REPORT CARD: Monta Ellis

by Fantasy Junkie on Jul 23, 2006 10:46 PM PDT in Report Cards

Up next is the 2nd rounder who came straight out of high school, Monta Ellis. He bruised his knee right before this year's Vegas Summer League started, but should be in full force for training camp.

Monta Ellis Rookie Mix by nes1us

Monta Ellis by juliandude

Overall Grade: A

Atma Brother #1 (Grade: A+)
A lot of second round picks don't even make the teams that drafted them, but Monta turned out to be the best high schooler from the 2005 draft. This kid's lightening quick and has the potential to be a rich man's Tony Parker. Eva Longoria's man in 2008... Count on it!

DJ Fuzzylogic (Grade: A)
Kid impresses everyone. Has the ability to get his own shot whenever he wants. Seems to enjoy playing defensive! Overly reliant on his right hand. Once he gets the left down, watch out.

Fantasy Junkie (Grade: A)
Fearless, quicker than quick, causes trouble on defense, and is flat out fun to watch. He started slow but in the second half of the season, he really blossomed. Of all the players on the roster, he's the one I'm looking forward to seeing next year. If he bulks up this summer so he doesn't have a 12 year old body anymore and works on his jumper he's going to be a great asset off the bench.

Hash (Grade: A-)
I might as well copy and paste Ike's grade here because I think both of them showed so many glimmers of potential this year. Monta on the other hand has some pretty insane speed and a ninja-quick first step. And he damn sure used it to break a few ankles. I can't wait to see more of this kid.

YaoButtaMing (Grade: A)
Don't ever tell him he's too small. Because I'll kick you! No one really knew what to expect out of Ellis but I'll tell you he's my new favorite Warrior! I'm hoping he starts by mid next year =)

What's your grade for Monta?

High-5's all around for the "A" from the GSoM crew.

2005-2006 Report Card Archives:

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Comments

Zarko in the High-5 Picture

Haha, Zarko looks a little down from his GSoM report card in that last picture.
http://www.goldenstateofmind.com/story/2006/7/19/11250/8350

93 'til Infinity: The Warriors' playoff drought?

by Atma Brother ONE on Jul 23, 2006 11:24 PM PDT reply actions

What

luck we had in drafting this kid. He has more confidence, poise, agression, and talent than a certain #3 pick from Duke. I am looking foward to seeing him get better over the years. If he improves his handle a bit, and gets a more consistant shot, he could look alot like a certain former warriors second round pick. Heres hoping the warriors arent stupid enough to lose monta the same way as arenas.

P.S. I think with alot of work monta could be nearly as good as A.I. but im betting alot of people will disagree with that, just wait though!

Well theres always next year x12

by FoyledAgain on Jul 23, 2006 11:52 PM PDT reply actions

Finally...

I'm finally looking forward something this season. I am looking forward to seeing monta and ike in their second seasons. I wish bynum was around too.

Come to think of it, if monta, ike, pietrus, biedrins, and taft all make sudden, unprecedented progress and blossom into all-stars this season, and if Patrick O'Bryant is rookie of the year, and if montgomery and foyle die...by explosion, and BD starts seeing a witch doctor who makes his body impervious to injury ...why...we could make the playoffs!!! YEAH!!! It's gonna happen!!

Well, maybe not. But what if?

Personally, I'd take any one of the above.

The Bimbo Coles era has BEGUN!!!

by laflyhalf on Jul 24, 2006 8:03 AM PDT reply actions

B: Failed to complete summer league.

I'm not sure Monta's proven himself durable enough for the daily NBA grind.
His injury in the preseason has me worried about his strength and, when he does bulk up (if ever), will he still be as quick?

by joe sez on Jul 24, 2006 5:45 PM PDT reply actions

the kid wonder

This kid is truly amazing to watch. There are a lot of things NOT looking good for the Warriors right now. Monta and Ike are looking very promising. If he bulks up and get some more playing time, this kid will turn even more heads. Do yo thing Monta!

Big Ton

by tadams1080 on Jul 24, 2006 6:15 PM PDT reply actions

Grade inflation?

OK, Monta's a great find and may well turn out to be something special. He showed more ability on defense than many seasoned vets. He never seemed phased or taken out of his game by anything. He's got loads of potential.

But the "A" grades are all based on potential. Based on actual results, he's got a ways to go. Extend what he produced over 40 minutes and he's a 41% shooter with acceptable but not stellar results from beyond the arc who scores 15 points to go with a little more than 3 assists, a little less than 3 turnovers and about 2 rebounds. Contrast the per 40 minutes with Dunleavy's before handing out the A's.

by jae on Jul 26, 2006 4:01 PM PDT reply actions

A+

I gave him an A+ because he's a high schooler drafted in the second round. It wasn't based on potential.

I actually don't think he'll be a superstar, but a better Tony Parker.

