I posted this up on GSoM and decided to post it here as well for us to discuss as I tend to enjoy our discussions much more. A few posts I made spurred me to write this. So here it is: Remember when the Celtics landed Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen? Their stats went down and the Celtics won a championship because they deferred to each other and had confidence in each other. Now, the Warriors obviously do not have the talent level the Celtics had back then or have currently, but there's something to be learned here. The Warriors' situation is different: Monta Ellis was given a contract to be the man. Then he got injured by his own doing and the team had a horrible year. The following summer, the front office probably told him and ex-Captain Jack that they would be adding more veteran players to get back to We Believe. That didn't happen and Jack decided he's had enough and worked his way out of town while Monta still had something to prove. To be the man. He had a rocky beginning this season, even publicly displayed frustration towards Don Nelson during that practice in NY. Then people, including the mother of his child, told him to just forget everything and be the man. His mission has lead him to become the 6th leading scorer in the league. It's also resulted in some inequitable +/- stats compared to other players of that scoring caliber resulting or not resulting in loss after loss after loss. All the while, the "can't do it" kid, Stephen Curry, has been blossoming into one the top rookies in the league. He has proven he can run the (sinking) ship much better than Monta, despite Monta having superior statistics in almost every non-metric category (correct me if I'm wrong, I haven't checked this). So, while the season is lost, the Warriors and more specifically, Monta Ellis, are at a cross-roads here. In one hand, Monta has been putting forth tremendous effort to shoulder the load of a injury-ridden, poorly constructed roster that reeks of ownership frugality and front office incompetency catapulting his individual level of play to All-Star worthy discussions. Who can blame him? He's only doing what he's asked to do and perhaps more. In the other hand, we have a player in Monta who is trying to do too much for a (literally) losing cause. Forget trade talks and coaching changes and the injury excuses. Given that there is no way another team would offer an equitable asset for ANY of our players (except Curry), we need to stop proposing trades, firing of the coach (while it may help a little), and putting a positive spin on things ala Bob "I do as Cohan says" Fitzgerald. The most important thing that needs to happen by next season is a change in mindset by Monta Ellis. What he needs to do is accept, embrace, and have confidence in "can't do it" Stephen Curry so he becomes "can do it." It must be hard for Monta watching a rookie blossom into the player that everyone hoped Monta to be. Overly mature, charismatic, humble, popular with the media and the league, and comes from a high-pedigree, high-class background. Instead of fighting it, which is apparent in Monta's body language and play on the court, Monta just needs to take a step back and realize that Stephen Curry might be the best thing since Baron Davis, if not better. My message to Monta: Stop being a volume scorer and go out of your way to initiate a play for Curry even if it means you don't get an assist. Swing the ball so it eventually reaches Curry in the corner or set the screen that allows Curry curl to the top of the key so either he can score or make the easy dish to Biedrins for the dunk. Salvage your energy so you can make that play to win the game willed purely by your freakish athletic ability or killer instinct. I believe the Warriors will win more games if this can happen more than anything else. Compound this with smart moves and healthier players and we may have something to cheer about again regardless of who is coaching or who owns the team. Although, Larry Ellison wouldn't hurt, sometimes you need to work backwards too; and that starts on the court with the players. When Kevin Garnett came to the Celtics, he still let Paul Pierce be the man, even though Kevin Garnett by all virtues was the better player. Because he deferred his own ego in order to win games, he was rewarded with a championship. We can't expect a championship but I think it's not too much to ask for a few more wins. In this case, it's up to Mr. Monta Ellis.
Completely agree with you Dr. Kajita. Many people forget that there was a time when Monta was the third option and averaged 20 ppg on 53% shooting. I think its in the best interest of the team to let Curry get a majority of the possessions because he can create so well for others (Monta included). This gets better shots for EVERYONE. Monta's assist numbers may go down but from his perspective the positives are that he oughta get a few easy buckets off of Curry dimes, get more rest, and in turn he'll have more at the end of games to dominate the 4th. Oh and we would probably win more games. I reckon he would still average about 22 ppg- he'd still be the "#1 option" we'd just let Curry handle it more and get himself and others good shots.
Not only does Curry understand how to put people in a position to score, he also puts himself in great positions to score. I think better than anyone on the team, including Monta. If Monta understands this and trusts that Curry will get him the ball, many good things can happen. I think it is slowly starting to happen but it needs to happen more. Call me naive, but by next year, assuming the Warriors don't trade Monta, I think Monta will start to accept the fact that trusting Curry is the best thing he can do for the entire team. Monta's numbers will get better. He might not have a higher ppg, but his +/- and more importantly win/loss will get better.
