Season taking toll on Hibbert's ability to keep on weight

Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert spent the summer cutting all "bad foods" out of his diet and living in the gym so that he could get in the best shape of his life.

Now Hibbert, who has struggled for almost two months, is about to bring back some of those "bad foods" so that he can put on weight.

"I talked to (strength and conditioning coach) Shawn Windle, and he said I need to start drinking a lot of protein shakes and eat more throughout the day," Hibbert said. "I had been trying to eat healthy the whole year, but he said I can mix in some bad food sometimes, too, just to put some more weight on."

Hibbert came into the season at 255 pounds because he traded in fried foods, soda and concentrated juices for water and smoothies.

Hibbert got off to a quick start and was a hot name for the league's Most Improved Player of the Year award. He went into Wednesday's game against the Orlando Magic, however, averaging 8.2 points on 36 percent shooting and 7.4 rebounds a game this month. He had only four points and two rebounds in 15 minutes against the Magic.

"The lack of weight has impacted my lift and strength this season," Hibbert said. "Sometimes I have good games. Sometimes I have bad games. This is like a new body for me."