The Indiana Pacers have been a team on the rise over the past few seasons and they’ve put it all together under Frank Vogel. Indiana sits comfortably in the No.3 spot of the Eastern Conference looking destined to take on the Dwight Howard-less Orlando Magic in Round 1 of this year’s upcoming NBA Playofs.
Roy Hibbert is loving the fact that his team is flying under the radar. The former Georgetown center believes he’s made a big progression in his game this season due to some maturity. Hibbert has been a force down in the paint for the Pacers as they look to make some noise this postseason.
Roy Hibbert joined 1070 The Fan in Indianapolis with Grady and Big Jo to discuss the Indiana Pacers hitting their stride at this point of the season, the Pacers flying under the radar, the changes made in his game this season and the biggest difference in the Pacers team this year.
When did things start to click for the Pacers?
“To tell you the truth I didn’t realize until a day or two ago that we only lost one game in this month, so everything was just rolling and clicking and it seemed like we were winning. Things are going well. We have just been playing consistent defense coming out in transition and just outworking teams.â€
Do you like being under the radar?
“I am fine with that. We’re the best kept secret. I just like to go out there and just handle my business and we don’t need the national media to really give us any recognition. We just go ahead and do what we need to do and the teams we play against know what we bring, so that’s important to me and my teammates.â€
What’s been the biggest difference for you this season?
“I’ve had my ups and downs this year, but years past I would always get on myself and dwell on things, but this year if I didn’t do well, if I had a bad stretch I would just chalk it up to being a bad game and just moving on and getting ready to go out there and compete again. I just feel more mentally and physically stronger this year.â€
How different is this team from a year ago?
“A bunch of veteran guys that have been through it like George Hill, who’s been with the Spurs for three years and he went to the playoffs and they go deep. David West is a talented veteran guy. The guys that have played the majority of the minutes are battle tested and playoff tested, so we know what we are getting into and we talk about it all the time in terms of how to prepare and what other teams do to prepare for us, so we have an advantage over them. We just have a playoff mindset over the past couple of weeks knowing that we are playing for something more than other teams playing against us.â€
Listen to Roy Hibbert on 1070 The Fan in Indianapolis here
Tags: 1070 the Fan in Indianapolis, 2012 NBA Playoffs, Grady and Big Jo, Indiana Pacers, NBA, Roy Hibbert
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