Candace Buckner

candace.buckner@indystar.com

Roy Hibbert never stops playing defense, and that's part of his problem.

When the Indiana Pacers' rim protector walks through a crowded room at the Ritz-Carlton in Charlotte, he chooses the back corner seat. When he speaks, he looks away. And when he reveals his solution to his radical decline through the second half of last season, he gruffly says that he will "make sure I just shut my mouth, go out there and compete."

Hibbert can be gracious with a guest, but distant. Contemplative and patient, yet still aloof. Seven years into the NBA and Hibbert has learned to gird himself. Against the gawkers. Against the keyboard critics. But to survive the nightmare through last season's playoffs, Hibbert needed to build up an even greater wall.

So when he put up more zeroes than a pitcher throwing a no-hitter, he cut off everyone. Not even the best man for his wedding could get him on the phone.

Hibbert plummeted, hard and fast. But he began to recognize a truth: when you're 7-2 and north of 290 pounds, a DNA lottery winner who could dunk as an adolescent and emerge as the focal point of a championship contender's defensive identity, your problems are not physical.

"The only person who could fix this whole mess that I got myself into," Hibbert says, "is me."

The Pacers can only hope that their big man can fix more than just himself.

Over the summer, Paul George, the principal player in the Pacers' script, broke his leg and now takes tender steps on the season-long road to recovery. Before that, another rising star, Lance Stephenson, exercised his free agent rights and left Indiana. Then, this month, starters David West and George Hill needed to be bubble-wrapped: both will be sidelined with injuries for the start of the regular season.

All that's left from that core, once believed to be strong enough to compete for the crown of the Eastern Conference, is a two-time All-Star center whose consistency can be as shaky as his self-assurance.

"He really lost sight of what worked and what didn't work," says Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, evaluating his latest pupil. "Things just seemed to fall apart, but that's behind us."

This summer, instead of committing to bulking up in the weight room, Hibbert turned within. More specifically, he turned to yoga, Pilates and, of course, Kareem. He meditates. He eats an insane amount of asparagus but also leaves room for the good stuff like pulled BBQ chicken sandwiches that dropped his weight to 274 at the start of camp.

Also, Hibbert has figured out a way to block all the amateur sports psychologists hidden behind "@" sobriquets — he doesn't look at his Twitter mentions anymore. Same goes with Instagram. The rare times he uses the social media site, he'll post a photo then leave before dipping into the cesspool called the comment section.

"I had to change," Hibbert says, and this is coming from the over-sharer who posted 20 photos during 31 days last August, including a picture of artificially flavored Dr. Pepper bubble gum.

"I made a conscious decision. The way that I played the last playoffs and the second half of the year, whatever I say is going to be scrutinized. So I say, the best way (is) to pull back a little bit because people think you're going to be focused on the wrong things."

More than ever, Hibbert will be looked upon as a leader and in preparation for this challenge, he has silenced the background noise. Now, all he has to do is get out of his own head.

"It's not like he can't be what people hope for him to be," Abdul-Jabbar says. "It's just that I think he had a little crisis in confidence and that seems to be what the problem was."

The thing about tall people, they tend to stand out in low-slung terminals.

"I've been called Hasheem Thabeet more times than I can remember going through an airport," Hibbert says of the under-performing former second overall pick.

There was a time when a younger, but still towering, Roy would have loved the attention. He was the big kid in basketball sweats, and that made it easier to talk to pretty girls. He would lie to them about his plans of jumping straight to the NBA from high school.

Of course, that line wouldn't work at Georgetown Prep where Hibbert was addicted to watching Aqua Teen Hunger Force episodes and playing Grand Theft Auto video games inside his dorm room. Admittedly socially awkward, thanks to an isolated life as an only child that became even more sheltered once he enrolled in the boarding school, Hibbert may have been a sight to behold on his prestigious Washington, D.C., high school basketball team, but he wasn't seen as an NBA prospect.

"If you asked anybody else," says friend and former teammate Aris Williams, who was a 6-10 teenager and shared the frontcourt with Hibbert, "probably not."

At that age, the 7-foot Hibbert was just as much oddity as prodigy. Another teammate and longtime buddy, Rice Moss, can remember playing in a tournament in Washington state, and since Georgetown Prep had rolled through the competition to make it to the finals, local rival fan bases joined forces to heckle the tall kid from the District.

"I just heard the crowd calling him 'Lurch,' " Moss recalls. "They just kept (chanting): 'Lurch! Lurch! Lurch!' I'm like, 'They're calling my man Lurch from 'Addam's Family!' "

In that gym, and just about everywhere else he roamed, Hibbert was the tallest thing in the room. And besides staring at tall things, people expect them to do something. Often times, more than they are capable of.

The high school season when he committed to Georgetown, Hibbert averaged 15.3 points, 14 rebounds and 4.3 blocks. Then, as a Hoya, he became a first-team All-Big East player and second-team All-American. With the Pacers, Hibbert has developed an effective straight-up defensive method, much to the chagrin of rivals who call foul after their attempts get stuffed at the rim. Hibbert needs only 39 more blocks to reach 1,000 in his career.

