The Indiana Pacers will face the Atlanta Hawks in an NBA Playoff game that will be FREE live streaming online from Phillips Arena Saturday at 2:00 PM ET
Fairly or not, Roy HIbbert has become the symbol of all that's wrong with the Pacers.
He hopes to turn that around Saturday, no matter what his role.
The 7-foot-2 center has struggled mightily in the first three games against the Hawks, raising the possibility of coming off the bench in Game 4. The top-seeded Pacers are down 2-1 in the best-of-seven series and must steal a win at Philips Arena to avoid a mammoth upset.
Coach Frank Vogel was tightlipped about his lineup plans. The Pacers have been more effective against the eighth-seeded Hawks with a smaller unit on the court -- and Hibbert on the bench.
"You'll find out tomorrow," was all Vogel would say Friday, not long after a spirited film session at the team hotel.
Hibbert has scored only 18 points in the series on 7-of-25 shooting, and he looked downright lost in Atlanta's 98-85 win in Game 3. Several times, his shots were so far off the mark he didn't really seem to know where he was on the court. He also has struggled at the defensive end.
Atlanta's big men have put up a combined 26 shots from beyond the 3-point line, presenting all sorts of matchup problems for the lumbering Hibbert.
"It's a difficult lineup for me," Hibbert said. "I'm not used to it. It takes me out of position to protect the paint and to get rebounds in the paint and contest shots."
Hibbert said he's going on the assumption that he'll be starting in Game 4, but he wants what's best for the team.
"I'll do whatever Coach feels is necessary to win," he said. "As far as I know, I'm still playing. I don't know if it will be with the second unit."
The Hawks hardly look like a team that finished six games below .500 during the regular season, playing with the swagger and confidence of a group that truly feels it can become only the sixth No. 8 seed to knock off the top seed in the opening round.
While the Pacers will surely make some adjustments in the next game, especially when it comes to getting better movement away from the ball and not settling for so many jump shots, Vogel stressed that much of what needs to change doesn't show up on the stat sheet.
Quite simply, he wants to see more passion from the Pacers, who struggled over the final seven weeks of the regular season and seem to have wilted in the face of critics questioning whether they truly are one of the NBA's elite teams.
Vogel lit into his players during the extra-long film session, hoping to ignite a spark in a group that fashioned itself as a championship contender but is just two losses away from an early summer.
"We need to play with more passion, more energy, more heart and more guts," Vogel said. "That's what we've got to do."
The game will be live streaming online at www.nbalivestreamfree.net
