Only a small handful NBA teams have a transcendent all-star who can elevate a team to relevance. The rest of the league makes do by finding talent where other might not, then cultivating it. The Clippers did that this summer when they signed undrafted rookie Marqus Blakely to a two-year deal.

Can Marqus Blakely make the jump from undrafted rookie to NBA rotation player?  More...

• The estimable Steve Perrin at Clipsnation with a breakdown on Eric Gordon’s 18 point performance against Greece on Wednesday: “In the first game where he wasn’t worrying about his spot on the roster, Eric Gordon led Team USA with 18 points.  He also had two steals, and could have been credited with more than that by my reckoning.  He probably had eight deflections on defense.  EJ was feeling it from the moment in checked in, getting a steal and a tough finish on his first sequence”

From USA Basketball’s press release:

ATHENS, Greece (August 24,  2010) – With one exhibition game remaining and just four days out from the tip of the FIBA World Championship for Men, USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo today announced the 12 players who will represent the United States at the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

Named to the 12-man 2010 USA World Championship Team were: Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets); Tyson Chandler (Dallas Mavericks); Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder); Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies); Eric Gordon (Los Angeles Clippers); Danny Granger (Indiana Pacers); Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers); Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves); Lamar Odom(Los Angeles Lakers); Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls); and Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder).  More...

It’s yet to be seen whether Eric Gordon will survive the final roster trimming from 13 players down to 12 before the world championships begin on Aug. 28th in Turkey, but even if the experience were to end here, there’s a lot to take from Gordon’s play this Summer.

Watching Gordon develop as a player up to the this point has been an interesting exercise. While some of his fellow draft classmates, like Russell Westbrook, have made leaps and bounds since they entered the league, Gordon has improved gradually, not looking terribly different from the guy the Clippers drafted two years ago. Part of the appeal behind selecting Gordon was how NBA-ready he was, and throughout his short career in Los Angeles he’s proven to be one of the steadiest choices the draft had to offer.  More...

Watch Eric Gordon and the United States take on Spain today at 12p PT in international play. We’ll have much more on Gordon and his performances up to this point, but if you’d like to see how he does for yourself, go here to follow along live.