What up, what up??? We got us a good win in Minnesota by turning it on in the fourth quarter. They left us open a lot and dared us to shoot the 3-ball while double-teaming Dwight Howard on the inside.

It was one of my best shooting games of the season. I had 21 points, made 7 of 12 shots and 5 threes.

But now I have to turn around and do it again. We play in Chicago tonight and then we’re at Indiana on Tuesday. This is a cold, cold, cold roadtrip. They said it was zero degrees at kickoff for the game in Minny, so hopefully we’ve seen the worst of it so far.

Playing against Milwaukee rook Brandon Jennings the other night, that got me to thinking about when I came straight out of high school to the NBA. You guys probably all know that I was a second round pick by Seattle back in 1998. Because I was a second-round pick, I wasn’t even a lock to make the team, so I had to fight for everything that I have gotten in the NBA. It wasn’t always easy, but I was able to scratch and claw for everything and I made myself a place in the league.

My rookie year was a lockout year and I was in a city like Seattle that was a long way from home, I was all by myself and there weren’t many rookies at all on the team to hang out with. It was so different for me to be living all on my own at 18 years old and all alone.

That first year I didn’t take any family with me and that just made it even harder. I would come home after games and there would be nobody there to talk to so it was a hard time for me. I always had high phone bills back there because I was calling family and friends back home in Houston all the time. I just felt like there wasn’t much for me to do out there in Seattle after basketball and that just made that transition tougher that first year.

But the second year, I brought in one of my best friends, Travis Estridge, and that gave me somebody to talk to, have fun with and go around town with. And Detlef Schremp was one of the vets who really helped me in practice, telling what I did wrong and how I could get better. And guys like Dwane Casey and Nate McMillian, they continued to work with me and saw the potential in me that I could be a good player. When I was frustrated and mad and felt like I wanted to give up, they would talk to me and tell me to keep pushing..

When I first started playing every game, I was always shocked when I’d see Karl Malone or Grant Hill or star guys like that. At first, I was all nervous and star struck, but that was something that I had to get over and get comfortable with. But it was tough being right across from these guys who I had watched in all-star games, and on TV and idolized while I was in high school. And then I was standing right across from them!!!

But I wouldn’t be where I am today without having gone through all of that. It made me into the player that I am now, and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Well, you guys wish us luck against the Bulls. It will be another tough back-to-back and we gotta come up with some energy against those guys. GO MAGIC!!!

RASHARD