I shouldn't tell you because you spelled my name wrong. But since I'm a nice guy, I'll tell you, anyway. I call her Hunny Bunny, but you can call her Elin Grindemyr.
This is interesting because I was just listening to an I review wih LeBron at the ASG driving home before I read this and he was talking about exactly the same thing. He said that great players have to adapt their game to their teammates, which often involves sacrificing parts of their game. For example, you might be capable of making a spectacular, blind lob pass for an alley-oop, but you have to realize your teammates aren't you and probably can't covert it. So you sometimes slow things down, or defer, or pass even when you know you can hit a shot. I totally agree wih why you're saying about Monta, I do have the feeling it'll end up wih him being traded though. And for that reason I'd rather see the Warriors do it while his value is high, before it gets ugly and he publicly demands a trade or whatever. It's still a gamble to bank on Curry over Monta, but I do think Curry is easier to fit into a team as a full time PG.
Another thing I find fascinating is how the worries that the Monta/Curry backcourt was too small and too poor defensively to ever work. Monta came out and showed that he can D up well when he puts his mind to it (I don't blame him for easing up on the defense though, the guy plays 48 minutes and has to do EVERYTHING). Seems like he even does better sometimes against taller guys as opposed to other smallish guards. I rarely see him get posted up either. Just as surprising, Curry turned out to be a pretty damn good defender. Both are ballhawks but their actual on ball defense is pretty decent and their size hasn't been a big issue. So with that dilemma out of the way, they seem to be a perfect pair right? Curry is a shooting ace with excellent vision, his ast/TO ratio seems to be getting much better lately, makes his teammates better, runs the break, beautiful on the pick and roll. Monta is the better go-to scorer but hes also a brilliant slasher and tremendously athletic. The problem is up to this point Monta has been the one initiating offense and Curry is the secondary guy. It should be the opposite. Like I said previously Monta should always be the #1 scoring option but Curry should be the PG. I understand Don Nelson preferring Monta to carry the load as Curry was only a rookie and was indeed somewhat erratic with turnovers, he wasn't making that many jumpers, and he had no idea wtf he was doing going to the rim early on. Hes made HUGE strides since then though and its so clear that unless Curry takes a nosedive here soon you've gotta give him PG duties and let Monta man the 2 guard spot. We have to see if Curry at the 1 and Monta at the 2 works before the end of the season IMO. If not we can trade Monta for value and hopefully draft Evan "The Villain" Turner (or if we're lucky John Wall?).
Good points, Run. A lot of people are saying it's Don Nelson's fault for Monta's poor +/-. I think a lot of it has to do with protecting Curry as he is a rookie. Compounded by the fact that this is Monta's first year back after the injury, he's had a lot to prove. Compound that further by the fact that Monta may not have the confidence he should in Curry. Maybe things will change. Curry being at All-Star weekend might allow something to click inside Monta's head. Curry getting the triple-double and the win, albeit against a horrid Clippers team (that night), might help too. This is all speculation. And I'm not sure which way to speculate: 1) Monta is threatened by Curry or 2) Monta does not have confidence in Curry and his high volume scoring is a combination of him wanting to prove something and possibly protecting Curry from failure The latter, protecting Curry, seems far-fetched to me, but you never know. Maybe he has a soft spot for the rookie... Naaaaaa
I think Monta feels threatened by Curry, and you could see it in his reaction to the Curry draft selection. He wasn't happy about it then, and while I give him credit for biting his tongue and playing hard, I think that bad taste still lingers. If I had to guess, I would guess Monta will probably not be able to defer to Curry. I understand his feelings, he was supposed to be the man, the face of the franchise, and then this kid Curry comes out of nowhere and quickly usurps all of it. Monta hasn't helped himself with his grumbling, rumors about his agent seeking a trade, his friendship with Jackson, the tattoos, pretty brutal speaking skills, and of course the Scooter Incident.
Good points, especially about Monta's post defense. He's pretty strong for that skinny body. He'll body up on 6-6 guards and make them work. Brandon Roy is 6-6 and he had a tough time with Monta. Heck, he guarded 6-10 Kevin Durant, he's guarded Kobe and given him some trouble... He really gets after it.
We just need LeBron James to sign with the Warriors. That'll set him straight. And the franchise. But the franchise doesn't deserve a LeBron James. The fans do though.
Interesting last night where Monta sat for much of the stretch run and Curry took the game over. Monta did come back in with like 4 minutes left and make some big defensive plays on Joe Johnson though.
Monta's defense comes and goes. Watch how many times he's gambling for the steal and his guy gets by him. Watch Kobe, he may not be lockdown anymore but he's sound.
