Kenneth Faried knew the question before it had been fully asked. His answer cut off the query before its conclusion.

Kenneth, how do you feel about your seas …

“Awful,” he said.

Awful?

“Awful.”

Faried knows the start of his season hasn’t been up to standard — by his standard or anyone else’s who knows he has so much more to give. So he doesn’t mince words. He has been a shell of himself, a half-Manimal through the first 16 games, desperately seeking his whole self again.

“I just haven’t been playing my game,” Faried said. “I know it. My teammates know it. My coaches know it. Hopefully, this month of December, I turn everything around. But for me, it’s awful. You’ve got to be able to look at yourself, look at the man in the mirror and say that to yourself. And be able to correct yourself.”

Faried’s averages — 11.4 points, 7.1 rebounds, 50 percent shooting — all are down from last season. And this was to be the season of his true ascension, when he built upon his strong finish of 2013-14. It still can be.

He made national headlines with his play for USA Basketball last summer. He was rewarded with a $50 million contract before the season, mostly for his work with the Nuggets last season in which, frankly, he dominated during the final two months.

Now? He seeks a reboot.

What needs correcting?

“Everything,” he said. “Everything.”

Not just one category?

“Nope, just everything.”

His coach, Brian Shaw, wants Faried to pay more attention to the boards, first and foremost — particularly on the defensive glass. Faried began rectifying that situation with six of his nine rebounds Friday night against the Phoenix Suns coming at the defensive end.

Faried admits to feeling pressure to perform after signing his new deal.

“But I’ve got to just deal with the fact that I’m that type of player now. Next year, I start getting paid that type of money, so I can’t be making the mistakes that I’ve been making. Or not doing what I usually do, or what got me the contract. I’ve got to focus back in and get, not even just rebounding and scoring, just find my love for the game like I always had.”

And so he looks to the final month of the year for a new beginning.

“I feel like I’m locking in better,” Faried said, “and doing the things that I need to do.”

Christopher Dempsey: cdempsey@denverpost.com or twitter.com/dempseypost