Roy Hibbert Rejects 7 Philadelphia Shots
By Ben Gibson
The Indiana Pacers wore down the young Philadelphia 76ers in an 103-91 victory at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and Roy Hibbert looked to be back to being the dominating Roy Hibbert we once knew. The Pacers only returning starter posted 22 points, 8 rebounds and 7 blocks on Wednesday night.
Let’s count those blocks again real quick.
Hibbert’s strong play was a pleasant surprise as the big fella struggled down the stretch and into the playoffs last year, leaving many fans wondering if he had lost his ability to play anywhere near an All-Star level. Though the opponent is tanking faster than scientist thought possible, it it good to see Hibbert looking like he was back on track to being a factor on both ends of the floor. He’ll face tougher competition on Friday against Memphis with Marc Gasol, Tony Allen, and Zach Randolph, but taking care of business against the 76ers is a good first step.
Roy knew he had to change after last season, and this was a step in the right direction. Candace Buckner’s article on those changes highlighted some of the simple things Hibbert knew addressed and fixed.
"“The only person who could fix this whole mess that I got myself into,” Hibbert says, “is me.”The Pacers can only hope that their big man can fix more than just himself.Over the summer, Paul George, the principal player in the Pacers’ script, broke his leg and now takes tender steps on the season-long road to recovery. Before that, another rising star, Lance Stephenson, exercised his free agent rights and left Indiana. Then, this month, starters David West and George Hill needed to be bubble-wrapped: both will be sidelined with injuries for the start of the regular season.All that’s left from that core, once believed to be strong enough to compete for the crown of the Eastern Conference, is a two-time All-Star center whose consistency can be as shaky as his self-assurance.“He really lost sight of what worked and what didn’t work,” says Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, evaluating his latest pupil. “Things just seemed to fall apart, but that’s behind us.”This summer, instead of committing to bulking up in the weight room, Hibbert turned within. More specifically, he turned to yoga, Pilates and, of course, Kareem. He meditates. He eats an insane amount of asparagus but also leaves room for the good stuff like pulled BBQ chicken sandwiches that dropped his weight to 274 at the start of camp."
Yoga, Pilates, and Jabbar aren’t going to fix everything, but they are all part of getting Hibbert back to a place where he’s confident and dominant. All the things he worked on this summer weren’t as so much trying to turn him into a better center as much as they were to get him back on track with his career. It was only one game, but Hibbert looked liked he might have have found that balance.
Though there is little reason to recalibrate preseason hopes and predictions, it was nice to have a little excitement back in Indiana, and have Roy Hibbert providing it.