The only question: Will Monta Ellis ever be the same?

September 7, 8:10 PMGolden State Warriors ExaminerMatt Steinmetz

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Most underutilized nickname: All-day Monta

Will Monta Ellis still be un-guardable?

Whenever he does return to the Warriors, will he still have that Ellis-like quality _ the Andrew Toney, Vinnie Johnson, dare we even say that Bernard King unstoppability, if you will.

That’s the real question.

Not how he hurt his left ankle. Quite frankly, who cares whether it was water skiing, riding a motorcycle or rock climbing?

It wasn’t basketball-related.

That’s all you need to know.

The issue is whether Ellis can come back and be the same player he was _ the ultra-quick guard who is among the league’s most difficult players to defend.

After Ellis scored 34 points _ on 12-for-15 shooting _ against the Sacramento Kings in February, I asked him how he would guard himself (video below).

His answer: “Ain’t no way.” 

  Will that still be the case?

Ellis is blessed with tons of athleticism and an ability to improvise in the air.

But the reality is his game is very simple: If you guard Ellis too closely on the perimeter, he goes by you; not close enough, he knocks down the jumper. And his mid-range game is right up there with Richard Hamilton.

The simple fact is that if Ellis loses any of his quickness or any of his jumping ability, then he can’t possibly be the same player. He needs them both to be at his best.

Without quickness, Ellis becomes easier to guard on the perimeter, obviously. And if he loses some altitude, it means he won’t be nearly the finisher. 

There's also the issue of going end-to-end with the dribble. Before the injury, Tony Parker, Chris Paul and Leandro Barbosa had nothing on Ellis in that specific department.

The good news is that Ellis has a history of bouncing back from injury. He had knee surgery before the 2005 NBA draft _ when he slipped to the second round _ but he recovered nicely from that, right?

He certainly gets knocked down more than any other Warrior, and always has an abundance of bumps, bruises and tweaks. But the fact of the matter is he missed only six games over the past two seasons.