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He's playing so well lately. He does well in the low post and looks ready. His only problem right now is rebounding but he will get better at that in time because he is only a rookie. Rebounding for him was probably a piece of cake in college because he was almost always taller than everyone else. So if he could adjust to playing with guys almost his size he will become better at rebounding soon enough. Bottom line, he is our best Center already and needs to be starting.

He gets too many fouls for such short PT. But why not let him play until he gets 6 fouls? Better than not playing him at all, in my opinion.

GoPacers733 wrote:He gets too many fouls for such short PT. But why not let him play until he gets 6 fouls? Better than not playing him at all, in my opinion.

He's not nearly as bad at that as he was early in the season. Earlier he'd get dumb fouls like reach-ins but today against the Magic he was against the best Center in the league, naturally he is going to get fouls. Foster was even worse about it today actually and he's a veteran.

Foster got some unlucky and iffy calls, but I still agree. Hibbert should get 15 minutes, at least.

Hibbert has been great on defense the last two games. He really is becoming a good player and needs to be on the court. I was very impressed with Rush's defense tonight...hes really shyed away offensively since returning to the lineup, I'd rather see him take it to the rim some more.

I still think it might be a little bit early to give him the reigns. He does have a problem with early foul trouble and has been very productive off the bench. Perhaps the beginning of the next campaign is a time we can look at to see him get the nod.

I dont think that he necessarily needs to start, but he NEEDS 15-20 minutes a night...

bballpacen wrote:I dont think that he necessarily needs to start, but he NEEDS 15-20 minutes a night...

Agree 100%

I'm with the majority, I'd like to see Hibbert give more consistent time, but I think Foster is a steady force.

He's my take:

The Hibbert/Foster debate is very similar to the Ford/Jack debate.

Hibbert, like Ford, has a higher ceiling, but Foster, like Jack, is steadier.

It is similar, but who's to say the minutes are between those? What if Foster also takes some backup PF minutes? Who suffers as a result? Maceo and McBob. Minutes-wise, Hibbert would essentially be taking PT from those two instead of Foster.

Honestly I would rather take all of Rasho's minutes and give them to Hibb rather than giving away any of Foster's.

Hibbert does deserve consistent minutes, even if it's just 15 minutes or so.

Dunleavy17 wrote:Honestly I would rather take all of Rasho's minutes and give them to Hibb rather than giving away any of Foster's.

EXACTLY!! Rasho is gone after this season anyway. Why we are still pretending to be a playoff contender is laughable at this point. Especially considering, even if we were a contender Hibbert would still be an upgrade over Rasho.

Did you guys notice just how little Hibbert played against Washington? This further proves my point that once the rookies play well they get benched.

How many fouls did he have, and what was his +/-?

Those are the questions when putting Hibbert in, and it's still often one or the other, but it's like that for even Foster and Murphy, so I don't see why Hibbert doesn't alleviate the situation more often. Hibbert should be called upon to match up again Ilgauskas tomorrow, or else.

Not playing him against Washington was a wasted opportunity. It would have been great for his confidence playing in front of his hometown fans against another rookie who he supposedly dominated in the pre-draft workouts. I was at the game and there were scattered chants of "Go Roy!" everywhere. It's too bad he was only in there for 4 minutes.