Monte Ellis was the one piece that was going to come out and make all the Warriors fans forget about Baron Davis.

In fact, he was Davis' replacement since he left for the Los Angeles Clippers and Steve Nash .

Ellis has been sidelined with a severe high ankle sprain.  The length of the injury has been reported as a minimum of three months before he can successfully return to the basketball court.

I haven't really stuck my hat into much as the USA Mens Basketball team, A.K.A the Redeem Team, has made garbage out of every team that they have played, winning handily at each event.

I've been watching, I've been enjoying, I just haven't been writing about it.

However, I am ready.  This is the gold medal game vs. Spain, this is what this team has been going for, and I am ready to stay up until four in the morning to give you all a running diary of this game as it happens.

Here we are again, no major news stories but plenty of small stuff that still deserves mention.  There are rumors, signings, stuff stays in place, and even a little payback.

I know how excited you are to delve into this edition of Around the NBA, so I will hold you no further and let you hear about the news happening right now.

Every year in the NBA, a young player is selected to be the Most Improved Player, or the MIP.  This player must be a player that is still in the infancy of his NBA career and have a breakout year.

He can be somebody who was already good and then made great strides, or somebody who finally got a chance to start and played amazingly.