Larry Bird deserves more blame than Roy Hibbert for the Indiana Pacers’ woes

http://isportsweb.com/2015/07/10/larry-bird-deserves-more-blame-than-roy-hibbert-for-the-indiana-pacers-woes/



Larry Bird deserves more blame than Roy Hibbert for the Indiana Pacers’ woes


July 10, 2015 by Jared Woodcox



Some Indy fans aren’t going to like this article. Most will probably disagree. Nevertheless, I’m going to call it like I see it.

First off, let’s be clear, there is no doubt that Roy Hibbert has struggled over the past two seasons. His collapse down the stretch of the 2013-2014 season and into the playoffs is still one of the most baffling reversals that has taken place among any former NBA All-Star. When given a chance to redeem himself this past season due to the abundance of injuries, rather than steal the spotlight, Hibbert shied away from the moment. His poor play earned him an eventual ticket out of Indy, a fact which most Pacers fans are celebrating and rightfully so. Regardless of your opinion of him, Hibbert was no longer a fit in Indiana and his removal from the team will now allow the Pacers more flexibility to pursue the new direction they are hoping to take.

Yet the constant shaming, name-calling, and converting Hibbert into the lone scapegoat for the Indiana Pacers is all absolutely ridiculous. In no way was Hibbert the lone reason or even the major reason why the Pacers struggled. While there are many factors that resulted in the Pacers’ inability to make the playoffs this year and advance past the Eastern Conference Finals in recent years (like, oh, I don’t know, Paul George’s broken leg) many fans act as if all of the blame should fall on Roy Hibbert. However, if they’d take a step backwards, they might realize that in reality, president of basketball operations Larry Bird is even more to blame. Several poor decisions from the former executive of the year have contributed mightily to the Pacers’ struggles and inability to advance to the NBA Finals.


Poor draft decisions

In reality, every team and every executive makes poor draft decisions at some point while every one gets lucky at some point as well. How many lottery picks have turned into busts? How many second-rounders have gone on to be All-Stars? Judging the competency of a team’s front office by the success of their draft picks is unrealistic because so much is based on speculation and perceived potential. In reality, no draft pick is ever a guaranteed safe pick. Because of all the uncertainty surrounding draft decisions, I really don’t hold draft mistakes against Bird that much. Nevertheless, there are two instances where poor decisions have had lasting implications on the Pacers.

The first is the 2009 NBA Draft in which the Pacers selected Tyler Hansbrough with the #13 overall pick. Though many Pacers fans seemed pleased with the pick at the time, now it’s surely a decision that makes them shudder. Hansbrough’s flashes of brilliance were few and far between. His hard work and hustle rarely led to strong production. What hurts the most about the Hansbrough pick, however, is that the Pacers passed up on Jrue Holiday (drafted 17th), Ty Lawson (drafted 18th), and Jeff Teague (drafted 19th), all of whom are successful point guards whose careers have all been far more illustrious than Hansbrough’s. Indiana has long been criticized for struggling at the point guard position and it’s a tough pill to swallow realizing that their most glaring weakness could have been resolved in 2009 had they gone with a more solid option than Hansbrough. Following the draft, Bird was quoted saying, “(Holiday is a) great kid, he’s beyond his years, but I’m going with guys that can come in and play and I felt very high of Tyler for a long time. I was worried New Jersey was going to take him at (No.) 11, and if they did, I probably would have went with Jrue or Ty, but (Tyler is) who we wanted and we were lucky to get him” (IndyStar). Or maybe not so lucky. That hurts. The Pacers were so very close. Had Hansbrough been snatched up just one pick sooner, Indiana would’ve selected the point guard they have so desperately needed.


This poor decision of missing out on a point guard led directly to Bird’s next big draft gaffe. In 2011, the Pacers drafted Kawhi Leonard with the 15th pick in the draft and quickly traded him away to the San Antonio Spurs for George Hill in hopes that their point guard woes (that could have been solved two years prior) would finally be resolved. Now don’t get me wrong, I love George Hill. He’s one of my favorite players on the Pacers roster and the fact that he gets to play in his hometown is awesome. His hard work and determination show exactly why he was one of Gregg Popovich’s all-time favorite players. But let’s be honest, Hill is not a traditional point guard. He has openly admitted that he isn’t as comfortable playing the one as he is the two. And as great as Hill is and continues to be, he just doesn’t measure up to what Kawhi Leonard, the 2014 Finals MVP, has become. Again, drafting is so hit and miss that Bird literally could have never known how good Leonard would be. But as a general rule of thumb, if the Spurs are interested in trading for a player, it’s probably a good sign that you should hang up the phone and hold onto him for dear life. The Spurs seem to have a sixth sense when it comes to selecting talent so when Bird saw they were interested in Leonard, he probably should have taken a moment to think long and hard before trading him away.


