Monta Ellis: Does He Deserve to Be Mentioned with the NBA Greats?
The guy can flat-out score—on anyone. There is no question about that.
Sure he can be held to 13 points on a 5-18 shooting night just like every other player in the Association can. But when he's on, and he usually is, how good is Monta Ellis compared with the rest of the NBA All-Stars?
Currently ranked third in the league in points scored at 26.0 (Kevin Durant at 28.2 and Amare Stoudemire at 26.2 are ahead of him), Monta Ellis can be a human highlight film all to himself. He may very well be the quickest player in the league, and his acceleration with the ball is off the charts.
Though he is slight of frame at 6'3" in height, and weighing 180 pounds, Ellis more than makes up for his lack of bulk with a style of play that is proving successful night in and night out. No player takes more of a beating than Monta Ellis, yet goes to the free-throw line as infrequently as he does.
Maybe the NBA refs have not given Monta the proper respect he deserves yet because of the Warriors continued sub-par seasons, or possibly it's because they figure his relentless and attacking style of play warrants more contact and more whistles are not necessary.
Either way, it doesn't really matter, as the players themselves in the NBA have taken notice of Monta Ellis and offered praise and respect for the Jet from Jackson, Miss. Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Chris Paul among others have publicly spoken highly of Ellis.
Drafted 10th in the second round out of high school in 2005, Monta Ellis has grown from a seemingly selfish "me-first" player to a self-proclaimed and widely acknowledged leader of the Golden State Warriors. Monta is now the official go-to guy for the Warriors at the end of ballgames.
As evidenced by the last two games the Warriors have played, Monta Ellis has taken the last shot at the end of the game to win one with 0.6 second left against the Indiana Pacers, and hit the bucket to tie the score against the Sacramento Kings with 0.9 seconds left and force overtime.
So we know he is good. We know he can score in multiple ways—his improved free-throw percentage and improved three-point shooting has lead teams to play up on Monta more often; which makes it easier to then drive by them to the hoop.
His critics claim he plays for a bad team. His detractors say he is not a rugged defender, and his being a top-five player in the league in steals per game is more of a product of playing the passing lanes than it is of playing solid man-to-man defense.
He is a blur with the ball in his hands, blowing past defenders on his way to the hoop. His mid-range game is now very solid, and his three-point field goal percentage is a very respectable 38.7 percent. So what is there not to like about his game?
Where does Monta rank among his peers such as Kobe, D-Wade, LeBron, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Manu Ginobili? Is Monta worthy of mention in the upper echelon of players in the league? Would he be a top-10 overall pick right now of current players in the NBA?
Let the debate begin....
