"You've got to have energy and I want to bring that energy every night," Howard said in a revealing interview Saturday afternoon. "That's my job. They count on me to be that guy. I just know how much more effective I will be when I'm in better shape. And, unfortunately, it's cost us a lot of games."
"I knew that would be a process. The better shape I'm in, the more active I can be and the more I'm able to do on the floor," he said. "But it was a struggle at first because I just didn't have it in the tank, especially on defense."
"I didn't have a chance to really get in good shape," he said. "And then it's hard trying to get in shape during the season, playing a lot of minutes and traveling. It's very tough. But I'm trying to do the best I can with what I have and work on my conditioning every day."
"I don't want to pace myself. I want to be able to go all out, but you've got to be in great shape to do that," he said. "I know what I've been able to do in the past and I know right now I'm not able to do that for a whole game.
"That comes with time. But I'm not going to get discouraged. Once I get tired I'm going to ask for a blow, take a break, then get back out there and go hard again."
"There's no subs so until I get in great shape, some times I have to make sure I don't risk a dumb foul because I'm out of shape or fatigued," he said. "I usually can play 45-48 minutes without getting tired. Now after five possessions I'm winded. But all that stuff will come. Hopefully, if we continue to do what we've been doing, by the time we get to the playoffs, I'll be in pretty good shape."
Is this ... Howard? wow.
"I'm just making sure I don't eat as much candy and sugar so I can get in good shape," he said. "Back when I was able to play 48 minutes, I could eat anything. But now I can't."
"Am I a big candy person? That's an understatement," he joked. "My pantry is full of candy. Skittles just sent me 30 pounds of Skittles. I have a nightstand full of every candy you could think of. Skittles, blow pops, Laffy Taffy, Reese's Pieces, Kit Kats, all types of candy was in the drawer. They had to clear it out."
reminds me of Odom
