Roy Hibbert Discussion 2015-16: No Buyout

I like Roy a lot, but he's playing his way away from a big time contract... His confidence looks shaken out there. This is the Roy that Indiana wanted to get away from.

 

Actually I'd be more comfortable if he were spacing the floor for the guys to get to the rim. He can knock down that baseline 15-17 footer consistently enough I think. You're right about his rotation being a problem, but it's not his fault exactly. Our guys do a terrible job recovering to HIS man so that when Roy goes to help, there's a Center sitting near the rim untouched. Rotations with our starters have been terrible.

I've seen him play fired up and excited, but that's not what we've gotten the last few days. He's in his own head. This is the mental issue that has kept him from playing at a consistent All-Star level. It's unfortunate that it's showing it's ugly head right now.

 

Not to make excuses for him, because he does have issues he needs to correct and that are on him, but it might be getting tough to come out fired up and excited when he is getting benched entire 4th quarters. B0ron's nonsensical lineups have to be messing with everyone's confidence. And I have to think Sacre would have kept playing last night had he not fouled out same as Kobe and JC would have played had they not been worn out and injured. I don't get why it's so hard for B0ron to throw in a coupe subs, why if a lineup is doing well he has to ride the entire lineup. The only sub he was going to make was Lou for Huertas until Sacre forced him to go back to Hibbert. So I agree I'd like to see more from Hibbert, but his confidence can't be helped by not knowing when he will or won't finish games and there not being a real good reason behind that decision.

 

NBA.com has a stat called "diff%". It compares the opponent's FG% with their normal FG% at a specific location on the floor.

To get a "general" idea for rim protection, I took a look at diff% < 6 feet. Here are the best to the worst (randomly chosen big men):

Code:

Andrew Bogut:        -14.4%
Hassan Whiteside:    -10.5%
Rudy Gobert:         -8.3%
Anthony Davis:       -7.4%
DeMarcus Cousins:    -6.2%
Serge Ibaka:         -5.3%
DeAndre Jordan:      -4.2%
Andre Drummond:      -4.0%
Tim Duncan:          -2.6%
Roy Hibbert:         -2.4%
Dwight Howard:       +1.3% (LOL Dwight)

Bogut's numbers are insane whereas Dwight is just laughably bad. He's the only one on the list with a + mark. I was hoping to see Hibbert a little higher since he was at an insane -12.0% last year. It just goes to show you how much a team defense matters, especially for a guy like Hibbert who needs to rely more on brains than quick feet to make the right defensive play. Still, Dwight is such a failure.

 

Bogut's might be from smaller sample size maybe? I know he's been in and out of the lineup.

 

Yeah...but Howard's already a champion. Stats be damned...

 

Whiteside I'd say is the closest FA but his character flaws apparently won't go away.

Maybe I was too harsh on Roy. He does so many things that are great for a good team... If he's our guy going forward, I'd be okay with that but D'angelo really does need a big off the bench that can set a great screen and roll to the rim hard. We have one now, but he's buried at the end of the bench for some reason.

 

Did Whiteside do something recently? I hadn't heard anything if so. As for Roy, I still think he's a very good C to have, but not at his current price if he doesn't pick up the scoring and boarding a little (as he has started to). If he'd come back for less that'd help, but you can never really expect that I guess.

 

@RandleROFY had an article about it. He's been getting benched late in the fourth because of his low FT% and that's lead to a lot of grumbling and whatnot.

 

Well, he's 30 already, 4 year college player, played through some injuries in recent years, played for Thibs who runs players into the ground. His game is based on hustle and I think he's just starting to age and decline.

 

Not a great fit either for what they're doing. More of a grinder but had a lot of injury issues. He's a good bench big to have though I think.

 

Interesting. This was the sort of thing I said it was worth keeping a close eye on with him as this season plays out. For his sake I hope he gets out of the mini-slump or whatever it is, and if not for a while I hope he shows maturity through it. On the plus side if it keeps up, it could drive his price tag down a little for a team willing to take a shot with him.