--Under legendary coach John Chaney, Temple University was known for its toughness and for having savvy, though not flashy, floor leaders playing point guard. Clippers guard Mardy Collins not only is a product of the competitive Philadelphia high school basketball circuit, but he stayed home to attend Temple, which is located in Philadelphia.
So Collins is a well-informed source of information when it comes to rating the top point guards that Temple produced. Collins' top four -- not in any particular order -- are Rick Brunson, Pepe Sanchez, Lynn Greer and Howie Evans.
Brunson was the consummate student-athlete while at Temple. He was a three-year starter, a two-time all-conference player and he earned his degree in social work. Brunson played eight years in the NBA, including the 2004-2005 season with the Clippers. Following his playing career, he spent part of one year working as an assistant coach with the Denver Nuggets. Brunson currently serves as the director of basketball operations at the University of Virginia.
Collins said he was a junior at Simon Gratz High School (the alma mater of Detroit's Rasheed Wallace) when he first met Brunson.
"He used to play with us all the time in the summer," Collins said. "He talked a lot of stuff but I knew he was just testing me. When he found out that I could take it, he laid off."
--F/C Paul Davis said his surgically repaired right knee is at 80-85 percent in terms of strength and stability. "That's probably where it's going to stay the rest of the season because I don't have time to rehabilitate it like I need to," Davis said. "But it's been a year since the injury, so I can move to a smaller brace."
Davis has been playing with a soft cushioned brace all season that he said has aided the stability of his knee but is big and bulky.
When asked if he is going to keep the brace as a souvenir, Davis said, "I'm going to blow it up, throw it in the ocean, run it over with my car. I really haven't decided what I'm going to do with it, yet. But it's gone."
--G Mike Taylor will be forced to learn by watching from the sidelines. Taylor will have surgery to repair a fractured right thumb and is expected to be out for at least eight weeks.
"I kind of knew I messed it up bad," said Taylor, who was injured in the Clippers' recent victory at Indiana.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Right from the start it looked like we had been running in mud." -- Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy, describing the team's blowout loss at Milwaukee, in the finale of their recent road trip.
