Monta dominates the ball, but never the line. OKC’s two guard is a foul-seeking missile.

Ellis is third in the league at 19 field goal attempts per game but is merely 19th overall at 5.5 free throws per night. Contrast this with another two guard, James Harden. The bearded foul sponge shoots nearly half as many shots (10.1), yet notches 6.4 FTAs per game–good for 10th in the league. It’s not even that Harden is better at getting to the rack because James only averages 3.2 rim shots to Monta’s 5.2.

Enough with the numbers.

Why is Harden so superior in this respect? There are a few reasons that players keep accidentally fouling JH. Harden is bigger, he has fantastic lateral dexterity, he’s an awkward lefty. Perhaps, most importantly: James Harden is a genius flopper. He has all the start-and-stop contact absorption of Chauncey Billups, but adds a ref-hypnotizing nuance to the dance. When Harden finds contact real or imagined, he whips his head back as though God yanked his beard skyward. It is difficult to witness a man’s head wrench backwards and not blame an exterior culprit.

Monta has the physical ability to draw more fouls, but he eschews Harden’s slight of head, slight of hand. When I asked Ellis about flopping, he said, “That’s not me,” and qualified it with, “That’s what they do.”

They. Them. The Warriors two guard has his own way of doing things, and likely won’t change. He comes from a pocket of Mississippi where the neighborhood kids built a peach basket hoop, without irony, out of necessity. Even in a world of players who hail from provincial pockets of poverty, insular Ellis appears a world apart.

But, it would be nice if Ellis took a page from his old pal Corey (gasp!) Maggette and indulged in some fakery, even if it goes against his trusted approach. The Warriors consistently rank near the bottom of the league in drawing fouls, and it’s become a particularly acute problem since their starting center started avoiding the line. Monta’s aesthetically pleasing, “make the layup at any cost” approach could stand to be leavened with some flailing and play action head fakes.

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I’m seeking attributions for this losing streak other than “Monta and Steph can’t play together! Trade your less favorite in Mindland!” The main causes for the slide are Lee’s absence and a bench that only covers asses in the literal sense. But I’m noticing a flaw in a favorite player–a problem that might speak to a larger one: Andris Biedrins’s free throw troubles have spawned free throw avoidance.

When Biedrins fell apart at the line last year, it was a minor cough that quickly turned typhoid. He was never good (career .515), but somehow Andris hurtled lower than blind fish. It was a mysterious fall and I chalked it up to injuries and general negative Nellie chaos. It wasn’t like the Warriors were destined for greatness, Andris was throwing frozen ropes into a vacuum. When Goose dropped from 3.5 attempted free throws, all the way to .8, I barely blinked because an apathetic Nelson never blinked–while he unleashed Dr. Strangelove lunacy every time my eye lids clapped.

New year, new coach, new owners. But the raven’s still sitting on a Pallas bust, squinting at Andris. It’s a small sample size, but haunted Biedrins is shooting .222. And the small sample size is precisely what concerns.

Incredibly, Goose is attempting .6 free throws per game, over the course of 27 minutes. This meager a total is almost an accomplishment–he must be contorting from contact like a skittish eel. But the avoidance is hurting his PER (Around 5 points lower than he used to post), plus dulling an already predictable offense.

And–this is highly subjective–what I hate most is the attitude surrounding his troubles. The idea is that Andris simply can’t shoot free throws anymore–can’t make them ever–is almost embedded in the culture. As though the difference between 55% and 16% happened logically, leading to an immutable state. It’s a loser’s mentality, a mindset more familiar than the troubles chasing the Latvian.

Twitter: @SherwoodStrauss

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