Monta Ellis Opens Up on Rift With Warriors, Pledge to Mend Fences

[Doctor Kajita]

Monta Ellis Opens Up on Rift With Warriors, Pledge to Mend Fences

It's time to get this new start started, Ellis says with a most-content tone, for him and his teammates to do far better than the 55 combined wins they've mustered in the last two seasons. The 24-year-old is in a reflective mood, and he's looking at his own reflection like never before.

"It starts with me, so I wanted to come back a month before training camp and get real close with my new teammates, to have that bond and make this whole thing as one and try to win," Ellis told FanHouse in a 30-minute, sit-down interview this week. "It's a new beginning. That's how I look at it. I've wiped everything else away from the past. We have a new logo, a new team. We'll just move forward, and it starts with me."

His son, Monta Jr., is 15 months old now, a walking, talking boy full of joy who simply won't let him lose this big-picture perspective. It's his new wife, Juanika Ellis, who he credits as his unofficial life counselor. She tells him what he needs to hear, even if it's not what he wants to hear. And she's been doing it, Ellis said, for most of the four years that they have been together -- including the day after media day 2009.

"She told me as soon as I said it that it was wrong," Ellis said of the Curry comments. "I didn't let her know at the time that she was right, but she always told me, 'You and Steph can do it. Y'all can do it. Just play together and don't let the outside world destroy y'all because you can win if they put pieces around you.'"

Ellis said he made amends with Curry this summer, attempting to clear up whatever residue remained from their inauspicious start. Curry has certainly met him halfway in attempt to fix the relationship that so many saw as broken, even attending Ellis' wedding in late July when the only other current teammate present was Devean George.

"There is one thing I want to clear up with everybody," he began intently. "It wasn't like I just went out and got a moped just to be getting a moped. I don't ride mopeds anymore but I'd been riding them all my life, and it wasn't like I was doing stunts on it.

"People don't want to believe it, but I was only leaving my house and going to a park, going five or 10 miles per hour. The street wasn't slippery. There wasn't a hole in the street. It's just something that happened. I didn't hit nothing. I wasn't riding fast."

Nor did he ever, Ellis insists.

"The funny thing is that I'm scared of motorcycles, and a moped is just like a motorcycle so I don't play around with that," Ellis continued while swerving his hands to re-enact what happened with the moped's wheels. "I was just riding and slowing down to go into the park, and it just lost its wheels. That's all that happened. It was just a freak accident that happened.

"It was me, three of my cousins and two of my homeboys just going to the park. (When he fell), I was like, 'Wow, why me? At this point? I've been doing so good, been injury-free. I just signed my big deal, and there's nothing more I can ask for, and then this happens?"

Here's a couple more supplementary articles by Sam Amick:

Monta Ellis Shaking Off Immaturity, Growing Up Before Our Eyes

"I got a really good sense from him on that," Silas said. "I would say his favorite player on the team right now is Steph. And to go from media day last year to where he is now is something. That's one of the only guys he'll contact during the summer."

And one of the guys he would watch play, too.

"We'd be watching Team USA games on TV and (Ellis) is saying, 'Man, Steph should be playing more,'" Silas said. "It's exciting to see how far he has come in just a year. Steph has done a lot to help that, but Monta has been really, really different when it comes to that whole situation."

Stephen Silas Proves He's His Own Man

[Doctor Kajita]

Pretty encouraging to hear this straight from the horse's mouth. Monta admits he was wrong (by making those comments last training camp about Steph) and having a bad attitude for the better part of the season. Matt Steinmetz said in his chat yesterday that Monta footed the bill for Steph's birthday party too.

While I don't think he's the floor leader, Monta is starting to really mature and is embracing the leadership role, which sometimes means you need to define your role as less. He says:

"Like I told him this summer, we can do it. We did it last year. I see now that I have to play the two (shooting guard). I have to play the bigger guards, and I'm cool with that. I can do that. Let's just put our games together, get everybody else around us on the same page and play basketball."

I feel vindicated! Monta Ellis Needs To Be The Man By Letting Stephen Curry Be The Man

[AlleyOop]

Yeah, I don't know how long I've been saying that, but it's been a long time. Curry is going to be the man, and the team can only succeed if Monta accepts that. It doesn't mean Monta needs to play second fiddle, he just needs to embrace his own role on the team as an off-the-ball scorer and play maker, like he did with Baron.

The only new thing here is that Monta apparently is going to try. Frankly I didn't think he would be willing to try that. I guess we'll see.

[jason bourne]

Who do you guys see as the the go to guy?

I think most Warrior fans would say Curry, but I'd love to see Monta Ellis become the go to guy that other teams try to double down on. He could really open things up for Curry and David Lee on offense if Ellis is the offensive force that other teams have to contend with.

[AlleyOop]

I actually see Monta as the "go to" guy right now, as far as scoring at the end of games. But it will be because of Curry. Curry should be the playmaker, ala Nash, and he should find the hot hand throughout the game. At the end of games, he should still have the ball, but Monta should be the one coming off screens to get open looks. As far as a last-second shot, it depends. If it's a 1-point game, it should be Monta going to the hole and trying to get fouled. If it is 2 or 3 points, it should be Curry who shoots the three. IMO

[jason bourne]

I actually see Monta as the "go to" guy right now, as far as scoring at the end of games. But it will be because of Curry. Curry should be the playmaker, ala Nash, and he should find the hot hand throughout the game. At the end of games, he should still have the ball, but Monta should be the one coming off screens to get open looks. As far as a last-second shot, it depends. If it's a 1-point game, it should be Monta going to the hole and trying to get fouled. If it is 2 or 3 points, it should be Curry who shoots the three. IMO

I agree. I like Curry if we're down by 2 or 3 points and need a 3-ball to win or tie the game. If we need to draw a foul, then give it to Monta. Ellis is working on his 3-pt shot which I hope he uses with discretion and not become another Baron. Ellis should work on improving his free throw shooting, too. He should be in the 80% area.

We'll have to see how efficient Monta will be this season. He's got to improve his FG% and cut down on the number of shot attempts. He was hogging the ball or trying to do too much. He needs to take over when the team needs it and pass the ball when someone else has a better shot. In other words, he has to do it in the flow of the team's offense.

[philsmith75]

Great to see Monta owning up to his faults. Maybe it can work, but I doubt it. Curry is a scrapper on D but Monta is not. If you are going to have two undersized guards, they have to be scrappers.