to do to your body, and that the mental approach and the mental aspect is every bit as important as anything you do physically; to handle that adrenaline and that excitement or disappointment, if things aren't going your way, throughout the course of the game and have a great focus to overcome all of that and execute the plan. Q. Do you derive some encouragement from the fact that six out of eight halves basically you played them even or I think better than them in American Airlines Arena? COACH FRANK VOGEL: Yeah, we do draw confidence from that. And we believe we can win there. We believe we can win the series. We always have. We haven't been perfect this series, but we're going to need to be near perfect to win a Game 7 there. Q. Your team has been successful defending the three‑point shot this year. Aside from the first half, your guys have really run them off the line and contested everything. What's the principle of your defense that allows you to be so successful there? COACH FRANK VOGEL: A lot of great defensive minds will talk about help‑‑ you have to be a great help defensive team. I like to think that we're not‑‑ we're not a help defensive team. We're a stay home and minimize the need to help as much as possible. And I think that's, you know, the way that we've been able to guard the paint and to stay home on (indiscernible.) Q. Is part of that knowing you have Roy to sit in the paint? COACH FRANK VOGEL: No question. Roy Hibbert is as important as anybody on this team. But also the length that we have at all the other positions as well. Paul George and George Hill in particular, with David West and Lance Stephenson with great length and great hands. And our bench as well. But it all really starts with Roy's ability to protect the rim. Q. Is Game 7 kind of what you live for? COACH FRANK VOGEL: Absolutely. Competing for a championship is what you live for. If it was three games to zero and we were trying to get to The Finals, it would be the same. I don't know if it's the Game 7 moment as much as it is just the opportunity to get to the NBA Finals. Q. Frank, given the way things have unfolded in the series, it's really not the way the team has been all year. But with Paul and David and Roy, are they sort of emerging now as your big three, so to speak? COACH FRANK VOGEL: Absolutely. You know, they're rising to the challenge. And Lance and George have had their moments where they've pole‑vaulted us through some tough stretches as well. Really just a team effort, but those three guys are just playing at an extraordinarily high level, and I'm very proud of them. Q. Coach, more importantly, how is David feeling today? Is that fever down? COACH FRANK VOGEL: I don't know. I don't know. I haven't gotten an update on David yet. Q. Did you have to quarantine him from everybody else to keep it from spreading? COACH FRANK VOGEL: We thought about it. But we thought maybe it would be best if he was at the game. We wanted him here. Thanks. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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