Before the All-Star Game Roy Hibbert averaged 11.8 points a game on 46.4 percent shooting and he pulled down 7.7 rebounds a game. After the All-Star Game that fell to 8.9 points a game on 39 percent shooting and 4.7 rebounds a game. In the final six games of the regular season that had fallen all the way to 5.3 points a game on 23.5 percent shooting and 3.2 rebounds a game. Then in the playoffs he set a record for guy with the most 0/0 games who made the All-Star team that year.
Hibbert was less consistent than Katy Perry’s hair color.
To fix that, Larry Bird wants Hibbert to get a mentor — preferably a Hall of Fame mentor. Here is what Bird said in his end of season interview Monday, as transcribed by ESPN.
For the record, Hibbert has worked out with and befriended Tim Duncan, who is not yet a Hall of Famer only because he is still leading his team to the NBA Finals. Duncan’s consistency of effort and focus would be a good place for Hibbert to start.
While Hibbert, like every player, could use some improvement in technique, that’s not the real issue with the Pacers’ center. His is a matter of confidence, or toughness, or whatever mental attribute you wish to attribute it to. When engaged in games at the end of the season he could still impact a game dramatically at both ends, but he often took a mental holiday during games.
The Pacers players have a lot of soul searching to do about this past season — it was a blown opportunity. They got away from what they do and who they were, and nobody embodied that more than Hibbert. He can be a game changer nightly, but even at 7’2” you have to work a little to grab a rebound.
Bird said not to expect dramatic roster shifts on the Pacers, they are going to have to do this internally. They have to learn from their mistakes and improve. Nobody more than Hibbert, and maybe a mentor can help with that.
