One of the most evident signs that the Indiana Pacers were in disarray, aside from their .533 winning percentage after the All-Star break, was center Roy Hibbert's comments made in late March that the team had 'selfish dudes.' On Friday, Hibbert admitted it was a wrong move to castigate his teammates publicly.
Via ESPN, Hibbert told ESPN First Take: "You know, I think that I should've kept my frustrations to myself or just in the locker room."
He continued: "I will admit that it wasn't the best thing to do. I'll learn from that, and I was wrong. There are better ways to handle that than going to the media. All in all, I learned. I talked to my teammates; they talked to me. I'm willing to accept the criticism. It wasn't the best thing to do."
It could be remembered that Hibbert made the comments on March 28 after a surprising loss to the Washington Wizards. There were also speculations that Hibbert was pertaining to new addition Evan Turner who was disrupting the team's chemistry after he was acquired in exchange for veteran forward Danny Granger.
The Pacers center needs to be in his usual dominant self particularly on the defensive side of the court if the team wants to go deep in the playoffs and possibly unseat the Miami Heat out in the East.
His coach, Frank Vogel, recently gave him his vote of confidence telling ESPN: "I'm pretty confident in how he is. I've seen him have stretches where he struggles and gets down on himself. He doesn't seem to be that way now. He seems to be pretty confident, even in light with things not going his way of late."
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