At a certain point, the Indiana Pacers need to give up on Roy Hibbert as their starting center.
That point is now.
The All-Star center (can you believe we have to call him that?) laid another egg Thursday night in the Atlanta-Indiana series, shooting 2-for-9 with just two rebounds, none on the offensive end, in the Pacers 98-85 defeat as they fell behind 2-1 in the best-of-7 series.
If you look at Hibbert’s game log, it is both stunning and atrocious. The 7-foot-2 center has not scored in double figures in seven consecutive games, and it has been 15 games (and 26 of 27) since he reached double figures in rebounding.
Memo to Frank Vogel: Give him a towel and tell him to waive it.
The best move Vogel can make right now is sitting Hibbert in favor of Luis Scola, who is perfectly capable of playing center because that’s the position he plays for the Argentine national team every summer. He is an accomplished low-post scorer, and since the Pacers gave up a bushel of assets to get him (Gerald Green, Miles Plumlee and a No. 1 pick), it is worth the gamble to put him in a role that he has manned for most of his career. He did score 20 points in just 17 minutes against the Hawks.
Furthermore, it might be time for a little more C.J. Watson, especially after George Hill went 1-for-11 in the Game 3 loss.
These were a couple of the topics of discussion today as I went on the air in Indianapolis with Michael Grady and Joe Staysniak on 1070 The Fan in Indianapolis.