This is why I cringe everytime people say they want a shoot first PG on this team. When was the last time a shoot first PG lead his team to a NBA championship? Parker I think was pretty balance shooting/passing the last time the Spurs won and Duncan, I believe, was their #1 option.
Yes, Lee is having an all-star worthy season and Landry and Jack have been big off the bench. But getting Ellis off the roster and bringing in Bogut as a vocal leader/culture changer in the locker room and on the bench since training camp has helped a lot. If you watched NBA Rooks(Nbatv & nba.com) and videos on the GSW site you'll see some of the stuff he does off the court. Asik who'll probably end up having Bogut type #'s could never have the same effect in the locker room because he's so soft spoken and English is not his native language.
He is being paid millions of dollars to play a game that most of us would play for free. He is obviously more important to them than any of us are to them.
Warriors made a huge bet on Curry staying healthy and so far, so good. They were just too similar and a huge disadvantage on defense. Ellis is still a good player and similar to Martin though better in being able to put up big numbers. He doesn't have it all though :grin: The 3rd person talk is cheap and can be had for 50 cent, yadanamean?
If we're just speaking in terms of combo guard types who have been known to initiate the offense, then Jordan and Kobe would like to have a word with you.
I like Bogut. He is a tough-as-nails Australian warrior who has been a top shot blocker and rebounder in the past while being more earthbound than the Earth itself. How? Skill, timing, just knowing how to play the game. But let's not go crazy here. It's always tough for a player who has no presence on the court (due to injury) to have a presence in the locker room.
GSW also got a better Thompson and Jarret Jack. Oh yeah, and Stephen Curry, who's been injured the past few seasons. Ellis is damn good.
Nothing wrong with having a irrational confidence guy on your team just as long as he actually helps the team win, and doesn't cause issues in the locker room. Oddly enough, I really dont have any problem with what Monte said in this video clip. I dont agree with him, but he's close enough statistically to believe it in himself.
What I saw was mainly in training camp when he thought/hoped be would be on the floor more during the season. I don't know if he's been traveling with the team recently but he is/was usually on the bench supporting the team @ home. We get caught up in the pure #'s game and overlook what guys do off the court. I assume Harden has tried to be the on and off court leader of the team, by initiating the "1-2-3 family" thingy (what do you call it? a huddle break? lol). He also gave the team the personalized headphones, but other than that I don't know what he or other guys have done for team bonding. Royce is probably a lost cause, but you wonder if any players have kept in touch with him or tried to tell him to stop tweeting.
I take it the part you highlighted is the only part you read, yeah? I also don't think you understood the meaning of "grand scheme". It's pretty obvious he's "important" to his NBA franchise. You completely missed my point. Let me make it very easy for you to understand; if Monta Ellis died tomorrow, the world wouldn't stop moving even for the smallest fraction of a moment. He don't have it all.
The thing is, these players can still change the culture of the locker room. I'm reminded of an article in which Doc Rivers and other Celtics personnel remarked that in the 2008-2009 season, an injured Kevin Garnett helped the Celtics to keep focused and maintain the second best regular season record in the league. I think the same is true with Chauncey Billups on the Clippers, though I'm not taking anything away from Chris Paul.
Rudy Gay type. He's just not good, but because he scores almost 20 ppg and makes hard shots, then people think he's good.
He is a similar type player to Wade, but not as strong. The big differences are that Wade has always been a better defender, Wade in his prime got to the line at a higher rate, and Wade shot better from the field.
Yes. I'd say that is exactly what he is. Whether it is his effort or just a lack of strength, he has never been close to Wade's level.
Dude is overrated. His defense is never good, since he's undersized and gamble way too much in the passing lane. Even if he has a decent year offensively, he will most likely give back all that value on the defensive end, and then some. RAPM, xRAPM, and multi-years APM absolutely hates Monta Ellis, even in his supposedly "good" years. People can point to Curry being healthy, but Curry was healthy his first two years, and the team was going nowhere.
