Bird and Vogel pull out the assault rifle on Hibbert in their exit interviews.

[PhoSita]

It'd be interesting to see somebody create a team entirely out of players that the league is passing by ... Rondo, Hibbert, Monroe, Waiters

[chambers]

Seems like a bit of public 'calling out' by Larry Bird. Similarly to what the C's are doing to Sully. They probably want Hibbert to improve his conditioning, drop some weight and work on his long range game.

Either way it seems really weird for them to do that- Larry Bird is similar to Ainge in that he plays plenty of angles but pretends to be a straight shooter publicly.

Hibbert has been the key piece for them on the defensive end and his impact is arguably bigger than Paul George's impact on their results the last few years so it's strange to me that they'd just throw him under the bus.

To put it simply- Hibbert was the best and most influential defender, on the best defensive team in the NBA for 3 years in a row. He gets a few buckets in the post and although he's not a great rebounder, he hits free throws and alters more shots than any other starting center on a top 8 team.

Very strange to me indeed.

I would LOVE Hibbert here. If we could get him for the Clipper pick and let him play next to Sullinger for a season it would be a great gamble.

We'd immediately go from a middle of the road defensive team to a top 10 defense with Smart, Bradley, Crowder and Hibbert.

Smart
Bradley
Free agent (Khris Middleton?)
Sully
Hibbert

Brutal defensive team with good three point shooting and finally gives Sully and Olynyk a decent anchor next to them on D.

[Kuberski33]

Maybe Bird is channeling Harry Sinden who back in LB's Celtics days used to regularly call out his goaltenders the same way....lol

As far as Hibbert coming here...pass.  They need someone who's mentally tough at the 5, not Hibbert.  Remember how this team performed with Rondo and Jeff Green?  Bringing in this guy would take us right back to that.



 

[snively]

It'd be interesting to see somebody create a team entirely out of players that the league is passing by ... Rondo, Hibbert, Monroe, Waiters

Ha, I wanted to pair Rondo and Hibbert at the beginning of the season.

Thing is he'd actually be pretty good for this team.  So much speed and quickness on the perimeter - much easier for a big man like Hibbert to hang back near the paint and snuff out shots at the rim.

[Celts Fan 508]

It'd be interesting to see somebody create a team entirely out of players that the league is passing by ... Rondo, Hibbert, Monroe, Waiters

Ha, I wanted to pair Rondo and Hibbert at the beginning of the season.

Thing is he'd actually be pretty good for this team.  So much speed and quickness on the perimeter - much easier for a big man like Hibbert to hang back near the paint and snuff out shots at the rim.

I agree, I think Hibbert would fit well on this team, I think we could get him pretty cheap now too.  Imagine this teams half court defense if Bradley and Smart can gamble a little bit more because they have a shot blocker behind them....  The defense would be insane, especially if we hit on a draft pick or two.

[Clench123]

Ouch!

I would love to Hibbert come of the bench if we can get him for cheap. 

[Beat LA]

Hibbert strikes me as a player who thrives off of playing with Paul George, and that's perfectly understandable.  However, there was a time when he played really well before PG truly blossomed, and, as far as I can tell, he's seemingly taken a step back, so he doesn't look like a cornerstone type of a player.  I mean, he rebounds like James Edwards, lol.

Still, the reality is that, had Bird not traded Granger, that Pacers team could very well have beaten Miami, and their club would have likely remained the same (keeping Lance, etc.) going into this past season.  It's got to be frustrating for Larry.  He's done everything he can for his guys, from getting Hibbert to work with Bill Walton one summer to keeping Lance under control, and yet the Pacers still have yet to win it all.  I wonder what he thinks of Hassan Whiteside, and if he'd take him over Hibbert.  I think he would, but that's just my opinion.  What he needs to do is to vastly upgrade the point guard position, let Scola and Copeland walk, as both are huge defensive liabilities, keep Lavoy Allen, possibly to probably re-sign CJ Watson and Stuckey, and draft really well this year, as he'll be in the lottery.  I'd also bring Granger back, if for no other reason than his leadership in the locker room, and our very own Brandon Bass could be a great fit for them, as well.  Indiana is still a contender, but they do need more.  The problem is that Bird's owner is cheap.  Ugh.  Man, talk about adding insult to injury.  First the team's in a small market, and then the owner is a penny pincher.  Deng.

Btw, I can't believe that Hibbert is going to be 30 by the end of 2016.

[Beat LA]

Maybe Bird should sign Javale McGee (sarcasm), lol.

[Celtics4ever]

I think that is a way of telling him to go find another home,  that doesn't sound like they want him back.

[Endless Paradise]

Hibbert strikes me as a player who thrives off of playing with Paul George, and that's perfectly understandable.  However, there was a time when he played really well before PG truly blossomed, and, as far as I can tell, he's seemingly taken a step back, so he doesn't look like a cornerstone type of a player.  I mean, he rebounds like James Edwards, lol.

Still, the reality is that, had Bird not traded Granger, that Pacers team could very well have beaten Miami, and their club would have likely remained the same (keeping Lance, etc.) going into this past season.  It's got to be frustrating for Larry.  He's done everything he can for his guys, from getting Hibbert to work with Bill Walton one summer to keeping Lance under control, and yet the Pacers still have yet to win it all.  I wonder what he thinks of Hassan Whiteside, and if he'd take him over Hibbert.  I think he would, but that's just my opinion.  What he needs to do is to vastly upgrade the point guard position, let Scola and Copeland walk, as both are huge defensive liabilities, keep Lavoy Allen, possibly to probably re-sign CJ Watson and Stuckey, and draft really well this year, as he'll be in the lottery.  I'd also bring Granger back, if for no other reason than his leadership in the locker room, and our very own Brandon Bass could be a great fit for them, as well.  Indiana is still a contender, but they do need more.  The problem is that Bird's owner is cheap.  Ugh.  Man, talk about adding insult to injury.  First the team's in a small market, and then the owner is a penny pincher.  Deng.

Btw, I can't believe that Hibbert is going to be 30 by the end of 2016.

Hibbert had a golden opportunity to step up this year in the absence of Paul George for much of the season and he responded by... scoring even slightly fewer points than he did last year and not improving upon any facet of his game.

As for Granger: People keep theorizing that the Granger trade was the reason for the Pacers' second-half collapse last year, but what no one seems to realize is the team was already starting to fall apart at the time of the trade; in fact, part of the reason they traded Granger is because they thought maybe bringing in some new talent could help get the team back on the right track.

Also, Bird openly said he's probably not re-signing Watson and Granger's likely to accept his player option and remain in Phoenix.