Hibbert's value to Pacers evident again in win over Bucks

The Pacers continued their perfect start with an expected easy victory over the visiting Milwaukee Bucks Friday night in what turned out to be a 104-77 victory, scoring over 100 points for the first time this season.

The Big Picture
The Pacers became the first team since the 2002-2003 Dallas Mavericks to start a season 9-0. The bigger point here is not that they won, but they won easily without having to struggle in the fourth quarter. With the second night of this back-to-back coming in Chicago Saturday night, the Pacers are well rested and feeling good about themselves.

Likes

Roy Hibbert's influence on the Pacers
is far reaching and difficult to measure.

1) We can talk about Roy Hibbert a lot, especially bout how much he has improved since the Pacers traded for him on draft day in 2008. But the big thing here is that Hibbert has continued to improve even though he is in his sixth season. And he dominated in a game he should have because of that, with his 24 points, 10 rebounds and eight blocked shots Friday night. It was at about this time last year that some were wondering if that max contract the Pacers signed him to was worth it. But after the way he played in the playoffs, continued to work on his game and body in the offseason, and with the way he's started this season, there's no questioning it now. He's the heart and soul of the team and it's not a stretch to say others on the team, like Paul George and Lance Stephenson, have worked to improve because he has worked to improve. Hibbert not only sets a high standard for himself, but puts out a high standard for the rest of his teammates to meet. No one's arguing that George is a legitimate MVP candidate here early in the season and no one's arguing that Hibbert is a legitimate early candidate for Defensive Player of the Year. But if you had to ask who is the most valuable player on this team, it would be hard to argue against Hibbert. For the record, Hibbert now has 43 blocks on the season, just under five per game. But he doesn't play just for his blocked shot numbers, he sets an example by playing to win and it's hard to put a value on that.
2) If you are a really good NBA team, this is the way you should beat bad teams. The Bucks were short-handed with just nine players and really had no business being competitive with the Pacers. Sure it did get a little interesting early in the third quarter, but the Pacers took any doubt out of this one by outscoring the Bucks 52-31 in the final 22 minutes of the game, including 28-9 to close the game.
3) Turnovers had been a big issue early in the season, including have games of 18 and 20 turnovers. Friday night that number was 13. Not unbelievably low, but much better than what we saw early in the season.
4) Sure, it's fun to complain about the referees at times, or not fun depending on the outcome of the game, but it's always good to see veteran Dick Bavetta call a game. He's not a robo-ref, who simply makes calls without personality. He will listen and converse with players and coaches. He's not perfect, but he doesn't act like he is either.

Dislikes
1) Sure it's all worked out fine over the past couple of years, and even though he was the Bucks' only legitimate scorer on the court Friday night, you have to wonder what it would have been like if the Pacers would have made the deal for O.J. Mayo a couple of years ago. If he had been on the team last year, with Danny Granger hurt, would he have been the extra offensive weapon that might have helped the Pacers beat Miami? Well, we'll never now, and maybe it's all for the better now with the emergence of George and Stephenson, but it is interesting to think about.
2) The third quarter has been the Pacers' quarter all season. So when they were up by 15 at the half, it was just an assumption they would come out of the locker room and remove all doubt about the outcome right away. Instead, the Bucks had one final surge in them and for the first time this season, the Pacers were outscored in the third quarter, 24-23. OK, it was the Bucks and the Pacers did pull away and win easily, but there's always something you can find to do a little better. The Pacers have outscored their opponents in the third quarter by 69 points this season.

Afterthoughts
The Pacers had the ball in the final seconds to end the half Friday night and Pacers coach Frank Vogel doesn't always call a timeout in that situation, about the only thing I can find to be critical of him about. But this time I was with Vogel for not calling that timeout in the final 10 seconds, because Pacers guard Geroge Hill got the ball on a fast break and drove in for layup with a second to go.
Next Up
The Pacers go to Chicago tonight, where the Bulls have yet to lose this season. The big question here is whether Bulls point guard Derrick Rose will play or not as he has a pulled hamstring. He sat out of the Bulls' 96-80 win at Toronto Friday night. Whether Rose plays or not, you know the Bulls will be ready to try and return the favor of the Pacers 97-80 win over them last week. And you know they'd love to be the first team to beat the Pacers this year. And you know the Pacers want to keep the winning streak going as long as they can. They're not going to let it die easily. All of that makes a recipe for good early season game.