On Bleacher Report I came across Andrew Bailey's article, which mentioned a possible trade of Monta Ellis to the Philadelphia 76ers. While it was just Bailey's opinion I decided why not look to see if there were any rumors about Ellis as of late.
There wasn't much in fact most of the rumors were from last season and of course Ellis was not traded. Yet, I did come across an article that made me scratch my head.
It was from the website Hoopsworld written by Luke Byrnes on October 17, 2010. The title of the article was "Ellis Unhappy in Warriors Backcourt?"
Byrnes uses Ellis' quote of "We showed that (the two can play together) last year at the end of the season and, really, pretty much the whole season. Hey, we gotta do what we gotta do. We are here now. I'm going to be here for the next four years and he (Curry) is going to be here for however long he signed for. Until we see each other on the other side of the court, right now, we gotta put it together and make it work."
In that quote there's nothing that shows Ellis as being unhappy. In fact it's the exact opposite from that, Ellis clearly states he plans to be with the Warriors for the next four years!
Another point in the article that Byrnes uses Kobe Bryant and Tyreke Evans as examples of how the Warriors struggled against shooting guards who were 6'6" because Ellis and Curry are both 6'3" and both Bryan and Ellis could use their height advantage against them.
Yet, he failed to mention that against Brandon Roy who's also 6'6" Ellis frustrated Roy to the point where he was called for a technical foul. In that game Roy went 6-17 from the field and finished with 17 points, 4 rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
Joe Johnson is 6'8" and the Atlanta Hawks used him in the closing minutes of a game against the Warriors and it was Ellis' defense that didn't allow Johnson to beat the Warriors as Ellis came up with a steal and forced Johnson to give the ball up the second time.
As for Bryant he had a game where he went 9-18 from the field with Ellis defending him, but Bryant also committed nine turnovers in the game as well.
Evans didn't face Ellis in all four meetings, but even in the game that Ellis missed, Evans struggled from the field going 8-21. In another meeting Evans was held to 17 points but did dish out 10 assists.
Yet, in that game Curry outplayed Evans by going 10-15 from the field, with 24 points, 15 assists, six rebounds, and three steals.
There's no doubt that taller shooting guards are going to have an advantage over the Warriors because of their length. Yet, the acquisition of Dorell Wright will definitely assist the Warriors as Ellis can get help from the 6'9" Wright, can help out on double teams and use his length to his advantage as he is a solid defender.
Also, one of the biggest problems for the Warriors has been improved which was rebounding. With David Lee and Andris Biedrins in the lineup the Warriors actually have enough size to take care of the glass. The rebounding has been lacking for the Warriors for a while.
The ending of the article is icing on the cake for Byrnes as he makes the statement of "the bigger issue, however, is whether Ellis even wants to stay in the Bay Area."
This question was answered in Ellis' first statement of being with the team for the next four years. Further proof can be found in the articles Marcus Thompson II from the Contra Costa Times, Dime Magazine, Fanhouse article written by Sam Amick,.
Thompson II quotes Andris Biedrins as saying "he's been changed, he's totally different. He's happy about the team. He's really stepped it up. I'm really happy about him. It's just a joy to be his teammate."
A quote From coach Keith Smart "The first thing you notice is his work ethic. He's staying after practice, shooting with coaches. He hits the floor and he starts playing hard. He's very vocal now. And he's talking, and he's saying the right things on the floor. He's not getting to the point where things are frustrating him to where he's upset."
Looking further Ellis said "It's a new beginning, it's a new feel. A new vibe. Back to having fun."
Dime Magazine has a quote from Ellis that states "I've wiped everything else away from the past. We have a new logo, a new team."
The Fanhouse article there has a question to Warriors assistant Stephen Silas about Ellis' and Curry's relationship and Silas said "I would say his favorite player on the team right now is Steph. And to go from media day last year to where he is now is something. That's one of the only guys he'll contact during the summer. We'd be watching Team USA games on TV and (Ellis) is saying, 'Man, Steph should be playing more,'" Silas said. "It's exciting to see how far he has come in just a year. Steph has done a lot to help that."
