If one viewed the scoring statistics for Tyler Hansbrough on Mar.12 on ESPN's website, one might conclude he was not having the best of years. His average number of points were down by almost three from last year (9.3 ppg in 2012 and 6.4 ppg in 2013).
However, the statistics on ESPN's website showed his minutes per game were down six minutes from last year (21.8 mpg in 2013 and 15.8 mpg in 2013). Dividing his average points per game by his average points per minute for the 2013 and 2012 seasons, his 0.41 average points per minute had changed little from last year's 0.43 figure.
Hansbrough averaged 16 points and 25 minutes of play in the Mar. 18 game against the Cavaliers (18 pts./23 min) and the Mar. 19 game versus the Magic (14 pts./27 min.) which made his average points per minute 0.64 for the two games.
This raises the question of whether or not Hansbrough's minutes should be increased when David West returns to the starting lineup. One way of getting more minutes for Hansbrough when West returns and not lost what West brings to the Pacers on the floor is to reduce some of Ian Mahinmi's minutes and have Hansbrough substitute for both West and Roy Hibbert.
Hansbrough went in for Hibbert last year before Mahinmi joined the team this year. There only is a 2-inch difference between Mahinmi at 6'11" and Hansbrough at 6'9". Most of Hansbrough's game statistics are better than Mahinmi's even though Mahinmi averages more minutes per game (16.7 to 16.1). The only game statistical categories where Mahinmi beats Hansbrough are blocks (0.88 to 0.26), steals (0.50 to 0.34), and defensive rebounds (2.5 to 2.4).*
Substituting for Hibbert could also be a solution for some of the awkwardness seen between Hibbert and Hansbrough in the Cavaliers and Magic games. There were times where it seemed as Hansbrough and Hibbert were battling each other on the offensive glass for the ball. At the very least, they were each other's way.
With West likely to be out for the next two games, Hansbrough is likely to have additional opportunities to demonstrate that he deserves to have more playing time.
*Statistics were viewed 3/21/13 on the ESPN website while keeping track of NCAA March Madness.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Mother knows best
After it was announced that Roy Hibbert would be suspended for one game for his part in the Warriors-Pacers brawl on Feb. 26, he told the Indianapolis Star that his mother had a negative reaction to his behavior.
"My mom was a little upset," Hibbert told the Star. "She said I should have walked away."
Not only should Hibbert have walked away, but the rest of the Pacers would have been advised to so the same for a number of reasons.
First of all, it brought back memories of the Piston-Pacers brawl of 2004. After I recounted the brawl to a friend of mine, the first words out of his mouth were, "Didn't Ron Artest start a fight with Detroit a few years ago?" Even though the now Metta World Peace hasn't played for Indiana since the 2005-2006 season, the memory of his actions still linger as a shadow over the Pacers team, and that shadow grew larger with the brawl with the Warriors.
That shadow also made people see the Pacers as villains in the brawl when in fact, it has been the Warriors whose play statistically has been more riddled than the Pacers' on-court conduct this season. The Warriors have had six flagrant fouls called against them this season as opposed to one for the Pacers, according to ESPN's website. Lee has two of those. Also, TeamRankings.com shows the Warriors average 21.9 personal fouls a game compared to 20.1 personal fouls for Indiana.
On the other hand, the Pacers average 0.6 technical fouls to 0.3 technical fouls for the Warriors, according to TeamRankings.com. The Pacers' technical foul average is skewed by one player, David West, who has 10 this season, according to ESPN's website. That is a reason West shouldn't have gotten involved in the brawl. After 16 technical fouls, one is suspended for a game.
While West said that he and other Pacers got into the fight as a show of team unity, according to the Associated Press, this was a time when team unity wasn't in the best interest of the team.
"My mom was a little upset," Hibbert told the Star. "She said I should have walked away."
Not only should Hibbert have walked away, but the rest of the Pacers would have been advised to so the same for a number of reasons.
First of all, it brought back memories of the Piston-Pacers brawl of 2004. After I recounted the brawl to a friend of mine, the first words out of his mouth were, "Didn't Ron Artest start a fight with Detroit a few years ago?" Even though the now Metta World Peace hasn't played for Indiana since the 2005-2006 season, the memory of his actions still linger as a shadow over the Pacers team, and that shadow grew larger with the brawl with the Warriors.
