Just one season ago the Los Angeles Lakers finished ranked 29th in the NBA in defense, so they know that is an area that needs to improve. Roy Hibbert was brought in this offseason after a disappointing finish to his career with the Indiana Pacers, and the Lakers are hopeful that his presence will have a major impact on their defense. Head coach Byron Scott thinks Hibbert will be a huge help, and he expects him to be the anchor of L.A.'s defense, according to Bill Oram of The Orange County Register.
Hibbert came into the NBA as a project out of Georgetown, but with his tremendous size (7-foot-2) he was given a chance and had really developed into a very good player. Hibbert was an All-Star in two of the past four seasons, but in the 2014 postseason he fell off the map and has yet to recover. The Lakers are hoping that a change of scenery will help out the former Hoya, and they also think that he brings a rim protector to the team, which is something they did not have a year ago.
"When he's out here, the number one thing is he's a great communicator, which is something we didn't have on the back end of our defense last year," said Scott. "Number two, he has a reputation for protecting the rim, so he knows that's his bread and butter. And number three, the one thing I saw so far with him is that guys are going in for layups the first day he was like, 'No easy layups.' And that's something we didn't do a good job of last year, is protecting the rim or giving up easy layups."
Last season Jordan Hill saw most of the time at center for the Lakers, and while he is a better rebounder than Hibbert he is not a rim protector. Adding Hibbert is a huge upgrade on the defensive side of the ball over Hill for this year, as he averages more than three defensive win shares per season and just two years ago had five defensive win shares in 81 games.
Hibbert is an elite paint protector in the NBA, and he is still just 28 years old. The Lakers are getting a guy that has proven in the past that he can be a dominating player, and although he is coming off a tough season he should be a major upgrade in Los Angeles. In his seven NBA seasons Hibbert has career averages of 11.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 46 percent from the field.
