With the development of Ian Mahinmi and the unbelievably explosive growth of 19-year-old rookie Myles Turner, Vogel has turned to a lineup that gives him his best chance to win.

The date was Nov. 25, 2015, one day after the Indiana Pacers had terrorized the Washington Wizards with a flurry of three-point shots, moving their record to 9-5 to start the season. Those were heady times, the Pacers showing they could play an advanced version of small ball, creating the early impression this team might be the junior varsity version of the Golden State Warriors.

We were standing around after practice that day, shooting the bull with head coach Frank Vogel, when he said the following:

“We don’t use the word `smashmouth’ around here anymore,’’ he said, flashing a huge smile.

Now, fast forward to Feb. 1, roughly 15 minutes after the Pacers lost a 111-106 overtime game to the Cleveland Cavaliers, a game that featured yet another in a frighteningly long line of late-game gaffes.

Here is what Vogel, who was unusually sanguine after another late-game loss, uttered: “That’s what we’re evolving back into, a dominant defensive unit that plays great big, plays smashmouth basketball, dominates with defense and rebounding.’’

Wait, we thought “smashmouth’’ had been officially expunged from the Pacers’ lexicon. So can we officially call this a “smashmouth’’ basketball team again?

“Yes,’’ Vogel said.

So…smashmouth basketball is back in Indiana. This may not make Larry Bird terribly happy; he rebuilt the Pacers to be a run-and-gun outfit, and even said in a recent interview that he was on the “same page’’ as his head coach. But with the development of Ian Mahinmi and the unbelievably explosive growth of 19-year-old rookie Myles Turner, Vogel has turned to a lineup that gives him his best chance to win. Now, tomorrow and for the future.



KRAVITZ: It’s time, even past time, to give Pacers’ Myles Turner more significant minutes

For a while, small ball held so much promise. C.J. Miles was incredible from behind the 3-point line. Paul George was enjoying a career month-and-change. The Pacers, it appeared, had caught the wave of the NBA future, starting the season 12-5 and looking like a team that could challenge Cleveland in the Eastern Conference. But then it all started going south, slowly at first and then gained momentum, and soon, Vogel tired of the concept.

I’m stealing this from long-time Pacers writer Conrad Brunner of 1070thefan.com: The Pacers started with the spread lineup in 21 of their first 32 games. More recently, they’ve used it just twice in their last 16 games. They were 11-12 with the small lineup. Now they’re 14-11 with the big lineup. (Thank you, Bruno).



READ MORE BY BOB KRAVITZ.

The biggest reason is the 6-11 rookie with the interesting hairstyle: Myles Turner. The Pacers knew they had a promising player when they drafted him – they were shocked when he was still available with the 11th pick -- but didn’t figure he would be a major cog for some time yet. For crying out loud, he’s 19 years old. But then he came back from his injury, and he has become the most compelling new athlete on the scene since Andrew Luck was drafted by the Colts. His energy, his passion, his offensive game and his rim protection have made it impossible for Vogel to stay with small ball. Can you blame him? The best coaches build around the talent at their disposal; it would have been professional malpractice for Vogel to stay small and consign Turner to a backup role.

And yet…

He’s 19 years old (which we mentioned). He’s a rookie (which we mentioned). And while he played a terrific game Monday night, even blocking LeBron James at the rim with a play that recalled Roy Hibbert stuffing Carmelo Anthony, it was his rookie mistake that contributed to the Pacers’ ultimate undoing in this game.

Let’s take you to the Pacers’ final possession of regulation. There were 20.7 seconds left in a 96-96 game, a chance for Indiana to pull off its biggest victory of the season. Monta Ellis, who had a rough shooting night after two fabulous games, stood in the frontcourt and dribbled. And dribbled. And dribbled. It was as if Travis Best had invaded his soul. The clock ran down, to 10 and 9 and 8 and 7, and nothing was happening.

What was supposed to be happening was this: Turner was supposed to set a down screen, then pop out up high and set a pick for Ellis. Except Turner set the down screen and then did nothing. And the clock ran…6 and 5 and 4. Finally, Ellis, a panic-stricken and confused look on his face, figured he’d better do something. So he made a move and ended up taking an impossible fall-away 17-footer while listing badly to his left. No good, no chance. Overtime.

