Roy Hibbert Correct In Blasting His Pacers Team, Saying They Don’t Deserve No. 1 Seed

By Cody Williams

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Getty Images

“The Indiana Pacers can take down the Miami Heat.” “The Pacers are creating the NBA’s next dynasty.” “No one can stop the surging Pacers this season.” These—or something like them—were all things that were being said about the Pacers over the first half of the season as they jumped out to a commanding lead in the Eastern Conference.

Now that’s all gone and the narrative has taken a violent turn.

After winning their first two games in March, the Pacers have been a sinking ship. Since that game, Indiana is a mere 7-10 with two of those wins coming against the dreadful Philadelphia 76ers, only two wins coming against playoff teams, and with only a tough win over the Heat really leaving them looking any kind of impressive.

Their fall from grace has been so drastic that the Pacers have now relinquished their hold on the one-seed in the East, with the Heat currently having a better winning percentage, though Miami has played two fewer games this season.

Pacers big man Roy Hibbert has been pretty vocal about his frustrations with his team as of late, but nothing he’s said has been as poignant as what he had to say to Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star about losing the one-seed to Miami. Hibbert said, “Good for them (the Heat). We don’t deserve it. Good for them. Whoever we see in the playoffs, we’ll see, but we’ve got to figure things out…But we don’t deserve the No. 1 seed.”

This 17-game stretch certainly validates everything Hibbert is saying. Since March 4, the Pacers have had the second-worst offense in the league with the third-worst team true shooting percentage at a measly 51 percent. As if that weren’t bad enough, their trademark defense has been slipping as well as they’ve allowed 101.6 points per 100 possessions over this stretch.

Things have been bad for the Pacers for a while now, even if this 17-game stretch is by far the worst of it. Indiana is just 20-16 over their last 36 games and has had serious issues with their offense, regressing to a ton of isolation basketball and seemingly selfish play.

The Pacers are still one of the most talented teams in the East right now, but this team isn’t going to challenge Miami with the issues they’re currently experiencing. They have to get back into the rhythm of defending at a high level and back into an offensive rhythm where they are relying on their offense as a unit rather than on individual players to carry them.

There are just six games remaining in the regular season for the Pacers right now, so they have to find a solution quick. Maybe they need less Evan Turner in the rotation. Perhaps they need to get Hibbert more involved. Perhaps they need to stay in offensive sets longer. Whatever the fix is, though, it needs to be implemented promptly. As of right now, Hibbert is 100 percent right: this team doesn’t  deserve the top-spot in the conference based on their performance.

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Cody Williamsis a Senior Writer with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20, add him on Google and like his Facebook page.

 

Roy Hibbert Correct In Blasting His Pacers Team, Saying They Don’t Deserve One-Seed

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