As we all know last season Roy Hibbert had his share of struggles, and with another Pacers playoff exit comes the doubt that this roster nucleus can take them to a NBA title. You have to look at the nucleus of this roster, and as we all know its based around Paul George,Lance Stephenson ( Signed by Charlotte Hornets), and Roy Hibbert. Clearly we aren’t going to blame Paul George for a bulk of their struggles we saw, if anything he was the only bright spot for the Pacers post season.
Since being drafted in 2008 Hibbert’s been a pretty consistent starting Center in the league, but he hasn’t lived up to his potential, just yet. Hibberts biggest strength is obviously his defensive post presence we all know that, but can Hibbert carry a roster that excludes Paul George and Lance Stephenson? The answer is no way. We’ve seen Hibbert take some strides though in his all around game. His post game has made progress, but we aren’t calling him the second coming of Olajuwon which we can’t really say for any other player, but you catch my drift.
Hibbert in 2012-2013 playoffs showed us he might be making some real progress by averaging 17 PPG ,9 REB, and 1.9 BLKs which is what we nearly expect from him on a nightly basis. So what happened in last years playoffs since Hibbert didn’t have the best series at all. To everyone’s surprise the 7’2 big man couldn’t get it going offensively and was certainly no help what so ever on the defensive end.
The Pacers had quite a few issues on and off the court last year towards the end of the year, and I think that played a role in Hibbert’s play on the court. You could see it in the body language of Hibbert that he was having some issues in the locker room and possibly off the court as well.
One factor I’d like to bring into the equation though is coaching. Now I know we all like to take the easy route and blame coaching for losses especially in the playoffs, but in the post season Vogel at times looked like he had no answers for what was happening with his roster especially in The Eastern Conference Finals. The team looked divided on what they wanted to do, and if you’re Frank Vogel you have a 7’2 Center who towers over Miami’s small ball lineup why don’t you feed Hibbert the ball and stick with the gameplan?
Vogel went to Hibbert early at times, but would shy away from that plan and then come back to Hibbert when the game was out of reach. To be fair Hibbert didn’t look himself, and that problem may be out of the locker room now in Lance Stephenson. That’s one reason why I think Hibbert bounces back and will surprise some people.
Do I think things were overblown last season when Hibbert struggled? Yes. When a teams losing the way Indiana did it feels like the sky is falling, but one thing that’ll help solve the problem is a Point Guard. George Hill isn’t a horrible Point Guard, but he should be in a sixth man role in my opinion. If The Pacers add a Point Guard like Eric Bledsoe or Rajon Rondo it will certainly help spread the ball around more. The hard part is adding either of those players.
If Indiana is waiting for Paul George to come back next season you don’t trade Hibbert, but if they want to clear some major cap space trading Roy Hibbert might be for the best since his contract isn’t helping their cap situation, he makes $14 million a year.
If I’m The Pacers though I’m holding onto Hibbert and work on developing him even more this season. Hibbert’s is 27 right now and still has room to grow, but times certainly against him if he wants to be a marquee Center in the league in my opinion.
If Hibbert wants to be apart of The Mount Rushmore of Centers from Georgetown then he needs to work on his offensive game.
Hibbert has been working with Kareem Abdul-Jabaar this summer which will certainly help his post game out more than it hurts him. Now I’m not saying Hibbert is coming out of that with a sky hook, but I look for him to be a bit more polished footwork wise and his decisiveness in what post move he’s going to make instead of being so one dimensional.
Hibbert needs to come out next season with a high motor, and show he wants to be a top 5 Center in the league. Hibbert showed us he can play the full season averaging a double, but now it’s time for him to step it up. Indiana needs to hang on to Hibbert this season and make the decision to deal him or not next off season. Without Lance Stephenson and Paul George will be a very telling story of what the big man can do and what Indiana needs to do to get at one time one of the more promising teams in The East back on track.
