“We have to play four consistent quarters of basketball,” Howard said. “It can’t be one quarter or two quarters or three. It has to be four. Guys have to know their limits, know when they need a break, be humble enough to raise their hand and get somebody else in to play those minutes. A lot of times, guys cruise. I’ve cruised a couple times, wanted to stay out there longer.
“You can’t do that if you want to be a great team. You have to go out there and go hard and play 48 minutes as hard as you can, whether that’s 20 minutes, five minutes, 30 minutes (each), we have to all give it all and trust that the guy off the bench is going to give us the same effort or more. We all have to get to that level where we trust each other and trust that the guy that is going to come in for us will come in with the same intensity. Once we get there, we’ll be a tough team to beat.”
