Golden State Warriors: Should Dubs Keep Playing Monta Ellis with Stephen Curry?
Coming off a 111-116 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, the Warriors have been feeling the weight of being a losing team, being under .500 only after playing 16 games.
The Warriors recently acquired all-star forward, David Lee from the Knicks in a sign-and-trade, in exchange for Anthony Randolph, Kelenna Azubuike and Ronny Turiaf. The arrival of Lee and the recent high level of play from big man, Andris Biedrins has given the Warriors a boost down low, but ironically, the guard-oriented Warriors have an issue to solve, with whether to play Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis at the same time.
As ESPN's J.A. Adande put it, "Why focus on having Curry pass the ball when his greatest skill is shooting it?"
I tend to agree with Adande, considering Curry was brought into the NBA because of his deadly outside shot, but Warriors' Coach Keith Smart has other plans for Curry, he believes Curry can, "develop into an upper-echelon point guard."
When Curry first came into the league, he was known as the "baby-faced" shooter from a no name school in Davidson. It didn't take long for Curry to adapt to the NBA though, his father, Dale Curry was among the 30 best three-point shooters in history, and young Stephen Curry was determined to carry on the household name.
The only problem that Curry has is Monta Ellis. Ellis has been criticizing Curry ever since he arrived, and it has become somewhat of a problem for the Warriors. Ellis even went as far as to saying, "Us together? No. Can't. We just can't...just can't."
What I don't understand is, why these two talented, scoring machines, can't work together? They now have a respectable team, with Lee and Biedrins down low, and the Warriors are still very young.
Both Ellis and Curry fit the Warriors' no defense, run-and-gun style of play, but the issue holds when deciding which of the two has to be the facilitator and not the scorer.
Almost by default, Curry, being the younger, more inexperienced guard, has been the "point guard" for the Warriors. He is currently averaging 5.7 (APG), but as J.A. Adande put it, "Every time he's passing the ball, I can't help thinking he should be shooting it."
There are obvious signs of Curry's potential as a young and upcoming point guard in the league, but I can't help but agree with Adande. Curry's greatest attribute is shooting, not passing.
Curry is currently averaging: 20.1 (PPG), 3.6 (RPG), and 5.7 (APG), which is fantastic for a young guard, who also has to share the ball with Monta Ellis, who is averaging: 24.9 (PPG), 3.8 (RPG), and 4.8 (APG).
Honestly, if I were the coach, I'd seriously consider either trading away one of the two, or at least find a way to maximize both Curry's and Ellis's scoring ability. The only other option would be to try putting Ellis at the point guard position and to put Curry at the two spot, which I could see working a lot better for both Ellis, Curry and the team.
The most frustrating part about this whole dilemma, is the fact that Curry is playing so well, at the point guard position, but at the same time, Ellis still seems unhappy about sharing the ball with Curry.
Though Ellis is having a crazy year statistically, it would be better for the Warriors in the long run to trade him away for more team-oriented players. The problem is, Ellis is virtually untradeable, with the six-year, $66 million contract he agreed to two years ago.
The Warriors will have to deal with this as of now, but the positive look on this whole issue is that Curry has decided to set his scoring mentality aside for the better of the team, and so far it has worked well for him.
There is hope for the Warriors; if Curry continues to grow as a point guard in this league, maybe Ellis will give this duo a chance.
Who knows, Curry may end up achieving what Coach Keith Smarts sees in him, and if he does, the Warriors may not have to worry about this Curry-Ellis dilemma.
