Monta Ellis

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Monta Ellis (born October 26, 1985, in Jackson, Mississippi) is an American professional basketball player, who plays the point guard and shooting guard positions. He is currently playing for the NBA's Golden State Warriors.

[edit] High school career

Ellis attended Lanier High School in Jackson where he was named Parade Magazine High School Player of the Year 2005 (along with Greg Oden) and a USA Today All-American. He had committed to Mississippi State University before opting for the NBA in 2005. During his four high school years he averaged 28.9 points, 4.9 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 3.1 steals per game at a shooting percentage of 78.0% in free-throws, 46.1% in field goals and 43.5% in three-pointers. His last year at Lanier High School was his best, he put up 38.4 points, 6.8 assists, 7.9 rebounds and 4.5 steals per game, while shooting 80.0% on free-throws, 46.0% on field goals and 48.0% on three-pointers.

He scored a career-best 72 points in a game against Greenwood (Miss.) High School. As a junior, he scored 42 points in a 80-75 loss against renowned high school basketball power Oak Hill Academy, then the #1- ranked prep-basketball team in the country by USA Today, and their star future-NBA forward, Josh Smith, in front of a capacity crowd at the Mississippi Coliseum. His 42 points was the most ever scored against Oak Hill by an opposing player. In his senior season he scored 42 points in a game against South Gwinnett High School in which he was guarded by Louis Williams, also at the Coliseum. He led Lanier to a 129-16 record in his four seasons as a starter (2002-2005), winning the 4A state championship in 2002 (33-5) and 2005 (35-2, ranked #12 nationally by USA Today) and runner-up finishes in 2003 (31-4) and 2004 (30-5). He scored a total of 4,167 points in his prep career, making him second all-time in Mississippi history. He received first-team all-state recognition from the Clarion-Ledger in all four of his high school seasons and was named Mississippi's "Mr. Basketball" by the paper in 2005.^[1]

[edit] Professional career

Drafted by the Warriors in the 2nd round (40th overall) in the 2005 NBA Draft, Ellis was inserted into the starting lineup late in the 2005-06 NBA season, along with fellow rookie Ike Diogu. He was highly regarded as one of the players to watch during the 2006 summer league, but was unable to compete due to knee problems. After receiving very little playing time as a rookie, Monta improved immensely coming into his second year and began to show great potential. Monta's rise as a potential star is thought to be a part of the reason why Jason Richardson was traded^{[citation needed]}. The trade freed up about $10 million dollars in cap space for the Golden State Warriors with which they could sign Ellis as well as fellow young star Andris Biedriņš to extended contracts^[2][3] Now in his third season, Ellis has become one of the Warriors' top performers, becoming a clutch player and pulling them through close games. He is often referred to as "the future" of the Warriors' franchise.

On January 24, 2007, Ellis hit his first career game-winning shot as time expired to give the Warriors a 110-109 victory over the [[New Jersey Nets.

On January 31, he was selected to play in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge during the NBA's All-Star weekend. He scored a dunk-filled 28 points in a win for the sophomore team on 13 for 16 shooting. He was edged out by David Lee and Chris Paul for the game's MVP honors.

On February 24, Ellis recorded a career high 13 assists against the Los Angeles Clippers.

On April 26, he received the NBA's Most Improved Player Award after averaging 16.5 points per game, a substantial increase from his average of 6.8 points per game as a rookie, edging out Sacramento Kings shooting guard Kevin Martin by three votes. Ellis's points-per-game average compared to the previous season (6.8 to 16.5), an increase of 9.7, beat out Martin's increase of 9.4 (10.8 to 20.2).^[4]

On January 24, 2008, Ellis scored a career high 39 points (13-for-18 shooting from the field, 13-for-14 free-throw shooting) against the New Jersey Nets, exactly one year to-the-day of his first ever game-winning shot, which also came against the Nets.^[5]

Monta Ellis became the ninth guard in NBA history to shoot at least 60 percent from the field in a single month after making 60.2 percent of his shots in February, 2008. He was honored after the last game of the month by assistant coach Sidney Moncrief, one of the eight other players to achieve the feat; the other guards to perform this feat were John Stockton, Ricky Pierce, Earl Monroe, Jim Paxson, Fred Brown, Sidney Moncrief, Brad Davis, and Steve Nash.^[6][7] Monta Ellis also scored over 30 points in the month of February for 4 games straight.

He later received the nickname "Mississippi Bullet" because of his lightning quick speed. He has been compared to Allen Iverson and Kevin Johnson

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Monta Ellis Info Page at NBA.com
• Monta Ellis Statistics at Basketball-Reference.com
• Monta Ellis at ESPN.com