As the team walked back to the sidelines, coaches and players not-so-gently pointed out the rookie’s mistake. But he knew. He knew what he was supposed to do; he just forgot to do it, which happens when you rely on 19-year-olds to execute at the end of a winnable game in just their fourth start. As Turner approached the bench, he said, “my bad,’’ apologized to the team and then his teammates told him to shut up, that without him, the Pacers wouldn’t have been in position to win.

“We forgot to set a screen, but it’s my fault,’’ Vogel said. And this wasn’t one of those “coach takes the blame for his team’s missteps’’ types of mea culpas. No, Vogel really meant it, repeated it a couple of times, just so there wasn’t some misunderstanding. “That last play (of regulation) was on me. I’ve got a young kid in a crunch time situation. I need to look him in the eye and tell him what to do. It’s on me. He played a great game.’’



READ MORE ABOUT THE INDIANA PACERS.

After the game, we naturally had to ask Turner about the block on James – “It was surreal,’’ he said. “One I’ll put in my scrapbook.’’ – but we also had to ask about the mental lapse. It wasn’t terribly different from the mistake he made at the end of the Denver game Saturday, when he took the wrong angle on a screen on the Pacers’ final possession of regulation and left Ellis with nowhere to go. Experience isn’t just the best teacher, it’s the only teacher, as Turner is finding out the hard way.

So we asked the question and Turner threw his head back and his eyes rolled to the top of his head.

“That was all on me,’’ he said. “I kind of forgot the play. I forgot the play and that’s frustrating…I put my teammates in a rough position doing that.’’

The only guy who wasn’t taking ownership of this loss was the player who should have taken ownership, and that’s Paul George.

He finished with 11 points on 3-of-15 shooting, and while he had eight assists, he also had five turnovers and spent some time on the bench with foul troubles. But after the game, George was all-too-typical George.

During a question about his poor performance, it was noted that he spent most of the game defending James.

“It wasn’t really that, just some LeBron fans out there, but that’s another story,’’ he said. “We just lost a close game.’’

Um…what?

Then he offered up this all-too-familiar refrain: “I thought I was aggressive attacking; obviously the calls weren’t going my way tonight,’’ he said. “It happens.’’



KRAVITZ: As Larry Bird might say, the Pacers were "soft, S-O-F-T" in loss to Washington

Note to George: Quit whining. Take ownership of a poor game. That’s what stars do. They don’t complain about the number of James fans in the stands, or the officials, or El Nino.

Understand, the Pacers still had a chance, an outside chance, to tie this game, trailing 109-106 with 13.7 seconds left in overtime. George had the ball, made no effort to challenge James on the perimeter, then sent an awkward pass to George Hill. Hill then took a rushed shot – it would have been a two-pointer – that wasn’t close. Ballgame.

Seen this movie before? The Pacers are 3-7 in one-possession games, seven losses being the most in the league in that category. This was a five-point game, so not technically a one-possession game, but if you saw it, you know otherwise: It was a one-possession game.

Twice.

And the Pacers’ execution was comically awful.

The shame of it is, this was a winnable game. James was ordinary, scoring just seven points in the second half and overtime. The Pacers big men were terrific: Jordan Hill (17 points), Lavoy Allen (eight points and seven rebounds) and Turner (14 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots). The Indiana bench out-scored Cleveland’s bench 27-10. And the defense was reminiscent of old Pacers’ teams, limiting Cleveland to 36 points in the second half.

But there was a now-typical lack of late-game execution. And George having a nightmare game. And Ellis making just 5-of-18 shots and committing six turnovers.

All is not lost, though, because after all this time, the Pacers finally have discovered – or re-discovered – their essential identity. That may explain why Vogel looked and sounded happier than most coaches coming off a big victory, much less a gut-punch overtime loss at home. He even said the Word That Shall Not Be Uttered – “smashmouth’’ – with a distinct amount of enthusiasm. It’s like Vogel, and his team, have gone home again, to some place warm and familiar.

“Look, there were plenty of positives tonight,’’ Vogel said. “We’re an improving basketball team, an evolving basketball team. We’ve made some significant changes in who we are this past week and I’ve seen great results in how we’re playing…We’ve changed. We’ve changed and we’ve got great promise to have a very, very strong second half of the season.’’