February 12, 2007

Hilton Armstrong tallied six points vs. Memphis on Saturday, his highest scoring output since a 14-point game against the Grizzlies on Dec. 22.

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, Armstrong – who recently returned to Byron Scott’s rotation, having appeared in seven consecutive games – discusses how much enjoyment he and his teammates are having. Well, at least when he and his fellow rooks aren’t wandering all over the Ford Center in pursuit of stray basketballs.

To say that I am looking forward to the All-Star break is an understatement. I am excited to head to Atlanta to see my mom and my sister next weekend. Between practice, games and travel – something I am still not used to – I need a few days to rest up and go to bed without having to worry about waking up for practice or shootaround.

While I am eager to have a break, I am excited about how we are playing and that I have the opportunity to be on the court with a great group of guys. We are all in good spirits because we have been playing well, making practices fun. We all laugh and joke and have a good time. When I came into the NBA, I thought it would be serious 100 percent all of the time, but I’m glad that we can have a good time and keep it light. Not that we don’t work hard; we work extremely hard!

I continue to learn from my teammates including Tyson Chandler, Marc Jackson, Desmond Mason and David West. They continually help and look out for me on and off the court... except when they decide to kick all of the practice balls into the Ford Center seats and make us three rookies, myself, Cedric Simmons and Marcus Vinicius, roam each level of seating until we have returned them all to (Hornets equipment manager) Big Shot (David Jovanovic)!

I’m excited for the playoff push and am hoping that we can play like we have over the last 15 games or so. I want my rookie season to last for more than 82 games!