If Monta has the same numbers next season, he won't get an A.

Let's not compare Dunleavy in his 4th season to high schooler Monta in his rookie year.

Nice points though.

93 'til Infinity: The Warriors' playoff drought?

by Atma Brother ONE on Jul 26, 2006 6:12 PM PDT up reply actions

Grading

Basically the grade is based on what I expected vs what was delivered. Basically I didn't expect anything from him as a high schooler picked in the 2nd round. I expected him to ride the bench and be ready for this season to play a reserve role. Based on that, he played over and above my expectations and so I felt my A for him was warranted.

by Fantasy Junkie on Jul 27, 2006 9:38 AM PDT up reply actions

inflation

That's a pretty serious curve you're grading on then.

by jae on Jul 29, 2006 2:28 PM PDT up reply actions

Make sure to drop your grade

JAE- I'm curious what your grade is for Monta. You make a lot of valid points.

93 'til Infinity: The Warriors' playoff drought?

by Atma Brother ONE on Jul 29, 2006 4:21 PM PDT up reply actions

b-

If C is an "average" grade (not the ridiculous grade-flation that seems to pass for actual grading in our educational system today) Monta gets a B- or B. He is clearly an exciting athlete, but his actual contribution on the court was still rather muted. What he did do was play in a situation that wasn't idea (more minutes when Baron checked out). The B- is a generous grade based on the fact that, unlike other players, when he missed a shot, it didn't seem to negatively impact his future effort. He always played defense, and defense that looked good at the NBA level (and translated into an improved team defensive FG%) and did this even when he didn't get his shot to drop. That's a big plus and the reason he gets an above average score. But he can't get higher than that while he misses most of his shots, doesn't rebound, and has only pedestrian assists for a guy who gets the ball in his hands as much as he did.

A grades go to guys who produce at a level consistent with a winning team, a guy who without the team would start to crumble apart and managing wins would be difficult. Without Monta, this team still wins 34 games and I'm not willing to give an "A" to a guy who didn't add wins to the team. "A" for potential is a grade for the GM for spotting talent, not for the player because scouts didn't realize that they had more talent or questioned it at the time of the draft.

by jae on Aug 13, 2006 12:25 PM PDT up reply actions

Not what I expected

I still remember last year when I had no idea who Monta was, I was just happy that we drafted Ike. Then Monta busted his first shot in his career (a 3-pointer, btw) and gradually started playing more. He was a killer against The Lakers (playing tough d on kobe). And against the last game or so against Utah. This guy's gonna be good.

by mistererickk on Jul 28, 2006 10:02 PM PDT reply actions

'07 Monta Signing

First of all, I love Monta's game. Props to Mully for this steal. Let's hope Monta continues to show the improvement and brilliance we're all expecting.

Along these lines, we expect Monta to have a break out season (relatively) don't we? Fish is gone, and the Utah chumps are just salary dumps, so Monta is gonna get tons of PT. Monta is only getting better physically, and has a year of NBA experience. We'd be disappointed if his numbers didn't drastically increase (25-30min 12ppg 4reb 4ast 1.5stl) wouldn't we?

Given this, I see 2 possible scenerios:

Monta is either hurt the majority of the season, or flops. Now we have an damaged/unproven 'tweener' that we have to decided to keep or not. OUCH.
(The more likely) Monta builds on last years success, increasing his recognition around the league. Athletes of his caliber will not be overlooked by other teams. Now we have a tweener who's stock is through the roof! Honestly, if Monta has a year like we project, he is going to demand and get (some team will pay him, I swear) a HUGE contract. My guess is he'll get ~$50-60mil/5years. This will take him to his 7th season, where he'd then be eligible for an even larger pay increase. Then question is, are we willing to pay this much to keep him? I luv the kid.....and hate losing talent, but our payroll is overflowing. I'm not sure if I see room for this kind of cash. It's depressing, 'cause we go out and get our first steal in a while, and now we'll likely not keep him.

How do you think we can pull this off? Please don't bring in Dun or Foyle references, 'cause it's obvious Monta is worth more than they are. Those signings are in the past. We have to act now to maximize our chances later. What salary can we dump? Nobody wants Dun/Foyle. J-Rich isn't moving. BD is a tough move too. Maybe Murph...but this offseason seems to show that he's a tough sell too. Everyone else doesn't add up to much....

I'm just sad....I see all the luv for Monta on GSoM, but I think you guys are being a bit naive, thinking he's gonna hang around for chump change after this season. What did everyone expect $4-5mil/year....hahhahahahah, yeah right! The kids got game, and he'll go wherever the money takes him. You don't come out of highschool as a non-lottery pick to help a team win. You come out for the green.

Top 7 of '07 draft = Warriors only chance of being good over the next 5 years

by jgodoski on Sep 5, 2006 4:30 PM PDT reply actions