"It's official: Monta Ellis can defend bigger guards. Just ask Tyreke Evans. Ellis had 18 points and six assists while holding Evans to five points in the Warriors' 95-86 preseason victory over Sacramento on Sunday night in front of 10,537 at Oracle. It seemed logical that Sacramento would station Evans on the block against Ellis, who gives up three inches and 40 pounds to the reigning rookie of the year. But sometimes heart turns logic into fallacy. Evans couldn't beat Ellis to any post-up spot, and when the jockeying got physical, Ellis wasn't shy. Before too long, Sacramento realized an entry pass to Evans was nearly impossible, so they put him at point guard. Then, Ellis' pesky hands and active feet forced a pair of steals and frustrated Evans into giving up the ball early in the shot clock or settling for air-balled three-pointers. Evans played the final three minutes - long after Ellis was on the bench icing for the next game - and scored four points to finish with nine. "You have to have toughness, and I think (Ellis) has shown the ability to fight," coach Keith Smart said. "There are going to be some guys who are just too powerful, but he is going to be able to compete against top guards in the league. We have to be creative enough to find ways to do it on the nights when he can't do it one-on-one. "Weight-wise, (Ellis) probably won't be able to sustain it all of the time, but he has to be able to compete to keep a player in a certain area until the cavalry arrives." Ellis had an up-and-down defensive season in 2009-10, when he was asked to shoulder the bulk of the scoring load, play 40-plus minutes and guard an opponent's best perimeter player." http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/11/SPQT1FR0UI.DTL