There's another article by Amick that shows Ellis' maturity who says "It starts with me, so I wanted to come back a month before training camp and get real close with my new teammates, to have that bond and make this whole thing as one and try to win."
Ellis also went over how he has made amends with Curry with this statement "Like I told him this summer, we can do it. We did it last year. I see now that I have to play the two (shooting guard). I have to play the bigger guards, and I'm cool with that. I can do that. Let's just put our games together, get everybody else around us on the same page and play basketball."
Yet, the strongest quote from Ellis is this one "It starts with the captain of the team, the leader of the team, and that's me." I just wanted to come in with a great mindset so I could have the other guys with a great mindset. Lead by example, try to get that bond, to get close, so we can approach the game the right way."
If anything it shows that Ellis wants to be in Golden State, he wants to be the leader, he wants to grow with his teammates, and more importantly he wants to win with his new Warriors family.
Byrnes' article is the perfect example of a misleading title that was designed to get reads. The comments though paint exactly how the readers feel about the article and the examples are:
"The fact that that author of this article even references the debunked rumor of the Mayo/Thabeet for Monta deal shows that there is no actual journalism here... just more muckraking"
"Just Let The Season Speak For Itself.Monta Will Be Fine.The Warriors Will Be Fine.I Really Think They Will Make The Playoffs This Season. D.Lee Will Be The Difference Maker.Just 8 More Days,I Cant Wait!"
"So what was the question??? Maybe he was just pissed they lost or didn't defend well, but if he honestly did not want to be here Ii think he would come staright out and say just like Stephen Jackson and even Biedrins, the guy has a tattoo of the new logo!"
"If you lived the bay area all you'll read about is how happy and enthusiastic Monta is about the new look roster and staying in the bay."
'The undersized guards are similar offensively' "Really? I think of Ellis as a better slasher, quicker to the hole than Curry, and he plays best off the ball, as he did when BD was the point guard. When Ellis played the point, the ball didn't move as well as when Curry is at the point. Curry is a better outside shooter and passer, and he has better court vision than Monta, although he needs to cut down on turnovers. I think they are very different offensively, even if they are about the same size."
"All the reports from sources close to the team have been that Monta is in great spirits and happy with where the Warriors are. Seems like that sort of information would at least have been somewhat relevant. Any sort of unhappy tone or body language you were picking up undoubtedly had to do with Monta being annoyed with answering that same question for the thousandth time. There are already numerous stories and quotes from both him and Steph out there about this topic."
"We showed that (the two can play together) last year at the end of the season and, really, pretty much the whole season, Hey, we gotta do what we gotta do. We are here now. I'm going to be here for the next four years and he (Curry) is going to be here for however long he signed for. Until we see each other on the other side of the court, right now, we gotta put it together and make it work". "Wow, how do you get that Ellis doesnt want to play with Steph Curry and want's to leave the Bay Area from that? You do realize that comment came after a loss. You dont have to 'follow' Bay Area news but at least try a little bit of research on what else Monta has been saying and doing (ie showing up early to camp, inviting Steph Curry to his wedding, saying he is focused on the 2 and defense and is willing to turn the point over to Curry, etc) instead of taking one comment after a loss, out of context and combining it with trade speculation that happened half a year ago to somehow decide that Ellis wants out."
"Clearly this article was written by someone who hasn't been following any of the news that's been coming out of the Bay Area even before training camp started."
"Obviously written by someone who knows nothing about the Warriors. No disrespect, but I am pretty disappointed by the lack of research put into a hoopsworld article."
"What is this?! PLEASE DO SOME RESEARCH ON YOUR ARTICLES BEFORE POSTING!"
"This story goes against everything reported by the Bay Area beat writers and guys over at Warriorsworld.net (who are very, very good about reporting what's going on with the Dubs.) "This article (because it is definitely not a news story) has more to do with getting some clicks on a link than it does reporting the real vibe by the Bay. Kind of disappointing because I have more respect for Hoopsworld than most NBA related sites."
"This article would have a lot more prevalance about a year ago. awful."
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