Roy Hibbert: Should He Be in MVP Consideration?

Dec 7, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert (55) and San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (21) battle for rebounding position during the first half at AT

I have to give some love to Chris Sheridan for his latest MVP Rankings as he’s got TWO Indiana Pacers in the latest post.  I like to repeat things, so that they can officially stick in your brain.  TWO Indiana Pacers in the latest MVP rankings.  Paul George sits at the top of the list, but another face shows up that maybe you had not considered for Most Valuable Player.  That player being Roy Hibbert.  The big man who’s celebrating a birthday today is right there in the sixth spot.  Just let that sink in for a minute.

When you think about it, why not have Roy Hibbert in this discussion?  If you take the award for it’s actual meaning, MOST VALUABLE, sure Paul George is the top player for the Indiana Pacers.  But what about the value of Roy Hibbert?  Isn’t there value on the defensive side of things?  Or keeping a ball alive with rebounding?  Or getting a basket near the rim for Indiana?

Roy Hibbert isn’t going to blow you away with scoring and his offensive game, but he does enough that I believe he’s quite valuable and should at least be considered.  To me, that would go to show how special this Indiana team is right now. The fact that Mr. Sheridan even brings up this facet of Roy Hibbert is saying something.

“ROY HIBBERT, C, INDIANA: The big fella gets a big bump because we are showing a little extra love to the Pacers in the wake of their big wins over Miami and at San Antonio. There is a depression in my sofa where I sat watching Pacers games for more time over the past week than I’d care to recall, and I also cannot recall exactly how many times I saw this guy keeps possessions alive with offensive rebounds and disrupt opponents with his shot-blocking and shot-altering. What do coaches always say? “Defense and rebounding wins championships.”

That comes straight from the post, and when you look at how well Hibbert has done in some of the bigger games for Indiana, he’s got to be talked about in this light.  Now the only thing that does hurt Hibbert’s game is the consistency.  One night, he will go out and get 20 points, but the next game, it might be less than 10.  That is what hurts Hibbert when talking about the offensive side of things for him.

If he can keep up his scoring in that 15-17 range, it would be ideal. But then again, how often is Hibbert going to be a big scoring option for the Pacers? They can’t play Miami all the time, who seemed to have little answer for him last night as he went off for 24 points.  He averaged around 22 in the playoffs last season against them.  When it comes to that series, the Pacers have to look to exploit that more often.

Roy Hibbert is quite valuable for this team, and while he probably won’t get any consideration at the end of the team, if I had to pick MVP just for the Indiana Pacers, he’d be right up there behind Paul George.  If Hibbert can establish himself even more, it might be a little longer discussion as well.