The Bynum Blunder

The league-leading Pacers looked nearly unstoppable going into February of 2014. Their chemistry was flowing, the defense was impregnable, and they were rattling off victories left and right with an impressive 35-10 record. Then on February 1, Bird and the Pacers signed the oft-injured Andrew Bynum to a $1 million contract. Bynum played just two games before re-tweaking his knee and being forced to sit out for the remainder of the season. His signing therefore had no positive impact on the Pacers and seemed to have a lasting negative mental impact on center Roy Hibbert.


Immediately following Bynum’s signing and subsequent injury, Hibbert’s productivity dropped dramatically. His 12.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks per game fell to 9.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game (NBA). There seemed to be no other explanation for the regression besides the fact that Hibbert felt threatened by the signing of Andrew Bynum. Perhaps out of worry of being replaced or due to unnecessary pressure added to himself, Hibbert looked like a shell of his old self in the months following the Bynum signing. Bird had hoped to add some depth to the center position, but instead he wasted $1 million on a player who served no purpose for the Pacers other than to psych out the already mentally fragile Roy Hibbert. There was no excuse for a professional like Hibbert to collapse like he did, but there was also no excuse for a legend like Bird to take such a, dare I say it, stupid risk. The only thing Bynum had proved in recent history was his ability to warm the bench, a notion that he further solidified as a member of the Indiana Pacers.


Trading Danny Granger

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. An old adage that everyone in the country besides apparently Larry Bird has heard. After already making the foolhardy decision of signing Andrew Bynum, Bird decided to further tamper with the league-leading, yes league-leading Indiana Pacers by trading away Danny Granger and Orlando Johnson to the Philadelphia Sixers for Evan Turner and Lavoy Allen. The infamous Granger-Turner swap is one that should still make Pacers fans’ blood boil. Yes, at that point Granger was no longer the same player that had been the face of the Pacers franchise for so many years, but it’s obvious that his presence on the team meant so much more to his teammates than just having another scorer on the court. Following the trade, Paul George posted a picture on Instagram with a caption that read, “On a serious note upset day for me losing a big brother and mentor hate to see him leave us. You helped me so far along the way big bro! Still one of my toughest match ups. Nothing but love for you geezy!” (NBC Sports).


George was obviously upset about losing his mentor Danny Granger and fellow starters George Hill, Lance Stephenson, David West, and Roy Hibbert were clearly unhappy about the trade, too. Frank Vogel praised Granger saying that without him, Vogel likely wouldn’t have been the coach of the Pacers (IndyStar). This video courtesy of IndyStar helps show what a tough loss it was for the Pacers to lose Granger who had been the franchise’s hero for so many years. Though seemingly less insignificant than Granger, the loss of Orlando Johnson likely had deeper implications than people realized as well. Paul George was quoted saying, “I was even more hurt with O.J. I felt like (Johnson was) one of the guys that really kept our locker room together. He was just a great guy to have in the locker room. A part of the team regardless of the minutes he was getting. He kept the same spirits as if he was our go-to guy. He was always positive, always backing guys up. I wish O.J. well” (IndyStar).

If Orlando Johnson was a glue guy that kept the locker room together, Evan Turner was the exact opposite. It didn’t take long for it to become apparent that Turner did not fit in Indy. Not only did he struggle on the court, but his attitude and body language expressed discontent with the Indy squad. Stephenson’s efficiency dropped after Turner’s arrival similarly though not quite as drastically as how Hibbert’s dropped following the Bynum signing. The situation exploded when reports surfaced that Stephenson and Turner had fought at practice just before the start of the 2014 Playoffs and that Turner had to be dragged off the court following the scuffle (Yahoo Sports).

Everything about the Pacers changed the moment after that trade occurred. They faltered down the stretch, barely made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, and were easily dismantled by the Miami Heat. Evan Turner, the supposed commodity that was brought in to add more scoring than Granger, spent most of the playoffs on the bench. Despite Granger’s struggles with injuries, there is no way that he would have done worse than Turner did in the playoffs. His defense alone would have made him more valuable on the floor than Turner and the chemistry that Granger helped provide was infinitely more valuable than anything Turner could hope to offer. It’s hard to say what would have happened if Bird wouldn’t have pulled the trigger on that trade deadline move, but I honestly believe that was the true moment that the Pacers’ 2014 championship hopes were effectively destroyed for good. By the time the Pacers hobbled into the Eastern Conference Finals, the Miami Heat’s job had already been done for them by Larry Bird’s dismantling of the team in late February.


