Roy Hibbert

[longfellow44]

Just wondered how this guy fits into your lineup. He's an obvious plodder but the rest of the team seems built for speed, can you guys explain how he fits into the offense. Because as is I see a lot of shots are likely to be taken early in the shot clock with o'brien as coach and an athletic group of collison, rush, George, granger, and even hansborough. It would make sense if hibbert were a great rebounder because the guy makes an excellent outlet pass, but he's a poor rebounder and I just can't see him getting down the court in time to be a huge part of the offense.

Please someone explain it to me.

[SnEaKy P]

He isn't a plodder, he is a lot quicker than he gets credit for. As for how he fits into the offense, Bird has already said he wants to go inside more. Hibbert is a great offensive center and we could run the offense through him. The problem is the coach, not the fit. Hibbert is a great passer out of the post and could be the center of the offense if we had a coach who could draw up a play other than "Shoot a 3 in the first 5 seconds." Most people aren't expecting O'Brien to be around next year.

Like I said, he will get his shots. We usually do run the offense through him during the first few minutes of each half - usually with great success. Then O'Brien ignores him the rest of the game. When he is gone, Hibbert will likely become the most important player on the team in my opinion.

He also isn't as bad of a rebounder as everyone makes him out to be. He always took his guy out of the picture and Troy Murphy would get the rebound. Taking his guy out is just as important as the rebound itself. I believe early in the year when we were missing Murphy, that Hibbert was getting double digit rebound games fairly consistantly.

[Kuq_e_Zi91]

Just wondered how this guy fits into your lineup. He's an obvious plodder but the rest of the team seems built for speed, can you guys explain how he fits into the offense. Because as is I see a lot of shots are likely to be taken early in the shot clock with o'brien as coach and an athletic group of collison, rush, George, granger, and even hansborough. It would make sense if hibbert were a great rebounder because the guy makes an excellent outlet pass, but he's a poor rebounder and I just can't see him getting down the court in time to be a huge part of the offense.

Please someone explain it to me.

First of all, Roy is not the same player you saw at Georgetown. Since the first day he got to Indy, he's been in the gym working out constantly. As a result, he has shed a lot of weight and become much quicker since his Hoya days.

As for how he fits, yes he's a bad fit under O'Brien, but O'Brien is on his way out anyway. Still, I think this year we're going to see Roy really break out. No Murphy means no crutch for O'Brien. Too often last season O'Brien didn't show confidence in Roy because he always had the reliable veteran Murphy there. No Murphy also means more rebounds and less fouls. And a point guard (FINALLY!) means much easier looks for everyone. Also, we've had Bill Walton personally work with Roy this summer.

It's going to be an exciting season of growth for a lot of these young guys, Roy in particular.

[longfellow44]

^^the issue I have with that is there is a big difference between speed and quickness. Speed is end to end stuff, getting back on defense, keeping up on offense. Quickness is short bursts forward back or laterally. Hibbert has decent quickness but the guy is slow. I just don't understand how he is going to keep up with your perimeter players enough to consistently be involved in the offense. Obrien seems determined to be a fast high scoring team and I feel that leaves hibbert out in the cold.

What would be great is if you guys got rid of obrien and hired Jeff van gundy. He would be perfect he can seriously use your roster ^^the right way and take full advantage of hibbert .

[Kuq_e_Zi91]

I understand your concern, but I honestly don't remember ever thinking that Roy was really trailing a play last year. In fact, often he was ahead of the pack.

What he lacks in flat-out speed, I think he makes up for in hustle and heart. He's always fired up, always leaving everything out on the floor, and always trying his hardest to be the first one down on offense to establish his position on the low block. It was just a shame that more often than not all of that was for naught last season, because Murphy would just trail the play and fire away a three from the top of the arc.

[longfellow44]

Don't get me wrong I don't have a problem with hibbert, I just think that he belongs in a half court offense. And for the health of the league the NBA needs a good team in Indiana. Hopefully bird takes my advice and does everything possible to get van gundy to coach again and take over the pacers. His experience with Yao would be invaluable where hibbert is concerned.

[Miller4ever]

He would do better in a half-court offense. Van Gundy might not do well in Indy.

[jowglenn]

Oh man i would love van gundy.

Jeff, right?

[colts2004]

Id take Jeff Van Gundy! Rather have Mike Brown back or give Mark Jackson a chance but Van Gundy is a good coach

[KennerLeaguer]

Just wondered how this guy fits into your lineup. He's an obvious plodder but the rest of the team seems built for speed, can you guys explain how he fits into the offense. Because as is I see a lot of shots are likely to be taken early in the shot clock with o'brien as coach and an athletic group of collison, rush, George, granger, and even hansborough. It would make sense if hibbert were a great rebounder because the guy makes an excellent outlet pass, but he's a poor rebounder and I just can't see him getting down the court in time to be a huge part of the offense.

Please someone explain it to me.

Good God. Are ignornat bball fans still calling Hibbert a plodder? Yes, he is far from swift but he gets up and down the floor much better than people give him credit for. He was drafted by a team that perhaps plays the worst style for a guy like him and yet he still manages to keep up and get better. And for your information he is probably the Pacers' second most effective person on offense after Granger.

[Wizop]

O'B is pretty stubborn on insisting upon his system once the season begins but he does spend a lot of time in the summer thinking about how to tweak the system. I remember talking to him at a season ticket holder event last summer and it was clear that he and Harter had spent a ton of time thinking about changes to the defense. of course, once the year began he stuck with his summer decision on how to defend pick and rolls even though it seemed obvious to me that the only answer was to play more zone. oh, well. I'm hoping he has thought about playing Hibbert as more of a high post center this year to take advantage of his passing skills and I made that exact suggestion to him at a charity event last March. time will tell.

