Hayes changes diet, approach

Jarvis Hayes wasn’t satisfied with making the NBA Rookie Game for last season’s All-Star Weekend or with starting 42 games for the Washington Wizards, averaging 9.6 points and earning selection to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.

That’s not enough for the 6-foot-7 small forward who was the No.10 overall pick in last year’s NBA Draft. Hayes, who left the University of Georgia as a junior, has made changes since last season in an effort to improve his game.

And early signs are that the changes — from his diet to his approach to the game — are working.

Three games into the preseason, Hayes is leading the team in scoring (20.7) and field goal attempts (56). And like last year, when injuries to Jerry Stackhouse opened the way for Hayes to start often, he has performed well at small forward. Antawn Jamison will start there during the regular season, but Hayes once again is getting considerable attention from coach Eddie Jordan.

“He is forcing me to keep him on the floor, which is what training camp and preseason are all about,” Jordan said.

With Kwame Brown expected to eventually start at power forward after offseason foot surgery, Jamison has been forced to play Brown’s position. This has created competition — between Hayes and the taller Jared Jeffries (6-11) — for the backup job.

Jordan will use both players mostly according to how they match up against the opposition, but Brown won’t be back until mid-November at the earliest. That means Jamison will start the season at power forward and Hayes at small forward.

Knowing he faced an uphill challenge for playing time — particularly since Jamison, a career 19-point scorer, has played in 328 consecutive games — Hayes took a dedicated approach to the offseason.

“All I did was lift weights and play basketball,” he said.

He also hired a cook, something not unusual in NBA circles.

“I’ve never eaten right in my life, but it’s a business now,” said Hayes, who got the idea from teammate Brendan Haywood and shares the same chef. Twice a week, each player is visited by chef Will Simpkins

“A lot of lean, baked foods,” is how Hayes describes the way he eats now. “Nothing fried, no carbohydrates at night.”

Not that Hayes was living at McDonald’s and Burger King as a rookie, but he ran into the dreaded rookie wall around the All-Star Game. He didn’t want a repeat of that.

“It was tough,” Hayes recalled. “I tell people I played 70 games last year, and I only played 80-something my whole college career. I almost played a college career in one season. It’s a grind. You have to be mentally and physically ready. This year I think I’m better prepared.”

Jordan agrees. The coach likes what he saw of Hayes during the Summer League, when Hayes led the Wizards in scoring (15.3), and he’s noticed the type of change in Hayes that all coaches like to see after a player’s rookie season.

“His facial expressions, his demeanor and approach have become much more professional,” Jordan said. “Last year he seemed like he was a happy kid in the candy store every day. This year he still has the same gleam in his eye, but it’s more of a serious business approach.”

An approach that apparently doesn’t include any candy.

Notes — The Wizards released forward Josh Smith yesterday, reducing the roster to 17. … Backup center Etan Thomas, who did not make the three-game road trip after suffering an abdominal injury at the end of training camp, did not practice yesterday. Although the team has given the impression the injury is not serious, no return date has been set for Thomas.