Steph Curry: Do not come to my school

Come to my house.

You'd be a good friend and an inspiration to my family.  Proud of who you are and the way you handle your business.

Wanted to preserve on the Blog your remarks on the importance of faith, passion, drive and will.

MVP Speech

Leslie's Mom Receives First Call

No surprise there.  Still a nice story about an NBA player and his mother.

Beyond Happy

I liked the big smile on Leslie and the quote that his Mom was beyond happy, screaming and very excited about the news that Travis was going to get another shot at the NBA.  It's also great that Leslie got called up by the Utah Jazz, a team with other players from Georgia and the franchise that gave Sundiata Gaines his first NBA opportunity.

Good luck, Travis!

Leslie Cut by Clippers

The Clippers never were a good fit for Travis. Leslie was a high-flyer on a team that didn't need his skills. They already have Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan to catch lobs, plus a slew of other guards to throw 'em.

I suppose that the question is whether any NBA team is a fit for Leslie. Does Travis Leslie have NBA talent?

Leslie is a guy with pretty good speed straight ahead and excellent athleticism up and down. What he has lacked is the side to side quickness and the handle to get around guys.

Some will attribute Leslie being cut to his decision to leave school early. But the fact is that another year with Coach Fox was not going to help his game. Although Fox has a reputation for developing players, in reality our guards played worse last year than the year before. Dustin Ware went from 44 percent in field goal percentage in 2010 to 34 percent in 2011. Gerald Robinson fell off from 44 percent to 43. Brantley managed to go from a paltry 31 percent shooting to 25. Similar story for three-point shooting and assists.

Shucks, Leslie could have injured himself a la Marcus Lattimore. Besides, chances are that Leslie had more of a chance to showcase his skills playing with Trey Thompkins than he would have had running with Marcus Thornton or Donte Williams at the power forward for last year's 15 and 17 squad. I don't begrudge Leslie for bolting to the pro's when he had the chance. Would have loved to see him in the red and black one more year, but after all, it is his career.

The issue going forward for Leslie is how to move that career forward now that he has been cut at the last possible second prior to the season. Other teams have pared their roster down. They're likely not looking to add a player at this point.

Couple of options: Leslie could go play internationally, or he could look for a good D-League team, one on which he can play every night and get better. Although international teams are paying a lot of money these days and Leslie is young enough to enjoy time overseas, I'd probably pick the D-League route, at least for now.

Several NBA guards will not stick this year, either through injury or bad decisions or something else. Leslie has to keep his head in the game, get good counsel from family and other advisors, and be ready.

Good luck, Travis.

DM

Ramon Sessions Finds His Place

He's doing well as the starting point guard for the Lakers. Averages 13 points and 7 assists with the team, while shooting almost 50 percent from the floor and a sizzling 51 percent from behind the arc. Impressive, especially since Sessions is in L.A. and Kobe is going to put up max numbers of shots.

Article below includes comments from Mark Fox, his former college coach at Nevada.

Sessions

We'll see if the Lakers bring Sessions back. Sessions has made it obvious to all that he wants to stay with the Lakers. Could work against him during negotiation time, but perhaps by letting management know, Sessions is putting getting a deal done above Hollywood-type drama. The Lakers have been playing him 30 minutes a game, so LA coach Mike Brown has likewise made his appreciation for Sessions obvious. We'll see how it turns out. If Sessions stays healthy and continues to perform in the post-season, Kupchak will do his best to make a good multi-year deal happen.

Here's hoping that Fox can develop a fantastic point guard (Charles Mann?) for the Dawgs.

Travis Leslie Interview

upon the occasion of his return to the NBA from his short stint with the Bakersfield Jam of the D-League.

The Clippers obviously believed that Travis would benefit from practicing with the team as much as any improvement in his game from playing against D-League competition. It was good to hear Leslie's take on the experience.

U-Turn

That was Quick

After just four games down in the D-League, Travis Leslie has been recalled by the Clippers. Good for him.

The Clippers are playing the Celtics right now. The Clippers could use some help. They look a little stagnant in the half-court offense.

Congrats, Travis.

Gerald Green's Stunning Hops

Well, I guess if I just had to find a UGA connection I would note that Sundiata Gaines was in the frame.

But the real reason I'm posting this video is because of the sheer absurdity of Gerald Green's play. I don't think I've ever seen a guy catch an alley-oop and pretty much put his entire head over the rim. That's an NBA slam dunk competition winning dunk done going full speed during an actual game.

Wow!

Jeremy Lin and Faith

Nice article on how Jeremy Lin's faith in Christ intersects with his career as a professional basketball player.

Lin

Sundiata Gaines Better than Jeremy Lin?

Well, in the fourth quarter, you'd have to say, yes.

Gaines does it all for the Nets in the final frame. He shoots a high percentage, steals the ball from opposing teams, passes it to his teammates for buckets, and even scores well from behind the arc.

