Monta Ellis declined to talk to the media today. Don’t think it was because he was disappointed he didn’t make All-Star. He just doesn’t like talking to us. He’s answered questions once since checking himself out of the game Friday. So, in a week span, his only public comments came after the loss to the Hornets. How many face-of-the-franchise players can get away with that?

Anyway, no reaction from Ellis about not being chosen. Corey Maggette did fill in for him.

MAGGETTE: “It’s disappointing for me. Mr. Unbelievable has been doing everything for this team.”

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As I said all along, three guards would get in for the West. Chris Paul and Brandon Roy were locks. They are perennial All-Stars on playoff-caliber teams. It would take a terrible year for either of them not to get in.
That left Monta Ellis fighting for one spot with the likes of Utah point guard Deron Williams, Denver point guard Chauncey Billups, and even San Antonio point guard Tony Parker.
Williams got the nod. Ellis did not. So, the last Warriors All-Star is still Latrell Sprewell in 1997.
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He was a no-brainer. League made it official. Warriors rookie guard Stephen Curry was voted in by the assistant coaches as one of the nine rookies to play in the Rookie Challenge on Friday night of All-Star Weekend. He is the first Warrior to participate since Monta Ellis in 2007, when he wowed everyone with his arsenal of dunks. Curry is the first Warriors rookie to participate since Jason Richardson in 2002. Richardson won MVP.

Here is the rookie squad:

Omri Casspi, Sacramento
DeJuan Blair, San Antonio
Stephen Curry, Warriors
Tyreke Evans, Sacramento
Jonny Flynn, Minnesota
Taj Gibson, Chicago
James Harden, Oklahoma City
Brandon Jennings, Milwaukee
Jonas Jerebko, Detroit

The Sophomore team, which is 8-2 in the history of the rookie challenge, looks far more formidable with its size and experience:

Michael Beasley, Miami
Marc Gasol, Memphis
Danilo Gallinari, New York
Eric Gordon, Clippers
Brook Lopez, New Jersey
Kevin Love, Minnesota
O.J. Mayo, Memphis
Derrick Rose, Chicago
Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City

Warriors guard Monta Ellis will not play Tuesday night at Sacramento, the team announced during Monday evening’s practice.

His sprained right ankle is severe enough top keep him out for the second consecutive game. Ellis was at practice, but in sweats. He is listed as day-to-day. The Warriors host Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets, then Stephen Jackson and the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday.

Ellis sprained his ankle midway through the first quarter, according to several accounts. But he didn’t ask to come out of the game until early in the third quarter. Ellis headed straight to the locker room and didn’t return. He missed Saturday’s game at Phoenix. X-Rays were negative. Ellis was re-evaluated on Sunday and Monday before he was ruled out against the Kings.

Guard C.J. Watson, who returned from a four-game absence Saturday, will likely get the start in Ellis’ spot. Saturday, NBA Development League call-up Cartier Martin started at shooting guard in place of Ellis. Watson and rookie guard Stephen Curry are the only guards the Warriors have available.

Shooting guard Anthony Morrow did not practice Monday night, just got up shots on the side. He didn’t look to be favoring his sprained right knee. The Warriors said he would be out for 1 to 2 weeks. Friday’s game at New Jersey was one week.

So, the media (Rusty and I), have submitted our grades. Let’s see yours. Feel free to explain your grades. Please

Monta Ellis -

Corey Maggette -

Andris Biedrins -

Stephen Curry -

Anthony Randolph -

Ronny Turiaf -

Anthony Morrow -

C.J. Watson -

Devean George -

Chris Hunter -

UDPATE: My Baaaad! I was wondering why no one was grading Nellie and the front office. Then I realized I left them off the list. Thanks Rigged!)

Don Nelson –

Larry Riley -

I am assuming Kelenna Azubuike, Raja Bell, Brandan Wright, Speedy Claxton get an Incomplete since they haven’t played or have played very little. I didn’t include the 10-day contract players either.

Another thriller between Denver and the Warriors. Certainly, Denver is a better team with better players. Certainly, Chauncey Billups was playing on a whole other level, making up for an off night by Carmelo Anthony. Certainly, Denver’s big men had a mismatch against the depeleted Warriors first line, which featured two legitimate big men, size wise, in center Andris Biedrins and D-League call-up Anthony Tolliver.

Still, with that being said, they should’ve won that game. But Monta Ellis, Don Nelson and Stephen Curry dropped the ball late.

CURRY: “It’s tough, you give all that effort, you play that hard the whole game and you have it in your hands and you want to walk away with that win, at home, especially. It’s tough for us, but we have a back-to-back Friday and Saturday, so we have a chance to continue the momentum we have and try and get two wins.”

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How about this for a change of pace: the Warriors didn’t fall apart in the third quarter and pulled away in the fourth.

Warriors won the third quarter and outscored Chicago 60-44 in the second half, a detour from the trend of hot starts and third quarter meltdowns. And they did it all with virtually six players: Ellis, Maggette, Curry, Biedrins and D-Leaguers Cartier Martin and Anthony Tollilver (Devean George started and played 5:39, and Chris Hunter played 8:51 off the bench). Ellis/Maggette/Curry combined for 94 points on 34-for-71 shooting.

NELLIE: “So here we are, limited. Just about 7 and a half players, but we found a way. That’s good. As you guys know, we’ve actually been playing decently. Usually have had pretty good first halves and then the third quarter has been a problem for us. But tonight we won the third quarter and we had a big fourth quarter. So a very good game for us.”

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Warriors coach Don Nelson told a funny after practice on Sunday.

NELLIE: “I came up with a new name for the team. The Golden State D-Leaguers.”

OK, maybe it wasn’t funny. But that was Nellie’s way of introducing Anthony Tolliver, his new power forward. The Warriors got another hardship exception from the league and they used it to sign Tolliver to a 10-day contract. For those keeping score, that is 5 former D-Leaguers on the roster: Kelenna Azubuike, C.J. Watson, Chris Hunter, Cartier Martin and now Tolliver.

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Looking at the replay, Monta Ellis got the rebound from Lebron’s missed J with 6.4 seconds left. He looked over to the bench and signaled timeout, but was told by coach Don Nelson to push the ball. Ellis got started up court with 5.4 seconds left, and he proceeded as if he were confused about what to do next. The rest, you know what happened.

The fact that Ellis wanted to call a timeout, and actually did kinda based on video replay, shows the miscommunication in the final minutes that may have cost the Warriors the game. With five seconds left, gotta believe they could’ve gotten a better shot than Stephen Curry’s 34-foot shot put.

NELSON: “We said in the huddle that we wanted to push the ball and I’ll inform the team tomorrow that I can always call the timeout. I can go to the referee. Coaches now can call a timeout. What they need to do is think in terms of getting the ball, pushing it up. I really like the open court with 6, 7 seconds left, even 5, better than the half court when you need a three. So we lost a couple seconds there that probably would’ve got a better shot.”

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Most everyone is expecting second-year forward Anthony Randolph to be out for an extended period of time.

Coach Don Nelson said though it sounded like good news, that the CT scan on Randolph’s sprained left ankle showed no acute fracture, it didn’t make any difference. Whether a fracture or a bad sprain, Randolph is on the shelf for a while. At least a month, I’m thinking.

The consensus was that Randolph was beginning to come into his own (heard this before, huh?). But the silver lining?

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