#NBARank: Monta Ellis

With the #NBARank countdown now announcing the top 50 NBA players in the league, it was only a matter of time before one of the two players composing the Warriors backcourt showed up on the board. The ESPN writers and bloggers rated the players and Monta Ellis was announced as the 41^st best player in the NBA today.

With Stephen Curry’s name still missing from the list, it’s safe to say that most people unanimously agreed that the former Davidson guard is better than his teammate. Mind you, it’s worth noting that the voting process did not ask for the voters to rank the players against each other, but rather to simply rate the players independently from one another and then average out each players score and then they were placed in order of lowest rating to best.

Monta Ellis may have averaged 24.1 points, 3.5 rebounds per game and 5.6 assists per game on 45.1 percent field goal shooting last season, but many felt that his statistical output was inflated because of the pace at which the Dubs played and also because he led the league in minutes played per game (40.3).

Furthermore, his diminutive frame as a shooting guard tends to be a sticking point with most because it means that the team’s defense suffers with Ellis on the court. Indeed, when looking at the Warriors output with him on and off the court, what stands out is that Golden State is better with him off the court. Have a look at the data compiled by 82games.com:

These numbers tend to sway votes, mind you it’s important to look at the context of the numbers and not just simply the raw data. Most of Monta’s minutes last season were played with line ups that featured Andris Biedrins and unfortunately he did a poor job of protecting the paint and helping out on defense which meant that the Dubs were often at a disadvantage with the Latvian center on the court. Ellis still has a part of responsibility to accept as far as playing better defense, but not all of the team’s defensive shortcomings can be pinned on him; it was after all a joint team effort.

In addition, Ellis’ play during the 2010-11 regular season resulted in a player efficiency ranking of 18.69 (the player efficiency ranking or most commonly known as PER is a calculation of player’s total statistical output into one numerical value; the higher the number, the better his contributions), which was the 43^rd best mark in the league.

Thus, one can see how the voters seemingly came to a consensus in how they rated and consequently ranked Monta Ellis; however there are certain things that statistics fail to measure. Indeed, it’s impossible to quantify the confidence that the Warriors exhibited whenever their starting shooting guard was on a roll offensively, essentially eating up the opposing defenses and making them look barely competent.

Also, Monta’s scoring outbursts late in games on the road in Sacramento and in Philadelphia last season resulted in mixed results, but nonetheless the team knew who their closer was and would ride him for the remainder of the season. That very same confidence allowed the star guard to punctuate a home game against the Indiana Pacers with a with a game winning jump shot that sent the fans home happier than usual given that Danny Granger had criticized the city prior to the game.

Ellis will never be in the same category as Kobe Bryant, but his willingness to recklessly attack the rim for scoring opportunities and accept the punishment that comes along with it as well as his knack for creating for others have earned him the adoration of most of the Warriors faithful. In that sense, he means almost as much to the Dubs as the Black Mamba does to the Lakers. Some might have thought that perhaps that could have awarded him a seat in the top 40 of #NBARank, but the truth is that he is just on the outside looking in, with players such as Ray Allen, Manu Ginobli, Joe Johnson, Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant to name a few, whom are all better players at his position.

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