FanPost

Post Jackson Trade- Is Monta a budding All-Star? (updated!)

I'll premise this by saying, I don't think Monta will be an all star. Not because of lack of talent, but more because of the depth of established guards in the west. Chris Paul and Kobe are likely to be voted in. Steve Nash and Brandon Roy are near locks and I'm hard pressed to see Monta beating out Deron Williams, Tony Parker, Chauncey Billups or others in a coaches vote. However I want to take a second to reflect upon Monta's numbers in the Post-Young Fella Era. I realize it's a small sample size, but its definitely something we should monitor

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via www.nba.com

Since the trade (in 7 games) Monta has posted:

43.3 MPG, 12-24.5 fg per, 48.8 FG%, 5-16 3pt, 6.3-7.4 ft per game, 84.6 ft%, .551 TS%, 30.7 PPG

3.7 rpg,5.6 apg, 5.1 ToPG, 3.6 steals per

(stats updated POST-indiana game... Keep in mind the warriors have played 5 road games in the 7 game span. 6 games against playoff teams, and are 3-4)

First thing that pops out is the turn overs are way to high. One 11 turn over game in the context of a 6 game average will do that to you. If we take that game out, his average is 6 apg, 3.6 ToPG. Still by no means great but starting to get better. When compared with some of the better playmaking 2 guards Monta's 1.67:1 assist to turn over ratio is not as bad as we suspect. For reference (career averages):

Kobe: 4.6 assists, 2.9 turnovers. 1.58:1 ratio

Dwayne Wade: 6.6 assist, 3.8 turnovers, 1.73:1

Brandon Roy: 5.1 assists, 2.1 turnovers, 2.4:1

Manu Ginobili: 3.6 assists, 2.1 turnovers, 1.7:1

Joe Johnson: 4.4 assists, 2.2 turnovers, 2:1

and finally Monta's CAREER Asist:TO: 1.56:1. Clearly Monta is not in the above players class yet. But being just 24, and analyzing the numbers, he may not be as far away from being a playmaker as many think. It's a role he hasn't really been asked to do. Pre 2008, Baron was the playmaker and he played off ball. Last season and until recently, Jackson was the man excepted to do so. Now that Jackson is gone, for lack of a better term, this has become "Monta's Team". We all know Monta will never be a classic point guard. but with the exception of teams like Phoenix, New Orleans, Utah, very few teams play with one. You can already see the ball movement is improving. As it continues to grow, I see no reason Monta cannot be our primary playmaker (ball handler, PG, whatever term you want to give it), the way Kobe, Dwayne Wade, and others are for there respective teams.

Next thing that jumps out to me is his scoring. 28.6 ppg! He is shooting 47.6% which is not bad considering the volume of shots he takes. I don't think he will ever reach the 53% level again until he has another legitimate scorer next to him to take off the pressure. That being said, he is taking the weight of being "the guy" on a team that is young and scoring almost at will. The one thing he needs to do to become more efficient is get to the line more often. He showed it at times he can get to the line 10+ times a game, and for him to truly become an elite scorer in the league thats the one thing I think he needs to be able to do consistently.

Finally the last thing that jumps out to me is the strides Monta is making defensively. Because of physical limitations, he will never be a lock down defender, but off ball, he is really showing to be a gigantic pest, getting loose balls and lots of steals.

Ultimately, I don't expect Monta to be an all-star this year, however he is showing me he can be a legitimate first or second option guy on a team expected to make the playoffs. As of right now he doesn't have the players around him to make that happen, but perhaps with the addition of 1 established player, the growth of your young players, and of course the health of our players (particularly our bigs). Perhaps Monta is becoming the player management hoped he would be when they gave him that contract. And more so, every day he is showing the contract is not only fair, but perhaps even below market value for the player he can become.

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via www.nba.com

Perhaps one day the Warriors won't be advertising opposing teams superstars, but our own!

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!