Saltzman Says...Bay Area Faces in the Crowd: Usua Amanam

 Usua Amanam played at Bellarmine College Prep, and The Harker School before that.  He is currently in his second year at Stanford University, playing running back.  Here is a link to the article in the Mercury News back in 2007 when they named Usua the player of the year.

What will Usua and the other Cardinal do for an encore in 2011?

Saltzman Says...Monta Ellis doesn't deserve to be an All-Star

Monta Doesn't Deserve to be an All-Star

David Stern has set up the All-Star game exactly how he wants it.  He wants the fans to select the five most popular players in each conference, and the reserves will be the best players of the best teams.  That's it.  There are no exceptions.  If you want to make the all-star team on a team with a losing record, you better be a fan favorite.  Monta Ellis simply isn't.  He is scoring 25 points a game for a team that can't win.  He is a much better NBA player today than Russell Westbrook.  However, Westbrook is the 2nd best player on one of the best Western Conference teams.  If Monta was a teammate of Kevin Durant, he would be an All-Star.  However, he is a teammate of David Lee and Stephen Curry, so he isn't.  If the Warriors want their 1st all-star since 1997, WIN!  PERIOD!  THAT'S IT!   END OF SENTENCE!!

The last time Monta Ellis was in the All-Star game was his "sophomore" year

Marcus Thompson II article in the Oakland Tribune