Last weekend saw one former Hoya basketball player exit the court to a chorus of boos, while another left to a standing ovation and an arena-spanning chant. Fortunately, the boos directed at Roy Hibbert came during the Indiana Pacers’ 2008 Fan Jam, and were only playful responses to his ghastly rendition of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme. Unfortunately, the standing ovation was in response to Patrick Ewing Jr.’s dunk-filled swan song at Madison Square Garden days before the Knicks cut him from their regular season roster.
It’s easy to lose track of players after they leave the Hilltop, especially with John Thompson III encouraging students and fans to look at what they have now rather than dwelling on what they have lost. But one quick Google news search this weekend would have yielded information on four of the six players gone from last year’s roster: Hibbert, Ewing, Vernon Macklin, and Jeremiah Rivers. The Ewing news is admittedly a little disappointing, but all of the other news was suprisingly good.
Hibbert, whose college career didn’t necessarily fortell professional success-many sports writers, including this one, were doubtful-has been a presence off the bench for the Pacers in the preseason. The knocks against Big Roy’s NBA potential were his physicality and an inability to contribute offensively against the league’s athletic big men. He responded to questions about his physical toughness almost immediately with a flagrant elbow against the Hornets’ Melvin Ely and a subsequent ejection from the game. He’s continued to respond to offensive doubts, scoring double digits off the bench three times, including a 6/9, 17-point performance against Memphis. Hibbert averaged 19 minutes, six rebounds, two blocks, and just over nine points a game in the Pacers’ eight preseason games.
Meanwhile, Rivers and Macklin, who transferred to Indiana and Florida, respectively, will both sit out this season as required by the NCAA. But both seem to be doing surprisingly well in the preseason. Rivers played in the Cream & Crimson intrasquad scrimmage and, according to The Indianapolis Star, dropped three of four from behind the newly extended three-point line en route to a 22-point performance. Really?
And Macklin already seems to be taking on a leadership role at Florida. The Alligator reported that head coach Billy Donovan sees Macklin as a major asset for the young Gators this season because of his experience in the Big East. He also cited his physicality and NBA-ready body as beneficial to the growth of his young players. Really??
Maybe the image of Rivers clanking shots off the back-iron or of Macklin getting out-muscled under the basket are just too fresh in my mind to take this news seriously. But perhaps these players are simply growing and flourishing in their new environments.
Only time will tell whether or not these exploits represent real growth, especially considering that Hibbert only has one regular season game under his belt and neither Macklin nor Rivers will play in a game for another year. All of these players are worth keeping an eye on, but if Roy Hibbert finds his way onto YouTube with another performance like his Fresh Prince, then I might have to spare myself from following him any longer. Really.
If I’m not mistaken I recall Roy being able to score efficiently against athletic big men such as Brandon Wight, Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Thabeet of UConn and some guy named Greg Oden. I remember his numerous back-to-the-basket moves and his ability to shoot from either hand. I saw evidence of his unusual skill and splendid footwork for a 7’2 guy. I remember John Thompson Jr, a man who knows something about big men, saying on his radio show that Roy was a more gifted player on offense than Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo. And yet somehow so many of you so-called Gtown fans were clueless and had doubts about his ability to play at the next level?
Frankly this demonstrates the lack of comprehending basketball ability by you guys at The Voice. Some of you have watched Roy play for a few years but in the end you made the mistake of equating superior athletic ability with NBA worthiness. Its amazing that NBA writers and analysts can see Roy play limited minutes in a single preseason or regular season game and come away immediately far more impressed with his ability and skill than folks at the Georgetown Voice who had the opportunity to observe him dozens of times.
That’s because you can’t judge a player’s NBA ability until he plays in the NBA. I think that’s part of the point of this article—that the writer’s initial impressions were wrong, just like he said.