I do think trading Murphy will help Roy. on defense, he got a lot of fouls trying to help out on the guys who had driven around Troy, and on offense, Troy didn't do much cutting so Roy could pass him the ball inside.

[BigSlam]

I'm a massive Hibbert fan.

I was when he was at GT, still am now he is with you guys. He has the potential to be that "missing piece" type player for a team like the Bobcats. I could see Larry "Mr Methodical/play the right way/half court offense" Brown wetting his pants having a player with the size, skill set and BBIQ of big Roy to shape and work with. Teaming Roy with the likes of Tyrus at the 4, Crash at the 3 and Jax at the 2 would be something else.

But instead we came to the party 3 picks too late and got stuck with the Frenchie (Ajinca) instead.

If we had walked away from the 08 draft with Augustin and Hibbert I would have been over the moon and if we had Roy on our roster right now I think we would be in a very good place.

Give him to us. Please? We'll take real good care of him!!

[KennerLeaguer]

I'm a massive Hibbert fan.

I was when he was at GT, still am now he is with you guys. He has the potential to be that "missing piece" type player for a team like the Bobcats. I could see Larry "Mr Methodical/play the right way/half court offense" Brown wetting his pants having a player with the size, skill set and BBIQ of big Roy to shape and work with. Teaming Roy with the likes of Tyrus at the 4, Crash at the 3 and Jax at the 2 would be something else.

But instead we came to the party 3 picks too late and got stuck with the Frenchie (Ajinca) instead.

If we had walked away from the 08 draft with Augustin and Hibbert I would have been over the moon and if we had Roy on our roster right now I think we would be in a very good place.

Give him to us. Please? We'll take real good care of him!!

Larry Brown tried. He was able to secure another first round pick and was going to use it to get Hibbert whom he was impressed by in the workouts (although he tried to play it down). Unfortunately for Brown another Larry (Bird) was able to get an extra first round pick for his team as well, the Pacers. Bird used that second first round pick to draft Roy leaving Brown to scramble and pick up Ajinca. What a major difference between those two player, huh?

The ironic thing however is that Larry Brown would have used Hibbert mch better these past two seasons than O'Brien has in Indy.

[Downtown]

Hi there. I'm a Seattle fan who now follows the whole league rather than one team( I couldn't possibly like OKC), although I do pay close attention to Memphis. I think Hibbert is the type of player that could have a long career and be a player like Brendan Haywood. If you had someone like Larry Sanders next to him I think your team would have an amazing turnaround with a young team that could mature together. I agree that Collison, George, Granger(healthy), and Rush are going to give your team a great future. Finding the right power forward to combine with Hibbert is the key to really pulling it together.

Memphis went from a poor rebounding team that got pushed around to one having one of the best rebounding tandems and inside scoring, plus being physical and grinding other teams down once they found the right combination with Randolph and Gasol.

It's too bad you couldn't have got Luis Scola in free agency. He is smart, skilled, and plays tough and would have been a great compliment to Hibbert. Good luck in the search and I hope you find the right player for power forward. I know of the rumors of trying to get a big name power forward now but if your management stays patient my guess is that one of your expiring contracts will be extremely valueable at the trade deadline and will land you the player you need.

[BigSlam]

Larry Brown tried. He was able to secure another first round pick and was going to use it to get Hibbert whom he was impressed by in the workouts (although he tried to play it down). Unfortunately for Brown another Larry (Bird) was able to get an extra first round pick for his team as well, the Pacers.

Didn't the Raps draft Roy and you guys traded Jermaine O'Neal and Nathan Jawai for T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, Roy Hibbert and some other scrub?

Agreed though, a lot of us truly felt that Roy was our target that year. The feeling was that we wanted Roy, Hickson or Ajinca (who also really impressed at our work out). Of course, the 1st two went before we had a chance to nab them leaving us with the Frenchie.

Bird used that second first round pick to draft Roy leaving Brown to scramble and pick up Ajinca. What a major difference between those two player, huh

Massive. You have no idea how sad that makes me!! I REALLY wanted Roy!

The ironic thing however is that Larry Brown would have used Hibbert mch better these past two seasons than O'Brien has in Indy.

Roy would have really grown under LB and our game style would have suited him perfectly. It's such a shame.

[jarrettjackfan]

Roy is obviously our starting center, there is no question to that.

I'm not sure why everyone just thinks he's slow. He's worked hard and gotten a lot quicker on his feet. This summer, I'm pretty sure he's been working on quickness, and even more low-post moves. He's easily one of our top-3 players this coming season.

1. Danny Granger
2. Darren Collison
3. Roy Hibbert

So obviously he will be asked to do some low-post scoring. He improved a lot last season, and he's improved a lot so far this summer, I think he'll be a top-15 center in the NBA this year.

[KennerLeaguer]

Larry Brown tried. He was able to secure another first round pick and was going to use it to get Hibbert whom he was impressed by in the workouts (although he tried to play it down). Unfortunately for Brown another Larry (Bird) was able to get an extra first round pick for his team as well, the Pacers.

Didn't the Raps draft Roy and you guys traded Jermaine O'Neal and Nathan Jawai for T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, Roy Hibbert and some other scrub?

It was a well known rumor before the draft that the Pacers and Raptors were going to do a trade, with the Pacers getting an extra pick out of the swap as well. When Stern went to the podium to announce "Toronto's pick" at #17, those keeping up with current events understood the Raps were picking for the Pacers.