Hayes was selected with the 10th pick in the 2003 NBA Draft. Mitchell Layton/NBAE/Getty Images

We have had some key injuries. Gilbert and Jerry have been out, and I’m feeling a little banged up, but those are the rigors of the NBA. You win some and you lose some, but it’s time for us to start a new trend now. We are coming together as a team, and we’ll continue to battle out there. For me, despite the bangs and bruises, I am going to continue to do my thing. I look at it like I’m paying my rookie dues. Every rookie goes through it. I am no exception. I am just going to try to get better from it. You have to establish yourself in this league. You have to put in your time to get those favorable calls.

At this point, 24 games into the season, as a rookie there is a definite adjustment to make to the NBA schedule. I don’t want to say that I’m affected by it, but it is definitely different. If I was in college, after 24 games I would be getting ready for the SEC Tournament. But here, we are not even two months into a long season. It is definitely different. I am going to pace myself. I’m going to get in the weight room a little bit more, and I’ll fight through it.

As a team, we had a rough schedule in the early going. We played eight of nine games on the road at one point, but those trips build character. It was a great experience going to L.A. for the first time. Being around the guys, and battling against the Lakers; it’s all a learning experience. We just have to get better as a team.

There are a lot of good teams in the West, but once you get out there on the court, it really doesn’t matter. People can write all they want, and say all they want about a team prior to the game, but none of that matters on the court. We have stuck with the best of the West, besides the Lakers in that one game in LA. We are going to continue to go out there and battle, and fight tooth and nail.

When Gilbert went down, it posed a challenge to us all. Gilbert gets so much attention out there on the court because of what he can do, that he opens up shots for Larry and myself. When he went down, that is an extra body that the other team doesn’t have to worry about, so they focus on me and Larry even more. It’s obviously going to make it a bit tougher.

I need to be more assertive and more aggressive on the offensive end. Without Gilbert and Jerry Stackhouse, those are a lot of points that we’re missing. Coach told me to be more aggressive, and to play my game. I know I have a place on this team, and that is how I am going to approach it.

People ask what is going to happen when Gilbert and Stack get back. Well, whatever Coach Jordan sees fit for me, I’ll do. I know I’ll play. I don’t know exactly how, but it is all going to work. I know this: when we get our full deck of cards back, we are going to be a hell of a team.

Right now, we’re so young. We’re learning every time out on the court. I’ve had the opportunity to be on the court with Jared Jeffries a lot lately, and it’s been great. Jared is a great person first of all, and he is a great athlete. He just bangs and runs the court so well. Other teams can’t keep him off the glass, and can’t run up and down the court with him. It is definitely posing match-up problems for other teams.

You never want to get caught up in the standings, but it is very encouraging to know that even though we aren’t playing our best basketball right now, we are going in the right direction. Once we get our guys back, and we aren’t too far back right now, we are going to start catching up. It is definitely encouraging that despite it all, we are still right there on the brink.