Hibbert’s send-off


Last but not least, Bird’s remarks in this year’s end-of-year press conference were a crucial mistake that has been largely overlooked. Bird publicly called out Hibbert saying that he didn’t have a great year and that he would likely be headed for a reduced role. Bird also dropped the snarky comment, “I don’t think Lance is stealing his rebounds” (Sports Illustrated). Bird was clearly trying to get the message across that he wanted Hibbert to opt out of his contract. A message that, while surely received, was blatantly ignored. Hibbert waited until after the Pacers had already selected Myles Turner in the draft to inform the organization that he would be opting in to the final year of his deal. Bird eventually got his wish and traded Hibbert away to the Los Angeles Lakers for nothing more than cap space and a second round pick. I understand that Bird wanted Hibbert to opt out and that truly it is good for the Pacers to have Hibbert’s sizable contract off their plate, but there are a few reasons that the handling of the situation was done terribly wrong.

First of all, by making it publicly known that the Pacers didn’t wish to have Hibbert back next year, Bird immediately erased all of Hibbert’s trade value. Say what you want about the big man, but he is not a lost cause to the game of basketball. Hibbert still has value as a rim protector and if he can regain even a shred of his confidence, he could be valuable on both ends of the floor. If Bird had kept his silence better and not made it so blatantly obvious that they hoped to kick Hibbert out the door, they could have quietly shopped Hibbert and looked to get as much for him as possible. Instead, once Hibbert opted in, every team knew how desperate the Pacers were to be rid of him and Indiana lost all bargaining power in a potential trade. That’s how a two-time All-Star was let go in exchange for nothing more than a second-round draft pick. Again, say what you want about Hibbert, but the Pacers sold low.

Finally, even after putting the Hibbert situation aside, Bird’s remarks were a mistake because of the negative impression it left on the franchise. Hibbert had endured a horrible year of public scrutiny and criticism. The last thing he needed was for the team president to essentially tell him to not let the door hit him on the way out. As a small market team that already struggles to bring in impact players, the last thing the Pacers need is to have the reputation of insulting their own players and further diminishing their value. This isn’t just some impression of the situation that I made up, but rather a notion that was confirmed by David West. West, who surprised the league by leaving $12 million on the table to opt out of his contract with the Pacers, clearly voiced his dissatisfaction with the Pacers’ handling of the Hibbert situation. According to Bob Kravitz of WTHR Sports, West felt that Bird threw Hibbert under the bus. “That’s one thing where I wish they would have handled better was the situation with Roy,” West said. “I’ll be honest with you, that bothered me a little bit, and I told Roy that. I’m the type of guy who feels like we’re all in this fight together and I’m not designed in that way to put it all on one guy. That did rub me the wrong way. That threw me off. I started reading some of that stuff, I started thinking, ‘Whoaa.’ I just didn’t feel good about that. I told Roy that it bothered me, that he’s still my teammate.” Clearly West had many other reasons for opting out and pursuing a championship with the Spurs, but publicly criticizing Hibbert and infuriating Pacer great David West truly isn’t a good look for the Pacers franchise. I know Bird isn’t one to mince words or care what anyone else thinks, but for the good of the organization’s future, he should really think twice about what he says moving forward.

So now the Pacers are venturing into uncharted territory. Hibbert the once so-called “defensive anchor” is gone. Paul George will put in time at power forward and the Pacers will look to race up and down the court to put more points on the board. New players Myles Turner, Joe Young, Monta Ellis, and Jordan Hill will be called upon to make an instant impact this year. So what is in store for Bird and the Pacers now? Will this year’s draft picks (with whom I’m very pleased initially) pan out? Will Frank Vogel be able to coach this new style of play? Will the Pacers’ roster and style shakeup lead them to become a contender once again in the East? Will Bird redeem himself for the mistakes that largely went unnoticed or were pinned onto someone else?

Only time will tell.



bob
MY NOTE:  Trading Kawhi Leonard for George Hill?  Trading Danny Grainger for a partial year rental of Evan Turner?  Tyler Hansbrough?  If Cowens was a Pacers fan little pieces of his skull and grey matter would be splattered all over the walls and ceiling right now...It's a crap shoot and even Larry Legend fubs it up.  Sam took the time, and had the patience I don't have, to go through all of Red's draft picks to see how many were busts and came out with a 50% hit percentage.  If someone did the same exercise for every GM in the league I'll bet we'd see results even worse than that.  Compare every 13th pick taken by every team and see how many work survive past their rookie contract, how many become all-stars, etc.


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Isn't "Woodcox" redundant?

Sam