I have a confession to make. I was a terrible free throw shooter in High School. Actually, I'm still a terrible free throw shooter, but it doesn't come up as much playing pick up ball twice a week.

I played two years of varsity basketball back in the day. I was the team captain and starting point guard my senior year. And I couldn't make free throws. My misses at the line cost my team at least two games my senior year. One was particularly painful, where we lost a lead in the final minutes as the opposition fouled me over and over and I went 1 for 6 from the line.

This was in the days of the 1-and-1, before there was any such thing as the double bonus. You missed the first free throw, and you didn't get another one.

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As has been widely reported for awhile now, Chris Paul is actively trying to recruit his former teammate, free agent J.R. Smith, to join the Los Angeles Clippers. Smith is currently playing his final game in China any minute now, and will apparently be back in the US some time Wednesday. Presumably he would be deciding between offers from the Clippers and the New York Knicks and other suitors shortly thereafter.

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The Hornets announced today that Eric Gordon, acquired from the Clippers as the key piece in the trade that brought Chris Paul to LA, needs arthroscopic surgery on the right knee that has already kept him out of all but two games this season. If his post surgery recovery goes has planned, Gordon could be back on the court for the final 20 games of the season.

You have to feel sorry for Gordon here. He's in the final year of his rookie contract, and was unable to reach an agreement on a contract extension with the Hornets. Three other members from his draft class, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love have signed massive extensions with their clubs. Gordon was teammates with those three on the Team USA that won a Gold Medal in the World Championships in Turkey in 2010, but he's still waiting for his next NBA contract -- and missing games could very well be costing him money. He'll be an unrestricted restricted free agent in July and may yet get a big offer sheet from a team like Indiana, but it's also possible that teams will be hesitant to spend big money on a player that just missed most of the season with knee trouble.

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(SB Nation, Scott Schroeder) Former Denver Nuggets shooting guard J.R. Smith will be a free agent as soon as he returns from his lockout vacation in China. He likely won't be on the open market for long, however, as there are a few teams that seem ready to sign him upon entry into America.

The New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers are both still interested, meaning not a lot has changed since last week's report, but the Clippers have become a more attractive option as of late. Not only can the now offer a starting spot as Chauncey Billups is out for the season, but Smith's being recruited as well, according to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.

Like Billups did with recently-signed Kenyon Martin, point guard Chris Paul has taken a lead role in recruiting Smith, according to the source. The two are close from their two seasons as teammates with the Hornets.

The Clippers still can't offer Smith a lot of money, and it seems Smith and Carmelo Anthonyhave some connection as well, but it certainly can't hurt to have the best point guard in the game helping recruiting efforts for the Clippers.

This was not a pretty game. Far from it. I think you could probably count the offensive possessions that went as planned in the fourth quarter on one hand. And I'm talking about both teams combined. Even when a team got a basket, it was on a completely busted play -- as was the case with the game winner, a Chris Paul fall away over the defensive menace that is Andre Iguodala. But you know, if you're going to have a broken play, it's nice to have Chris Paul around -- I might have to start calling him Super Glue, because he fixes stuff that's broken. Like that final possession; like the Clippers offense; like the hearts of the citizens of Clips Nation.

The Los Angeles Clippers shot 39 percent from the field, 2 for 19 from deep ... and still managed to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers, 78-77. This was a game that will do nothing at all for the offensive numbers but great things for a team's defensive ratings -- not to mention their confidence. The Clippers will take the win ugly or not, against a good team on the road. They move to 3-1 on the current road trip, 6-5 on the road on the season, and 16-8 overall. Sure, it's too bad that they lost Wednesday in Cleveland, as they could be undefeated on this trip. But they'll take 3-1 on the trip.

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Remember the 70s basketball movie, One on One? Robby Benson plays a small town high school baller, recruited to the big city school with the big time hoops program, where he clashes with the hard-nosed coach. He finally gets a chance to play and has a huge game helping the team win a big game.

I always hated that movie (despite the presence of Annette O'Toole, who looked uncannily like an old girlfriend of mine). Why? Because it was so unrealistic. If this guy was so good, why did it take injuries to the rest of the team to get him in the game? If the coach wanted to win, he would have played the guy if he was that good, right?

All this is to say, if you made a movie about Jeremy Lin right now, no one would ever believe it. It does not happen. A guy who played ball at Harvard, who was in the D-League two weeks ago, just finished a week in which he scored 25, 28, 23 and 38 points, leading a once proud franchise that had fallen on hard times back to prominence? And he only got on the floor because of injuries and ineptitude of the players in front of him on the depth chart? And he capped the week with 38 points against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers? Then you add in the whole "only American of Asian descent in the NBA" subplot? Too much. Too much. No one would buy it in a million years.

Stupid Hollywood. So unrealistic.

OK, let's give this topic the comprehensive ClipperSteve treatment it deserves.

The addition of Kenyon Martin to the Los Angeles Clippers addresses a need for quality and especially front court scoring off the bench. That's good. Martin looked better than anyone had a right to expect in his debut Wednesday night in Cleveland. He's not a center, but I'm becoming less concerned with that. If they can beat Orlando on the road with Reggie Evans defending Dwight Howard for long stretches of the game, then who really cares if they have another seven footer behind DeAndre Jordan? Martin was the best available front court upgrade, they got him, so the needs lie elsewhere now.

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