At this point, it appears that it’s not if, but rather when, Monta Ellis will be traded from the Warriors. With his agent, Jeff Fried, scheduled to meet with team management in Oakland tomorrow, apparently at Don Nelson’s urging, Golden State has been calling teams and offering to trade Ellis all week. Read More »
Now that Stephen Jackson is gone, Monta Ellis is the last defensive presence on the Warriors. Well, according to Monta Ellis anyway. In an interview today with Marcus Thompson II of the Contra Costa Times, Ellis not only said that nobody on the Warriors besides him can play D, but he also said he doesn’t plan on taking on more responsibility or being more vocal now that Jackson is gone. Asked about whether his new teammate Raja Bell was a good defender, Ellis offered this, “I don’t know too much about dude. I mean (pause) it’s crazy, man.”
While he has only been a Golden State Warrior a few months, there have probably been plenty of moments (with more to come) where rookie Stephen Curry wishes he was still living in the happy and stable surroundings of Davidson College. Now stuck in the drama-filled circus that is going in Golden State right now, Curry has already had to deal with disgruntled teammates, an erratic coach and inconsistent playing time. He went from starting the first six games to seeing just 2:30 minutes of action in Friday night’s game against the Knicks - the team Curry originally wanted to draft him. Ninety minutes before tip-off, I was able to ask Steph a few questions as he walked off the court after finishing his pregame shooting routine. Read More »
Beast of the Night:Chris Paul edges out Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and David Lee with his 39 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals, along with 61 percent (14-23) shooting from the floor and perfect (8-8) shooting from the line. He also hit 3 treys in an overtime victory over Dallas. CP3 got off to a relatively slow start this season but has really turned it on for the past three games. He’s playing with some extra ferocity nowadays and that’s a great thing for his fantasy owners. Read More »
Erick Dampier was almost the headline photo for today’s Smack. Seriously. In the late stages of the fourth quarter of Mavs/Hornets, Damp (16 pts, 14 rebs, 3 blks) was the most clutch player in the building, getting a putback off a Dirk Nowitzki miss to break a tie, catching an alley-oop from Jason Kidd on the next possession, then scoring on another tip-in with 16 seconds left. That should’ve been the dagger, but Dallas killed themselves at the free-throw line in the final seconds: Jason Terry missed one after Chris Paul got T’d up for arguing a push-off call (CP had pushed off on J.J. Barea like 3-4 times in the fourth, but didn’t get called for it until what looked like N.O.’s last-chance possession), then Barea missed two freebies to keep the Hornets alive. Read More »
Is it just us, or has this been — from an injury standpoint — the most destructive NBA preseason in a while? Last year Deron Williams started out on the shelf, and of course Gilbert Arenas and Monta Ellis had their issues, but we don’t remember too many other notables beginning the regular season logging DNPs due to preseason injuries … One standout who’s absence will be very noticeable on Opening Night is Pau Gasol, who as of yesterday is expected to miss the Lakers/Clippers opener with a bad hamstring. Gasol and Andrew Bynum (shoulder) missed L.A.’s last two preseason games, but while Bynum said he’s going to play Tuesday, the Lakers look like they’ll be getting their rings with Gasol in a suit and Lamar Odom in the starting lineup … Read More »
Last year we debuted the “Highs and Lows” system — previewing the NBA season by predicting the respective ceiling and basement for each team. Same theme, different season…