Roy Hibbert Discussion 2015-16: No Buyout

Man, I hope so. He's back in action tonight.

 

I know we're seeing more Black, but still not enough. Even with Tarik's increase in minutes, he's played over 18 minutes just once in the last 5 games.

 

I feel like there was one, maybe 2 years ago with only a handful of actual trades, that was the worst. I can't remember if it was 2 years ago or last year, but I think it was 2 years ago because nobody made a trade in order to save money to try to get LeBron.

 

There were like 50 players moved last year, I think.

 

So, I don't know who the guy the Hibbert jersey was tonight, but it'd be nice if he showed up more often. If he had more games like that I'm sure he'd earn himself a better contract this offseason, or if he wanted to stay here at least a backup C role with us. I don't see any excuse for this guy to have 1 rebound games ever. He didn't have a ton tonight either with 5, but 14 points and an actual impact on defense, I expected to see more games like this from him this season.

 

Seeing him play that way tonight showed me he's got game left in him, he's just been beat down by this season. I couldn't believe a former All-Star that seemed to have such a tremendous attitude could fall as far as he did. I think the reality is he sacrificed too much for us. He wanted so badly to fit in here and be a consummate teammate that he allowed himself to be forgotten in the offense.

D'Angelo is a natural floor general who looks to get Roy going early in the game and keeps him involved. That gets his spirits up and makes him work harder. I'd be perfectly fine bringing Roy back as our bench big if he played like that every game.

 

I disagree. Kobe and Lou need to go. They aren't interested enough in sharing the ball which is what we need to be competitive. When Roy is out there with just the kids, he's more effective because D'Angelo works harder to get him into the game. We feed him early and let him take a few shots so he feels more involved. When Kobe or Lou are out there, Roy is left on an island defensively and ignored offensively. That's a horrible place to put your teammate and anyone would naturally back off even if it's a subconscious thing.

I'd like him back in a smaller role.

 

Not trying to beat a dead horse, just saying those two play a style that will inherently lessen Roy's statistical impact. I agree he's taken some serious steps back in his game the last few years, but he's not as useless as his numbers indicate last night.

Besides, he wasn't guarding Frye, Randle was or he was supposed to be anyway.

I'm not saying I want him here as a starting Center playing 25-30 minutes a night. I want him here as a backup big man because he's great for the locker room and a fantastic teammate.

 

I agree with that. I'm just saying he's not the most useless player and his impact mentally is a good one. Ryan Kelly on the other hand...

 

Lol, @therealdeal, look at my post on this page, it's been almost a month exactly since his last good game. I was not joking with the monthly good game thing.

But like I said, I'd take him back for dirt cheap as a backup C to Whiteside, under a new coach. Lot of conditions there.