In comparison to several big man contemporaries — Greg Oden, a washout; Brook Lopez, an operating room staple; and Thabeet, who should be mistaken for Hibbert in airports and not the other way around — he has met his potential.

Still, it may not be enough, simply because tall people tend to stand out and, in basketball, the taller the person, the greater the expectation.

"I think a lot of what happens with Roy is," Williams says, "people expect him to be their (vision) of what someone with his size would do."

After the 2008 draft, Hibbert embraced Indianapolis. His easygoing, every-man personality made him relatable. He wasn't just a giant but a giant who gave away sneakers on social media and tweeted at celebrities like any other fanboy. He was the ideal post-brawl Pacer — accessible and humorous, hard-working and committed to Indiana. But none of this saved him from the free fall last season.

It's victory Sunday on a clear afternoon. The Colts have unleashed thousands of giddy fans onto the streets of Downtown Indianapolis and more than 100 of those zealots found their way inside the Pacers' practice facility. they cram inside the arena's lower-level restaurant that doubles as the staging zone for tryouts for Area 55.

They come lathered in gold face paint, some wielding tri-fold poster boards or red velvet cookies or even their own small children to convince their favorite Pacer that they belong in his cheering section for the upcoming season.

Surrounded by Pacers employees, Hibbert sits at the center of the table and turns his head in anticipation every time he hears the door open. A new devotee stands before him trying to convince their favorite Pacer they belong in Area 55. They abuse their larynxes, these normally reasonable adults, screaming and pleading while basically making fools of themselves for 30 seconds. Hibbert smiles and laughs. Today is a good day to be the Big Dawg.

Then, Contestant No. 46, a nervous high school senior who hates public speaking, snaps the room back to reality.

"Even through your ups and downs," Matthew Ajamie stammers out, "I was still cheering for you."

The room falls silent. If Larry Bird had shown up in a LeBron jersey, he wouldn't have received a more icy response. Near the end of Ajamie's 30-second improvised appeal, a woman on the bleachers mutters in annoyed tones to her co-workers: "We don't talk about the pitfalls for Roy. We talk about the good."

But even on this day, even during this lovefest, it's difficult to forget about that zero-point, zero-rebound Game 5.

Four times through April and May, Hibbert finished a playoff game scoreless. In March, he averaged just 4.6 rebounds. And in the 29 games after the All-Star break, Hibbert's production tumbled across almost every statistical category. On offense, Hibbert averaged just 8.9 points on 39 percent shooting, down from 11.8 on 46 percent before he became an All-Star.

So, months after disappearing in the Pacers' playoff runs, the question remains: What happened?

"My role changed a little bit and I needed to just accept that, even though it wasn't said verbally in practice or anything like that," Hibbert says. "It was one of those things where I just (needed to) … stay even-keeled."

Hibbert's struggles intensified, in part, when the team failed to handle success. The Pacers jumped to the best record in the NBA before realizing their talent alone could not provide a parachute. Hibbert might have played as an All-Star from November through mid February, but when Indiana slumped and needed to escape from the doldrums of March, the team relied on ball-dominant wings George and Stephenson.

"From where I was early on in the year, I thought I was playing at a certain level and when things get a little difficult and we're losing, I was missing shots. I wasn't playing as well. Things move on," Hibbert says. "The coaches and the staff have to move on and Lance was playing tremendous, leading the league in triple-doubles. …That was probably the hardest thing, I felt like I was holding myself back mentally and then I wasn't bringing it on the court physically.

"I was right here," he says, and extends his large hand from his chest, "and everybody else was just moving forward and I couldn't catch up."

Basketball is a naked sport. Just you, a pair of shorts and a tank top. And through the toughest times last season, Hibbert was bare. Every time he would blow a hook shot, the roll of his eyes and angry mutter from his lips would expose his inner frustration. When the pass found him on the block, you could almost see his mind moving a hundred different ways.

Should I pass? Should I pivot? Should I shoot? Passpivotshoot. What should I do? Too late, double team's here.

The irritation of it all built up inside Hibbert and those around him. Before Game 4 in the Pacers' first-round series against Atlanta, coach Frank Vogel, in an uncharacteristically terse tone, flipped a question on how the team could help Hibbert get interior looks.

"He's got to get himself better looks inside," Vogel said.

The results were hard to watch and the criticism far reaching. Former NBA player Gilbert Arenas was merciless on Instagram, firing off various memes directed at Hibbert. In one, a reporter holds a microphone towards a trashcan and the caption read: "They just caught Roy hibbert for an interview lmaoo great win tonight boys."

After difficult games, Hibbert would spend twilight hours alone in his man cave playing Call of Duty. Other times, he would switch off his phone. His island was for one.

"For a while, people knew to leave me alone," Hibbert says. "So for the most part, yeah. My parents would call, I would talk to them and stuff like that but I wasn't in the most talkative mood, most of the time. There were just some things that I had to work out and get going on the court."

