Monta: blessing or curse? (hear me out)

by Lifelong on Jul 7, 2008 7:05 PM PDT Comment 15 comments

First of all, let me say that this post has nothng to do w/ Kawakami's blog entry. It is two completely points.

Moving on... I know it is sacreligous to come on GSoM and post that Monta might be a "curse". I'm not saying he is, just asking and playing devil's advocate.

So, here's my point: how many times have you read a string of comments that goes like this:

"Point guard X is a solid young PG and has x, y, z going for him and the W's could get him by offering (Al, TPE until a onth ago, a washing machine, whatever)."

Reply:

"Yeah, Point guard X is awesome but he's only 6'1" and can't guard the opposing 2 guard. That would be a real thin/small backcourt with Monta."

Our problem isn't finding a PG, it's finding one who is the size of and can cover a 2 b/c Monta isn't and can't.

I by no means am suggesting the W's should do anything less than sign Monta to a monster contract b/c he is/ will be an elite scoring guard in the NBA and he's like 15 years old.

Just wanted to point out that building around Monta at the 2 spot is going to be a hell of a lot more difficult than if we had a bigger (read "normal sized) 2 guard.

If by some random miracle we were able to acquire a nearly as good, young 2 guard w/ more size, it might be something worth looking at (read "Iggy"). I realize that's a "no shit" type of idea, but still.

It may be risky hitching the W's train to Monta, that's all. It may be the greatest move the franchise ever made, too (though it seems to be getting easier and easier to top that list).

This FanPost is a submission from a member of the mighty Golden State of Mind community. While we're all here to throw up that W, these words do not necessarily reflect the views of the GSoM Crew. Still, chances are the preceding post is Unstoppable Baby!

0 recs | Comment 15 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Lets get this over with...

Monta is going to be our starting PG. We will get a 6’6 2 guard or get a bigger 3 guard and move S-Jax to the 2.

Thank goodness too!!! I can’t stand all the talk about getting hinrich and trading for this and that. Monta is legit and I would take him any day over hinrich to run my team. especially a run and gun team. Hinrich may be better in a half court offense but Monta is best for us.

I don’t care anymore about all the crazy talk. We will go after J-Smooth and AI 2.0. If we don’t get them then we will wait for next years crop. But Stick with Monta at the PG and we will be just fine. Better have him learn now, so we can compete down the road.

by shooter1525 on Jul 7, 2008 7:55 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Better have him learn now,

It’s not something one learns, it’s a talent. Montay’s talent is different than a point guards talent. Let the boy be what he is, messing with his head will just get him confused. when he tries to play point he loses his scoring focus. You wanna be crappy just so Montay can play point? what’s the point? If Montay plays point then we need to find a 2 guard. We’ve got a great 2 guard in Montay so we should lock that position and look for stuff we really need.

by Skeptic con Urquell on Jul 7, 2008 8:25 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Gilbert Arenas seems to do quite fine by focusing on scoring

29PPG/5APG? Yeah… if Monta had the rock in his hands constantly he’d get 5APG before 29PPG. Even with BD on the floor he got up to 4APG. As shooter said, this team doesn’t need a normal PG. We’ve got Monta, let’s use him the best way we can. Let him defend the opposing PG and handle the ball because he’s our most dangerous scorer. Pair him with a decent 2 guard who can at least stroke the 3, and call it a day. Sheesh.

by Dubs fan in Boston on Jul 8, 2008 6:59 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

We’ve got Monta, let’s use him the best way we can.

We have been! Make him the focus and he’ll get creamed. Once the league learns that Montay goes right then spins once left they’ll meet him at the rim and swat him down for a foul instead of getting a foul and a made shot they will just give harder fouls and Montay will get hurt. I remember seeing someone block about three of Montay’s shots in a row by just watching where he was going. Don’t try to make him into something he is not, there’s nothing wrong with a speedy slashing 2 guard. The only thing he should be working on is his defense, it’s just hurting his game by being forced to play point.

by Skeptic con Urquell on Jul 8, 2008 7:48 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

My gut sense

Monta and Iguodala would be a perfectly serviceable — nay, great — starting backcourt. I’m sure Monta may ever have BD’s leadership skills, or charisma, or overall floor vision. But I think he can easily be a more athletic version of Tony Parker. And with a 6’6” athletic freak with solid handles at 2 guard, we’ll never again have to deal with this “we need a point guard who’s big enough to defend Kobe” stuff. Basically, I agree 100% with Lifelong’s premise.

Monta guards the Parkers, Nashes, CP3, Derons, and BDs — he’s more than quick and big enough to handle that. Iggy guards the Kobes and Ginobilis and Pejas. Offensively, they’re a dynamite duo: possibly the quickest, most athletic starting backcourt in the NBA. Best of all, they’re both hella young: the more they play together, the more synergy they’ll develop, and the less we’ll miss the memory of BD getting exhausted, losing his focus on D, dribbling out shot clocks on isos, hoisting up ill-advised threes, and getting injured. (Obviously, he did much more than that, but I think we’ll see more and more of that side and less and less of “Good Baron” in the coming 3-4 years).

Sign ^^^^ !!

by Sleepy Freud on Jul 8, 2008 8:20 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

By that argument...

