Things are not good for the Indiana Pacers. After losing their last four of five games and nine of 15, the team has fallen out of first place in the Eastern Conference and do not appear to be on good terms with one another. Tension is high and came to a tip after the Pacers fell to the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night. Now, Roy Hibbert is calling people out and claiming selfishness is the main reason for the losses.
It was only a matter of time before frustrations took over in Indiana. The team is slumping at the wrong time and with the playoffs in sight, Hibbert is stressing that the team is being too selfish and need to get back to playing tradition Indiana basketball.
"Some selfish dudes in here," Hibbert said, via NBA.com. "Some selfish dudes. I'm tired of talking about it. We've been talking about it for a month. We play hard, but we've got to move the ball. Is it obvious, or what? I don't know whatever our assist ratio, or whatever it is, is in the league, but it probably isn't up there. I'm really trying hard not to spaz out right now, but I don't know. We've been talking about it for a month. I'm not handling the rock. I don't know. I've made suggestions before and we do it for, like, one game, and then we revert back to what we are. I don't know. I'm not the one to answer that question. It directly affects me and the bigs. We're just out there and it makes us look bad."
Hibbert is not the only one on the Pacers roster showing his frustrations. During the loss to the Spurs, Lance Stephenson and George Hill got into a verbal confrontation by the team bench. ESPN.com reports that Pacers are simply missing leadership right now and it showed when Hill and Stephenson got into a finger pointing match following a turnover and a few bad shots.
Indiana has the talent to make a run in the postseason, but if they are lacking leadership, that could play a bigger factor in the longer run. The Miami Heat might be dealing with injuries, but the team has been there before and that makes a big difference.