"I was just digging myself into a hole. After the zero-point, zero-rebound game, I talked to our team psychiatrist … and that helped a lot. I think from that point on, I was able to put that other stuff (behind me), figure out a way mentally to put all that negative stuff aside and just focus on what I need to focus on and do that at a somewhat high level for a while. Wish I could handle this problem without talking to somebody and I figured it took the point where I got to my lowest … one thing I do regret is probably not speaking to him earlier on. One thing I realized, I was making too many excuses and not taking responsibility for how I was playing."

More help was on the way. The Captain was coming.

At the end of the season, basketball observers all over heard about the press conference when Bird suggested that Hibbert work with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. So did the all-time leading scorer in NBA history.

"I said, 'Geez, I probably could help him,' " Abdul-Jabbar recalls.

The living legend reached out to Hibbert's agent, David Falk, but wasn't the only one. Hakeem Olajuwon also contacted Falk to pitch his services but Hibbert decided to go with Abdul-Jabbar for his similar 7-2 body type.

"I'll tell you what, these guys are expensive to work out with," Hibbert says, "but I look at it as an investment for myself."

Abdul-Jabbar had watched very little of Hibbert during the season but understood the desperation to improve just in small interactions with Pacers fans.

"I pull up on the plane, people (asked), 'You going to help Roy?' Went out to eat, people would stop me in the street: 'Going to work with Roy?' " Abdul-Jabbar says. "Even though people expressed a lot of disappointment, it was because Roy had given them something to feel good about and they saw it materializing and then all of a sudden, it seemed to go south."

The five days in July with Abdul-Jabbar was less about learning the hook shot and more about harnessing confidence. Though Abdul-Jabbar drilled the fundamentals — how to work to get low-post position, why it's important to move your feet as the ball moves, when to hit somebody in a box out or when to just go grab that rebound — over and over again. The sessions didn't end on the practice court. At night, Hibbert and Abdul-Jabbar retreated to Hibbert's mansion for lessons taught through movies. One night they watched a highlight video of Celtic great Bill Russell blocking shots. The next, a movie about the struggle of the 20th century black athlete. Then, "Samurai I Musashi Miyamoto," a 1954 Japanese film about the legendary warrior. Hibbert still has the DVD at home.

"So as much as it was about basketball, it was about up here, too," Hibbert says, pointing to his head.

Hibbert plans to stay in touch with Abdul-Jabbar and send him game footage for critique. He also has his Georgetown mentor, John Thompson III, in his corner — even Big John Thompson called and offered reinforcement. The support is genuine and heartfelt, and Hibbert appreciates the extra hand. Still, he's committed to helping himself.

"All those pats on the back are not going to do anything, unless I put the work in," Hibbert says. "All I got to say is I've got to put myself mentally and physically in a position where I can play at a high level and help my team win and that's what I plan on doing."

Hibbert had already begun his yoga and Pilates routine and started shedding pounds while retaining muscle with a diet jacked with calories and carbs, when the Pacers' future changed Aug. 1. Hibbert was packing for a weekend wedding in San Francisco. The USA Basketball instrasquad scrimmage played on his tablet. George crashed into the basketball stanchion. Hibbert didn't realize his teammate's leg had snapped.

"I got a phone call from my friend who said Paul broke his leg. I said, 'There's no way,' " says Hibbert, so he replayed the video, "and (I) saw his leg."

Even months later, the memory of seeing George's leg makes Hibbert grimace. George had surgery that Friday night and after the Bay Area wedding, Hibbert hopped a plane and arrived at the Las Vegas hospital Saturday night. Hibbert hasn't stopped visiting George. Every week, once a week. Before Pilates, Hibbert drives over to check on his teammate. This season, he'll have to carry his teammates.

"When he got hurt, I just knew that the stuff I was working on would come into effect even more," Hibbert says. ".' I just said I've got to be even more efficient. Paul's not going to be there to grab those rebounds, so I just got to make sure I do my part and put extra effort out there.

"I think the pieces we've brought in can help facilitate that but I am going to embrace that role. It's a little bit different in preseason when we have a lot of guys in, but being a little bit more assertive once the season actually starts, I think you'll see that."

The Hibbert who sits in the back corner of that Charlotte Ritz-Carlton seems to be in a better place than the one who staggered through the last stretch of the season. He feels the benefits of those lost pounds, and the Pacers' trainers can count on one hand the times he has lost his steadiness and fell to the court this preseason — a problem he had last year.

Hibbert declares his changes, his dull glance a thousand miles away, and then turns and shows his eyes. He pulls out his iPhone and shows his new habit, a meditation app called Headspace that his his nutritionist, Mike Roussell, suggested.

The app talks him through breathing exercises, being to able focus on how he feels and training his mind to relax.

Hibbert has taken all the steps imaginable to find his balance and center, to become a more balanced center. Most important, he's stopped playing so much defense.

"Hopefully, I'll see the sunshine a lot sooner, rather than later. But the only way I could do it is by hard work," Hibbert says. "I had some rainy days, I didn't handle those rainy days. I walked out without an umbrella sometimes. I'm going to be more mentally prepared for my downs, because there are going to be ups and downs. I'm going to be more mentally prepared to handle that stuff better than I did last year."

Follow Star reporter Candace Buckner on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.