At this point—with the Bulls out of the mix—just about everyone has the Heat penciled into the NBA Finals. If you don't, you're either: A) A huge LeBron James hater, B) Incredibly stupid, or C) The jackass who drew the Sixers in the office pool. Regardless, you're probably going to end up disappointed in a few weeks when the Heat are in the Finals.
But, just because the Heat are the favorites doesn't mean they don't have to play the rest of their Eastern Conference games. And, Pacers coach Frank Vogel let them known that in no uncertain terms when he unleashed a huge accusation against Bron-Bron & Co. yesterday and officially got the Pacers/Heat second-round series off to a hell of a start.
"They are the biggest flopping team in the NBA," he said. "It will be very interesting to see how the referees officiate this series and how much flopping they reward. Every time you drive to the basket, they've got guys not making a play on the ball but sliding in front of drivers. Often times they're falling down before contact is even made. It'll be very interesting to see how this series is officiated."
He didn't stop there, either. Vogel also said that his team isn't shying away from the Heat and that he doesn't feel like they're huge underdogs against them.
"I think we're embracing the challenge," he said. "We feel like we're one of the best teams in the league. We are not viewing this in any way, shape, or form like a David-versus-Goliath type of meeting. We are not the underdog here."
Yikes. If you weren't excited for the Pacers/Heat series before, get excited now. Because, while we fully expect the Heat to come out on top, it's gonna be interesting to see how both teams come out and respond to all of those comments. See you guys on Sunday.
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[via Sun Sentinel]
