Golden State Warriors Tickets

The season didn't get off to a roaring start for the Golden State Warriors, who lost point guard Monta Ellis before it even began.

Ellis injured his ankle playing around on a motorized scooter, though he initially lied to the team and told them he hurt it playing basketball. The team had recently given Ellis a major contract extension, so they were not the least bit pleased.

The result was Ellis missing the first half of the season with the injury and being suspended without pay during the time he could not play. He is probably fortunate the team didn't pull the contract out from under him.

Ellis was supposed to replace veteran point guard Baron Davis, who decided to head over to Los Angeles and cash in on a big contract as a free agent. The loss of Davis was a big one, creating a huge scoring void.

The Warriors then tried to land free agent power forward Elton Brand to no avail. That actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as Brand has been a disaster with the Philadelphia 76ers.

The result was a terrible start to the season, as the up-tempo Warriors struggled to find anyone who could start at point guard and facilitate the offense.

As for the loss of Davis, the Warriors decided to compensate by signing forward Corey Maggette to a contract. Maggette is the team's second-leading scorer, averaging 19.6 points per game.

Now that Ellis is back, the team can begin to start meshing the way it should have at the start of the season. Ellis is clearly rusty and still a little bit out of shape, as he tends to have one good game followed by one in which he struggles.

It certainly doesn't help that the Warriors still don't play any defense. While their up-tempo style lends itself to giving up some easy baskets, it doesn't mean that playing tough defense is an option.

This was a team that finished well over .500 last year and just missed out on the playoffs as they struggled the last two weeks. This year they find themselves well below .500 and already out of the playoff picture. That's not good.

I could see this being the last season for head coach Don Nelson, who can't be happy with the play from his team. The front office also can't be happy with Nelson, who seems disinterested on the sidelines.