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Rookie Diary: Fifth Installment, Expanded Roles
December 13, 2006
Periodically throughout the 2006-07 season, Hornets.com is chatting with Hornets first-round draft picks Hilton Armstrong and Cedric Simmons, to get their thoughts on what life is like as an NBA rookie, both on and off the floor. In this edition of Rookie Diary, the first-year pros discuss their recent increases in playing time, which have come partly as a result of Hornets injuries. After playing double-figure minutes just twice over the Hornets’ first 17 games, Armstrong has logged 19, 16 and 14 minutes in the past three contests, respectively. Meanwhile, Simmons made his first official NBA start on Saturday at Golden State, then was introduced with the starters for the first time in a home game Monday vs. Cleveland. In his own words, Armstrong discusses his recent contributions to the team, how he is adjusting to life off the court and a recent rookie-hazing incident that took place in Seattle. Simmons tells Hornets.com how he is adjusting to being a member of the starting lineup, explains his new nickname and joins Armstrong in addressing the Seattle episode.
I’m feeling good right now (about getting playing time) and a little bit more confident. I just want to prove to everybody that I can play at this level. I still want to work hard, and I think I can do a little bit more defensively and rebounding. Of course I’m happy with the way things have been going lately, but I still think I can do better. I feel a lot more comfortable. When I first came in, I was just so nervous. I felt like I was running all over the place. Now I am much more relaxed. I basically realized that this is just basketball. Obviously there are better players (in the NBA than in college hoops), but it is still basketball. The coaches tell me to play as hard as possible. On defense, they want me to talk a little bit more and let (Hornets) guards know where picks are coming from, for example. They want me to be more vocal, play hard and rebound. My favorite play from the Seattle game was the tip-in dunk I had from the free-throw line. Someone was shooting a free throw for us, and (SuperSonics center Mouhamed) Sene was trying to box me out. I just went over him and dunked on him. That’s the first time I’ve ever done that (in a game). Off the court, I’m getting adjusted. The pace is a lot slower (in Oklahoma) than what I was used to in the Northeast. I’m here by myself for a little while, until January. My girl will be out here to visit, and that will be great to have some company. I think being on my own is making me more mature. I’ve got to do everything on my own now, like cleaning up my place [laughs] The (team’s veterans) have been treating us pretty well, but when we were in Seattle, during shootaround they kicked a bunch of basketballs up in the stands and the rookies had to go get them. There were balls all over the whole stadium! [laughs] The arena was completely empty, so they could kick them as far as they wanted to. They were trying to make all of us hustle and sprint after them.
Getting my first NBA start was special. When you sit around at home and picture what it would be like… it was everything I envisioned. Hearing the crowd (in Oklahoma City on Monday) cheering when my name was introduced was a great feeling. I tried to come out focused and get into the flow of the game right away, as opposed to coming in off the bench after the game had already started. Even though I’ve started a couple games and have played more minutes lately, I still am focused on going out there trying to play as hard as possible, because I know that as soon as my effort drops, coach (Byron Scott) will see it, and he’ll take me out of the game real quick. Getting to play more has helped me become a lot more comfortable on the floor in general. I realized that you have to be aggressive at all times, because if you’re not, other teams will see that and try to take advantage of you. Lately people have started calling me Grasshopper. It came from coach Gatt (Kenny Gattison). That nickname comes from that ‘Kung Fu’ TV series with David Carradine. In Kung Fu, the guy who Carradine is teaching, Carradine always calls him Grasshopper. In Seattle, a lot of the guys kicked basketballs up in the stands and made the rookies get them. Some of the balls were almost in the second level of the arena. It seemed like everybody was kicking the balls up in the stands, including ‘Big Shot’ (longtime Hornets equipment manager David Jovanovic) and (strength and conditioning coach) Jack Manson. Everyone got in on it. [laughs]
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