Roy Hibbert: The Indiana Pacers Scapegoat

I’ll wait a moment.

https://twitter.com/NykeFaller/status/617449004285186048

That’s what you’ll roughly find. No need to add in “trash” or “sucks,” these are the standard responses people have in response to Roy Hibbert. In fact almost every time we have posted anything on Roy Hibbert since the tail end of the 2013-14 season, there was at least one “trade ’em” comment. Obviously when Roy is at his worst it is easy to say this and at least in this moment his critics are right.

But has he actually gotten any worse? I don’t think he did.

I think perception or even just foolish delusion created expectations for Roy Hibbert that he was never going meet.

Roy Hibbert's defensive shot chart. That rim protection! pic.twitter.com/D3q31i6iYq
— Drew Garrison (@DrewGarrisonSBN) July 5, 2015

Since emerging into a top-tier defender, Roy Hibbert has been best known for protecting the rim and popularizing the concept of verticality in the league. In 2013-14, opponents shot 41.1% at the basket when Hibbert was protecting the rim. This season, that rate rose to 42.4%. This isn’t a big change especially when you factor in how often he was playing without David West, George Hill or Paul George — not to mention never playing with Lance Stephenson.

In the 2013 conference finals, Hibbert averaged 22.1 points and 10.4 rebounds a game. Those numbers weren’t really sustainable. That isn’t a knock on Hibbert. That’s just reality, as he has scored 20 or more points 61 times in his 533 games the Pacers. So because he never lived up the expectations fans got what only happened 11.4% of the time he’s suddenly trash?

He still is a steadfast defender who allowed Indiana to stick to Frank Vogel’s defensive plan of funneling shooters into the 7’2″ big man or letting them take mid-range shots. This strategy keeps Hibbert’s rebound totals low since he is so focused on other duties, but Indiana has long been one of the best defensive rebounding teams in the league and they still were last year, finishing second behind only the Charlotte Hornets, per NBA.com. Yes, it is fun to mock a man as big as Hibbert for not grabbing more missed shots, but that’s not his job. And other than his few truly wretched efforts — those zero/zero games in the 2014 playoffs — this doesn’t harm the team whatsoever.

Individually, there has been a slight rise in his defensive rating, as it went above 100 in 2014-15 for the first time in three years. But the increase wasn’t to the point you’d think Hibbert had fallen off the wagon as a defender. Other than the rare great 3-point shooting center, Hibbert could handle his business pretty well against almost anyone. But when could sit back and protect the rim, few in the NBA were doing it better.

So were people really expecting him to become a 20-point per a night menace?

Is that just because he is 7’2″?

According to a Forbes article you are 17% more likely to be in the NBA if you are 7-foot or taller it doesn’t mean you are going to be great at everything. There are only 42 players listed over 7-foot that played last season according to Real GM yet only 20 averaged over 10-points a game, including Roy Hibbert. It isn’t as simple as “Be tall, score points.” This isn’t 1991 anymore. Yes, Hibbert averaged 10.6 points a game last season, but that is not far below his career average of 11.1.

Most of the frustration seems to have came from the fact that without Paul George or Lance Stephenson to take away shooting chances, Roy Hibbert’s numbers stayed the same.

Candace Buckner summed it up in her eulogy to the Pacers’ smash-mouth identity.

"Last season, Hibbert played the most games of any of the remaining players from the Pacers’ once-heralded core. In those 76 games, Hibbert did not bear the burden for the lost season. However, he also didn’t provide the promise that better days could come. Hibbert became an afterthought near the end, only playing 23 minutes a night during the final 12 regular-season games. Overall, Hibbert averaged only 10.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks — numbers actually on par with his 2013-14 All-Star season but still uninspiring to his bosses."

While Buckner pointed out that Hibbert was playing at about the same level, others have jumped on the anti-Hibbert bandwagon with gusto.

Consider Indianapolis Star columnist Gregg Doyle’s Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde flip over the past week. Just a week ago he called for Indiana Pacers fans to calm down and stop embarrassing Indiana. His tune changed when Hibbert was traded.

"Hibbert is going to the Lakers, which takes his $15.5 million off Indiana’s books. What will the Pacers get for Hibbert, and what will they do with the leftover money? As of this writing I don’t know, and I don’t care. Get a backup power forward, a third-string guard, a lump of used ankle tape. Whatever."

He even closes out with the line, “In other words, the anti-Hibbert way.”

But why?

In the 2013 conference finals, Hibbert averaged 22.1 points and 10.4 rebounds a game, but that had a lot to do with the fact the Miami Heat had no one to match-up against him. Those numbers weren’t really sustainable. That isn’t a knock on Hibbert. That’s just reality, as he has scored 20 or more points 61 times in his 533 games the Pacers.

So were fans expecting him to suddenly find an offensive game when he only scored 20+ point around 11.4% of the time. That’s just a little more than the chance Indiana had to get a top three pick in the draft this season. It would have been great for either to happen but the odds were not in Indiana’s favor.

So because he never lived up the expectations fans got what only happened 11% of the time he’s suddenly trash?

I don’t believe that.

It is easy to paint Roy Hibbert as the scapegoat, and why not? He wasn’t going to come back a year from now anyway. He’s headed to Los Angeles and it is easier to kick his ass on the way out.

But people forget so quickly how even the history of the smash-mouth era of Pacers basketball could have ended before it ever really got going if it weren’t for Hibbert.

Hibbert doesn’t block Carmelo Anthony’s dunk, and their 2013 second-round series against the Knicks ends up going to a Game 7 in New York. Maybe the Pacers lose and we don’t get a great Eastern Conference finals against the Heat?

Hibbert was never suppose to be an offensive scoring machine for Indiana. He was there to block and alter shots. Indiana’s entire defensive plan has been based around that. If Hibbert wasn’t Hibbert then it doesn’t work.

If you want Hibbert to be your scapegoat for Indiana’s problems go ahead. But just because he didn’t live up to that 11%, it doesn’t mean he was trash and you would be foolish to think that.

The Lakers terrible defense will get better with him guarding the paint and he will still probably score 10 points a game or more. The smash-mouth approach Indiana had in recent years was powered by Hibbert and West, but with it came a much slower pace. Indiana wanted to get faster and quicker and Hibbert wasn’t going to fit that mold.

Hibbert never changed, and the Pacers did. The Pacers are changing their approach to basketball and Roy Hibbert’s lack of offense doesn’t fit with Bird’s plan and that’s fine. It was time for Hibbert to leave and take his top-level rim protection with him.

The Pacers are headed one direction, he’s headed another.

Let’s just leave it at that.

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