Surprising Stats

Leslie and Thompkins Discuss Life in the NBA

Good article from Seth Emerson.

Rookies

Leslie and Thompkins have done well for themselves financially and are supporting each other. Both are committed to watching their money, not going crazy with spending their salaries, which is a very positive sign.

Glad they got a chance to make it to the pro's and that they didn't get injured while playing for the Dawgs. Would have liked to see what Georgia would have done with those two guys, but you go to battle with the players you have.

Hopefully, Georgia can get the ship righted. The South Carolina game will be tough. The Gamecocks may not have won too many games, but Darrin Horn is a good coach and he'll have his guys ready to trap all around the floor. We'll have to limit turnovers and win the rebounding battle to emerge with the W.

Yada back on the Court

Good picture of Sundiata Gaines in action against the Knicks.

Looks like he has fully recovered from the hip injury he sustained last year.

NBA Photo

Thompkins and Leslie Featured on NBA.com

Good article about the Clippers rookies. They are looking forward to learning from the veterans and growing with the team.

Dynamic Duo

Thompkins and Leslie on the Bus

The Clippers bus, that is. Excitement is brewing in L.A. for Clippers fans who received the early holiday gift of the Chris Paul trade.

The Clippers are using their caravan to spread the word that big things are coming, and Travis Leslie and Trey Thompkins seem to be a central part of their plans.

Good story with a nice pic of the Dawgs duo.

Big Things

Damien Wilkins to Pistons

He's had a long and fairly productive career as a back-up and willing defender. Seven points and 3 rebounds per game over seven years. Good for Damien.

Damien

Sundiata Gaines Call-Up Video

Once again, congrats to Gaines.

Loved the video of him actually getting the news.

Jarvis Hayes Returns to Action

Jarvis Hayes has made it back onto the court for the New Jersey Nets. He had a long recovery (32 games) due to a hamstring that was torn in two places.

In the game against Milwaukee, Jarvis scored 7 points and grabbed 6 rebounds in 14 minutes. He shot 3 of 5 from the floor.

The Nets still lost the game, 98 to 76, but it sounds like Jarvis will be able to help them get just a little bit better as the season wears on. Hopefully, not too much, though, since the Nets play the Hawks tonight.

Sundiata Gaines Called Up

The Utah Jazz announced that they are signing Sundiata Gaines. The Jazz have some injuries at the point guard position, so Gaines will likely have his chance to play and play soon.

Congrats, Yada!

Gaines has his chance

Here is the roster of the Atlanta Hawks mini-camp invitees.

Camp

There's some talent among the guys who will participate. Still, you have to figure that Gaines has a great shot at making the team.

The Hawks have been weak at point guard forever. They made a move to address the issue by selecting Jeff Teague in the draft. He'll help.

Mike Bibby is a good shooter. But he's a step too slow to drive the ball. If he ever was a good defender, those days are pretty much gone.

Jamal Crawford can play some point, but he really is a two-guard. Haven't heard anything definitive on Flip Murray. They should have signed Flip instead of Crawford, in my humble opinion.

At any rate, even with Teague and Bibby, the Hawks still need a back-up point guard. The players that the team tried over the last couple of years were all disappointments. Salim Stoudemire never learned the position. Acie Law wasn't able to develop behind Bibby. Speedy Claxton never got up to speed. Tyronn Lue helped the team on offense, but he was for the most part a defensive liability.

They need a lock-down defender, someone who can distribute the ball. Mario West with handles, if you will. The situation is almost tailor-made for Gaines.

Camp begins in earnest tomorrow. Good luck, Sundiata!

Singleton Makes Roster

Rashaad Singleton, 7' 0" former player for UGA, has been named to the roster of the New York Knicks summer league squad.

Singleton had been invited to the Knicks organization to participate in workouts prior to the NBA draft. The summer league should give Singleton the chance to show what he can do before NBA, D-League and international scouts.

Mark Fox on "One and Done"

Fox prefers a system that would allow high school players, if they're good enough, to go directly to the pro's. If a player goes to college, however, they would have to stay at least 3 years before they're eligible for the NBA draft.

I thought that Randolph Morris did well in providing a player's perspective.

Morris is an interesting case in point. Morris was well-known in high school, went to Kentucky, and from there, to the pro's. However, how many minutes has he played since then? If he had gone directly to the pro's, would he still be in the NBA? As it stands, he has bounced around a little bit and earned a nice NBA check. He just as easily could have been bounced out of the league, and ended up competing for a job without a degree.

My take is that players should be able to go directly to the NBA. It's America.

I do have concerns for guys that end up without a degree and without a fall-back plan. The one-and-done rule doesn't help those guys, because they go to school for a semester, play ball and then declare for the draft.

At some point, you have to let adults make what could be bad decisions.

Lassez-faire?