For some reason, 24-year old center Roy Hibbert was in Jim O’Brien’s Dog House. With O’Brien gone, look for Hibbert to start getting at least 30 minutes per night and that will help the Pacers. Hibbert played 30 minutes in Frank Vogel’s first game as the Pacers’ head coach and he responded with 24 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 2 blocked shots. He won’t do that every night but he will get the minutes to prove that he’s one of the better young centers in the NBA. Hibbert has played in 44 games (43 starts) for the Pacers so far this year and he is averaging 27.0 minutes, 12.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.8 blocked shots per game. He can be one of the better centers in the NBA if the Pacers just trust him.

25-year old power forward Tyler Hansbrough is having a good month for the Pacers. He has played in 10 games so far in January and he is averaging 23.0 minutes, 12.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. He is shooting 50% from the floor so far this month and he is also hitting 85.7% from the free throw line as he has been very efficient. Hansbrough has now played in 32 games (10 starts) for the Pacers this season and he is averaging 16.1 minutes, 7.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. I think Hansbrough is ready for more minutes so the Pacers need to start giving them to him.

23-year old point guard Darren Collison has been playing solid basketball so far this month. Collison has played in 5 games so far in January and he is averaging 31.6 minutes, 17.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.8 steals per game. He has now played in 33 games (all starts) for the Pacers so far this year and he is averaging 29.3 minutes, 13.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game. With the Pacers going with a smaller lineup now, I look for Collison to excel because he makes a lot of plays in the open court. Look for him to continue playing really well this month.

25-year old power forward Tyler Hansbrough is getting into a solid groove as of late for the Pacers. In his last three games, Hansbrough is averaging 28.0 minutes, 15.0 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.0 steal per game. He is shooting a robust 54.1% from the floor in those three games. He has now played in 25 games (3 starts) for the Pacers so far this year and he is averaging 14.7 minutes, 6.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. Hansbrough has bumped Josh McRoberts to the bench and the Pacers have to be happy with that.

I’m beginning to wonder if head coach Jim O’Brien really knows what he’s doing. He is starting to cut 24-year old center Roy Hibbert’s minutes for some ungodly reason. In his last 5 games, Hibbert is averaging 23.4 minutes, 10.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Hibbert has now played in 32 games (31 starts) overall this year and he is averaging 28.7 minutes, 13.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.6 assists per game and 1.8 blocked shots per game. If the Pacers ever put Roy Hibbert on the trading block maybe they would finally see what they really have in him. It’s beyond dumb to have Hibbert not playing at least 30 minutes per night as he is a legit 7-foot center with talent at both ends of the court.