Greg Oden will be perennially injured, Kevin Durant will never learn to shoot the 3 or develop post moves, Beans would have never shot over 50% FTs, and Stack Jack would constantly be standing in front of strip clubs shooting in the air.

Players learn and adapt. It’s perfectly reasonable to assume that Monta might learn that the defense knows he likes to dribble right and spin. Maybe he’ll develop a hesitation move to freeze the defense and keep going right. Do you think it’s really hard to work on that kind of move? Do you think the Warriors don’t have scouts whose job it is to look for that and make suggestions for practice? I don’t get it. You want him to work on defense but don’t think he’ll ever learn a different move.

by Dubs fan in Boston on Jul 8, 2008 10:54 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

im not a monta fan

The kid’s lightning in a bottle and it’s amazing watching him on the offensive side of the court, but he’s such a liability on defense it makes me sick. I’d like to do a sign and trade, I think he can become an offensive superstar with tremendous value.

by dhp318 on Jul 7, 2008 8:20 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Monta is going to be our PG

Nelson will want Monta to play the point and let Jackson run the offense at the 2. All of our offense should be ran through monta, though. If you look at the second half of last season, his quickness and abillity to drive through the lane and dish it out for the 3 is deadly. No need for fancy Baron/Nash/CP3 passes. However, we will still be the live-or-die by the 3 same old dubs. This is why I think we don’t need a TRUE pg and Monta will be just fine.

by Captain Jack on Jul 7, 2008 8:28 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

live or die by the 3

i agree with most of what you said captin jack except we just need better shooters taking the 3’s. one of monte’s strengths is driving the lane not shooting the 3. so he then should be the drive and dish guy like timmy was in the run tmc days. we just need acouple of people who can hit a J and we will be rippin and runnin again back into the PO’s

by Rach on Jul 7, 2008 8:48 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

i agree

that’s why i say just make monta the point. i think he is a good enough player to deal with it. He will never be a conventional 1 but i believe that he can play the one. I think we are at a disadvantage with him at the 2 we need a 6 6 shooting guard like you said. Iggy would be absolutely PERFECT in my opinion we would be set The next 5 years would look like this

Monta
Iggy
Randolph
BWright
Andris

Bellinelli
whoever

by Agent Zero on Jul 8, 2008 12:54 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

In order for Monta to become a serviceable PG for the Dubs

He needs to learn a few things:

Improve handles, especially on the left.
Solid entry passes to the bigs.
Decide when to attack in transition and when not to.

If he can do that, he’ll be a faster dunking Tony Parker with a deadly pull-up jumper. Umm… I’ll have one of those please. All of those things can be learned/practiced. The last one is rather obvious. He’s such a great finisher that he’ll just need to count to three. If there are three defenders under the basket against just him, pull it out. If not, make it happen. He also needs to learn to draw contact better.

by Dubs fan in Boston on Jul 8, 2008 7:04 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

defensive potential

i personally think monta has defensive potential. i remember awhile ago after his rookie or second season, people thought monta would be a good defender as well. he definitely has the quickness to be at the very least a pest on the defensive end and defend the point guard position very well. as fort he assists—it seems monta gets most of his assists in fast break or uptempo situations rather than half-court sets. in order to be a successful pg, he will need to learn to pass better and make better passing decisions in the half court set.

i agree with many of the posters here and agree that monta will at some point be transitioned to the starting pg role. he has much more value there. that said, i still believe we should bring in someone like shaun livingston or other to play the point and give monta a rest from ball handling duties so he can excel at what he does best—playing SG and getting to the rim. we could also use a SG like iguodala or other to play and guard SGs

i kinda got mixed up with what i really wanted to say and i am confused by my own post. basically the point is that monta can learn to play defense well and be a good defender of PGs. therefore, he can play the point—pending honing some of his other PG skills. still we should get another (bigger) pg or sg with pg skills to relieve monta of pg duties once in awhile so he can continue to guard PGs while he is still on the court. however, since i still believe that monta can be a PG, we just need to find a normal SG.

haha basically nothing we didn’t already know. i feel like i just agreed with lifelong instead of agreeing with the other posters like i originally intended.

by gogoldenbears on Jul 8, 2008 8:12 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

In the half court set the ball was in BD's and Jack's hands

If the ball isn’t in your hands and you’re deferring to a “should have been an all star” PG, you’re not going to rack up the assists in the half court. That’s probably more of why Monta didn’t have as many assists. Next year he’ll get more of the “pass to the open man for the 3” assists and he’ll be the one running the pick and roll with Beans and his assist numbers will go up without him having to learn anything new.

What we’ll need is another guy to bring the ball up court while Monta runs out…

by Dubs fan in Boston on Jul 8, 2008 11:06 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

You should be a politician!

“i kinda got mixed up with what i really wanted to say and i am confused by my own post. basically the point is that monta can learn to play defense well and be a good defender of PGs. therefore, he can play the point—pending honing some of his other PG skills. still we should get another (bigger) pg or sg with pg skills to relieve monta of pg duties once in awhile so he can continue to guard PGs while he is still on the court. however, since i still believe that monta can be a PG, we just need to find a normal SG.”
Now smile and kiss a baby

by Skeptic con Urquell on Jul 8, 2008 9:09 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs