Monta Ellis at least addresses the Mavericks’ desperate need for speed.
Mark Cuban joins Galloway and Company to discuss the Mavericks' new GM Gersson Rosas and much more.
Listen Listen “Possibly the fastest player ever to wear a Mavs uniform,” coach Rick Carlisle said via text message. “Scores, makes plays and is great in transition. We consider him a unique talent and look forward to integrating him into our team.”
Dirk Nowitzki has never played with a guard as good at getting to the rim as Ellis, who has a career average of 19.4 points per game. Ellis has never had a teammate who draws defenses the way Nowitzki does, which should create a lot of space for Ellis to do what he does best.
And the Mavs expect both of their top scoring threats to benefit greatly from playing with pass-first point guard Jose Calderon.
The key for Ellis, who made his three-year, $25 million deal official Tuesday, will be becoming much more efficient than he was the last season and a half with the Milwaukee Bucks. His shooting percentages plummeted to 41.6 from the floor and 28.7 from 3-point range last season, the latter the lowest among league qualifiers.
Ellis’ shot selection needs to improve, and the Mavs believe they can help put him in situations where he can get good looks on a consistent basis.
They also think they can help him improve his jumper, with Carlisle intending to spend a lot of time working with Ellis on an individual basis, much like he did last year with O.J. Mayo. Mayo shot a career-best 40.7 percent from 3-point range during his lone season in Dallas.
Ellis’ best 3-point shooting season came in 2010-11, when he hit 36.1 percent of his long-distance attempts. That’d be a bonus if he hit at that clip for the Mavs, who signed Ellis primarily for his ability to get to the bucket.
根據 ESPN 報導，公鹿後衛艾利斯 (Monta Ellis) 已經與達拉斯小牛隊簽下三年合約，詳細金額尚未公布。簽約記者會上，小牛老闆庫班 (Mark Cuban) 除了暢談未來布局，也對艾利斯的身手是大肆讚揚。庫班指出，自爭搶「魔獸」當中失利的確有些遺憾，但藉此釋放得來的薪資空間，更能幫助小牛全面性地提升陣容。尤其艾利斯願意降價投靠，對於球隊來說實屬意外之喜，有幸獲得這名得分大將的小牛隊，或將為西區烽火再添一層變數。
儘管接連與大咖失之交臂，但瘋狂的庫班老闆並不氣餒，隨即展開全面且針對性的補強行動，一陣運籌帷幄下，小牛大手筆捕進艾利斯、卡德隆 (Jose Calderon)、戴倫博 (Samuel Dalembert) 及艾靈頓 (Wayne Ellington)，用底薪簽下布萊爾 (DeJuan Blair) 和哈里斯 (Devin Harris)，再加上透過早鳥條款與萊特 (Brandan Wright) 完成續約，整體陣容可謂煥然一新。庫班坦言，招攬失敗讓球隊無法實現設想中的A計畫，但達拉斯最後仍妥善運用空間，並以破盤價碼補進多名實力派戰將，就這點來說，你很難不給小牛的制服組一點掌聲。
「錯過霍華的確令人感傷，我們曾有機會，但最後什麼都沒得到，」提及魔獸爭奪戰的失利，庫班似乎仍倍感失望，「但我們補進了很多想要的球員，甚至得到先前從未想過的 Monta，現在球隊的關鍵就是團結一致，全速前進！」
為何在奪冠後迅速拆解陣容，庫班也有他的一番解釋。這位頭家強調，由於諾威斯基 (Dirk Nowitzki) 年紀漸長，小牛必須對於球隊的薪資結構仔細打理，讓球隊換血之餘仍能保持競爭實力。然而，抽樑換柱總得付出些許代價，小牛在奪冠隔年慘遭雷霆橫掃，上季更一度落後五成勝率多達十場，最後連季後賽都沒有打進。歷經兩年慘澹後，小牛看似沉淪，但螫伏總為了跳得更高，就這樣，小牛以低於行情的價格拿下艾利斯，於自由市場的競逐當中後來居上。
「與其引進一個頂薪球員，我倒覺得球隊目前的處境更好，」庫班說，「無論是短期或長期規劃，我們前進的方向都是正確的，小牛的未來將會光明璀璨。」
效力公鹿期間，這名悍將場均貢獻19.2分6.0助攻外加2.1次抄截，雖不如勇士顛峰時期，但其切入實力猶在，突破後給球的技巧也是日漸純熟，況且在諾威斯基身旁，從沒有一個具備如此爆發力的得分後衛，兩人若能搭配良好，小牛頗有機會擺脫「跳投大隊」惡名，為進攻端增添更多的變化與可能性。
「我想艾利斯可能會是小牛隊史上速度最快的球員，他擁有非凡的得分手段，也能輕易地在攻守轉換當中得分，我很期待能幫助他融入我們的團隊。」
卡萊爾 (Rick Carlisle) 教練也對媒體表示，他將多管齊下幫助艾利斯提升跳投，其一藉由是個人基礎訓練，其二則是投籃時機的判斷與掌握，加上身旁搭配著傳球第一的卡德隆，艾利斯可望自小牛體系受益，並將自身潛能發揮至極限；而小牛隊近來仰賴投射、關鍵時刻難獲哨音青睞之進攻態勢，也在補進艾利斯之後得到了舒緩，雙方若能在既有的基礎上密切配合，達拉斯籃球的復興之路才算正式開啟。
「每個人都在批評艾利斯，甚至質疑他根本一無是處，但我認為一旦 Monta 融入球隊體系，他將會實現精采的蛻變。」塞翁失馬、焉知非福？庫班的豪言最終能否兌現，所有的小牛球迷都將拭目以待。
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