Well right now I'm in Columbus going through some training with the Grizzlies/Ohio State strength coaches. This is really my first full off season I'm able to train since my final year of high school. The training program starts today and is supposed to last 12 weeks so that pretty much takes me through my entire summer. I'm also wondering what pick our team will get in the lottery this year and who we actually take in the draft. I will have to lay off the videogaming for a while until I get my internet hooked up here in columbus... if you see my gamer tag online it's probably not me.

Well my first season is over and it seemed to have gone by really really quick. I'm taking a break for a couple weeks before I return to Ohio State for summer school and to work out with the team. On a side note I've really enjoyed playing Call of Duty 4 on my PS3, I have it on Xbox but most of my teammates play it on PS3 so I had to step up and get it. My screen name is "moneymikejr11" get at me.

In just a little over a week I will have my rookie year completed. It had its ups and downs, but I feel good going into the off season where I can workout at Ohio State. I also will be attending summer classes there, so it's back to school for me.

We have a game in Minny today so hopefully can get a win, we came very close a few weeks ago here. I'm about to head out to the gym but check out this picture of me dunking against the Knicks...

We picked up a nice win last night over the Bobcats at the Forum. It was a much needed win. I've had quite a few people send me emails or comments asking the difference between the NBA and college or what NBA practices are like.

Well I normally get to the gym at 8:45 and do some shooting before practice. I also stay after to do some more work so I don't really get home until about 2:15-2:30.

The differences between the NBA and college is pretty big IMO, outside of the obvious size, speed stuff.. One of the big things is that the college game is more physical on the perimeter than the NBA. In college you can handcheck, bump, hold, etc. on the perimeter. Those are called everytime in the NBA, I've picked up my share of fouls trying to break the habit. Another big difference is the defensive 3 second rule, personally I love this because it opens up the lane for drives :). In college guys can just stand in the paint and try to pick up charges right under the rim. Also when you run pick and rolls the roll man is rarely open because guys are all packed in the lane, NBA game is more open.

The NBA season at least for us is coming to end, we have a little over a month left. I hope to end this season on a good note and play well down the stretch. We have a game against the Bulls tomorrow night so hopefully we can get a win on the road which hasn't happend in a while. I think overrall I've had a solid rookie year, just ready to get back and work on my game this summer. Any questions just leave a comment and I will answer over the next day or so while I'm in Chicago.

This has been a very crazy week for me mainly because I have a road game tonight against Seattle so I flew here straight from New Orleans. The food was pretty good while I was down there but it was really crowded and really tough to get around downtown. If any of you watched the Rookie/Sophomore game what did you think of the Adidas basketball shoes I wore in the 1st half with Grizzlies colors?

I had a chance to play in a celebrity pool tourney Thursday night at the Sugar Mill. It actually was pretty fun and yes I do play pool, I have a table in a house. A ton of celebs/athletes were there it was probably my favorite thing the entire weekend.

I have the Sonics tonight, we really need a win,we have beaten them everytime this year but this is our first time playing them without Pau so we will see.

Well I guess the hard work paid off for me as I was invited to play in the Rookie/Sophomore game during All-Star weekend. Rudy will be playing for the sophomores so it will be kinda fun for me to play against him and give it to him like I do in practice, heh. I wish Daequan would have made it but maybe we can play together next year.

I was shocked when I heard about the Pau trade on my way to chick-fil-a. Javaris called me asking about places stay in Memphis, I was thinking why? Anyway Its gonna be weird not having PG around, he's gonna be a beast with the Lakers though they will be title contenders.

I suffered a severe chest sprain during our game against the Wizards on Saturday, that was the most painful injury I've ever had. Right after the injury I just knew I would be out for a while but according to the trainers It should be little over a week. I've been in rehab the last few days and each day I can do more and more so the improvement is coming along pretty fast. The pain which is actually soreness in my arm,neck.,chest is pretty bad but I expect that to start going away as I continue my rehab.

I played my first NBA game on national TV on Monday and we came away with a win over the Bulls. My first national TV game and I had my first double-double of my NBA career. Tonight we are looking to win our second straight against the Magic. We actually beat them in Orlando last time but Rashard Lewis didn't play. Hopefully we can get this win to make it 2 in a row.

Wow, we have had a string of very close losses in a row. Hopefully we can turn it around Friday against the Sonics but man to lose games on last second shots and it OT is tough. On top of that my Colts got knocked off in the 2nd round of the playoffs by the Chargers, for some reason they always play us tough especially at our place and LSU defeated OSU in the title game. Stromile has given me a ton of heat about that loss. I think OSU also lost a month ago in the title game for soccer too, we gotta get over that hump. On my end I'm starting to feel better every game and my jumper feels great right now, hopefully I will continue to improve on it.

I've gotten a few games under my belt since the injury and I feel pretty good. The first couple of games I really wasn't in game shape. I'm in Sacarmento now and we need to get this road win tonight folllowing the loss to the Lakers on Sunday. The second quarter of that Lakers game really hurt us bigtime.

I got my first start last night against the Pacers and I would be lying if I told you I wasn't a bit nervous. Once I got up and down the court a few times I was good to go. Now we have to play Boston tomorrow which should be a very tough game for us.

Well we had a few off days so I welcomed the vacation, didn't start off on the right foot because we lost to the 76ers on a buzzer beater. The following day I made a trip to Columbus and ran into Othello Hunter in the airport my man "O". I stayed in Cbus for a day and then made the jump to Indianapolis to spend Xmas eve with my family. I actually ran into Eric Gordon at the mall in Indy so we talked a few, that place was packed, then I flew back to Memphis Xmas morning had dinner over my aunts house then off to practice. This was my first full contact practice and I felt good, took a few hits on the shoulder, no problem.

A few days ago I was cleared for "non" contact workouts and hopefully will be cleared for full contact practices soon. My shoulder feels pretty good right now I just need to continue building my strength up.

I normally don't have time to respond to many emails that are sent to me, but I do read them. A common theme in the majority of the emails is simply how do I get better at basketball or what advice I can give them, drills, etc.

Honestly until this summer I never did very many if any organized ball handling drills. When I was a kid I would always just dribble around my house and I loved to do tricks like those AND 1 guys. Most of the drills I worked on outside of school at that time were ones I made up on my own for what I felt I needed to work on.

I would tell any young pg to learn how to use ball screens, know your mismatches and read defenses. Personally for me the worst thing I could do as a point guard is turn the ball over. People make a big deal about being fast but it doesn't mean much if you're making bad decisions.