That shadow also made people see the Pacers as villains in the brawl when in fact, it has been the Warriors whose play statistically has been more riddled than the Pacers' on-court conduct this season. The Warriors have had six flagrant fouls called against them this season as opposed to one for the Pacers, according to ESPN's website. Lee has two of those. Also, TeamRankings.com shows the Warriors average 21.9 personal fouls a game compared to 20.1 personal fouls for Indiana.
On the other hand, the Pacers average 0.6 technical fouls to 0.3 technical fouls for the Warriors, according to TeamRankings.com. The Pacers' technical foul average is skewed by one player, David West, who has 10 this season, according to ESPN's website. That is a reason West shouldn't have gotten involved in the brawl. After 16 technical fouls, one is suspended for a game.
While West said that he and other Pacers got into the fight as a show of team unity, according to the Associated Press, this was a time when team unity wasn't in the best interest of the team.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Could free throws be the answer to Roy Hibbert's scoring problems?
This initial Sportmomma post was going to be titled "What's wrong with Roy Hibbert?", but that title had been taken. I decided to dig deeper into online statistical records and information to see if something could be gleaned from comparing Hibbert's perfromance last year to his performance this year.
Going onto ESPN's website, I looked at Hibbert's 2012-2013 statistics from 5 recent games and statistics from 5 games in the latter part of the 2011-2012 season.
While other online writes I've read and sports commentators I've heard have concentrated on Hibbert's base statistics and percentages, there were a couple of surprises found by looking at the specific numbers. While this sampling confirmed the marked decline in field goal percentage, Hibbert actually made more field goals in the five 2012-2013 games in the sample than in the five 2011-2012 studied. However, this sample indicated that his overall point total seems to be suffering more from a decrease in the number of times Hibbert has gotten to the free throw line.
Although his cumulative free throw averages, as seen on ESPN's website, for 2011-2012 (2.6) and 2012-2013 (1.5) show only slightly over a point less for the 2012-2013 season , Hibbert averaged 3.1 points off of free throws for April 2012 and went to the free throw line an average of 4.2 times, but his free throw averages for February are 0.6 free throws made and only 1.3 free throw attempts.
But there are some positive signs for Hibbert on his 2012-2013 game log on ESPN's website. Although Hibbert scored on 8 points in the Pacers' 125-91 rout of the Knicks on 2/20/13, he played only 18 minutes and made 4-5 of his field goals. It marked a slight improvement in his point production against the Knicks (6 points in the 11/18/12 game and 4 points in the 1/10/13 game). Hibbert also had his highest point totals for the season against Charlotte, Brooklyn, Atlanta, and Miami in February.
While there are some other possible factors for his performance decline that I saw from analyzing Hibbert's statistics, I'll stop here. Since there have been some positive signs in Hibbert's performance, I'm willing to show him some love and hope that he continues to improve.
Going onto ESPN's website, I looked at Hibbert's 2012-2013 statistics from 5 recent games and statistics from 5 games in the latter part of the 2011-2012 season.
While other online writes I've read and sports commentators I've heard have concentrated on Hibbert's base statistics and percentages, there were a couple of surprises found by looking at the specific numbers. While this sampling confirmed the marked decline in field goal percentage, Hibbert actually made more field goals in the five 2012-2013 games in the sample than in the five 2011-2012 studied. However, this sample indicated that his overall point total seems to be suffering more from a decrease in the number of times Hibbert has gotten to the free throw line.
Although his cumulative free throw averages, as seen on ESPN's website, for 2011-2012 (2.6) and 2012-2013 (1.5) show only slightly over a point less for the 2012-2013 season , Hibbert averaged 3.1 points off of free throws for April 2012 and went to the free throw line an average of 4.2 times, but his free throw averages for February are 0.6 free throws made and only 1.3 free throw attempts.
But there are some positive signs for Hibbert on his 2012-2013 game log on ESPN's website. Although Hibbert scored on 8 points in the Pacers' 125-91 rout of the Knicks on 2/20/13, he played only 18 minutes and made 4-5 of his field goals. It marked a slight improvement in his point production against the Knicks (6 points in the 11/18/12 game and 4 points in the 1/10/13 game). Hibbert also had his highest point totals for the season against Charlotte, Brooklyn, Atlanta, and Miami in February.
While there are some other possible factors for his performance decline that I saw from analyzing Hibbert's statistics, I'll stop here. Since there have been some positive signs in Hibbert's performance, I'm willing to show him some love and hope that he continues to improve.
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