"Warriors guard Monta Ellis has long thought he deserved a spot among the NBA's A-list players. He wanted the respect

Now, he has it. He might not have been invited to play in the NBA All-Star game next Sunday, but opposing defenses have been giving him elite status.

"He was playing at such a high level, they had to do something," Warriors coach Keith Smart said. "It's not that he's in a slump, it's what teams are doing."

Teams have been pulling out all of the stops lately, trying to stop Ellis. Smart said they are contesting Ellis' shots more aggressively and trapping him more often to take the ball out of his hands. Smart also said teams are being more physical with Ellis and that when he gets to the basket, the help is coming hard to prevent him from getting easy layups.

"They've changed their defensive schemes. I've noticed that," Ellis said. "I've just got to continue to find ways to get around it and find my teammates more, get back to what we were doing at the beginning of the season and make plays for each other."

Ellis lately hasn't been the dominant offensive player that wowed onlookers the first half of the season. Sure, he's had a few monster games sprinkled in here and there. He dropped 37 on Denver on Wednesday. He played arguably his best game of the year against Chicago on Feb. 5, getting 33 points on 22 shots with four steals.

But he hasn't been the consistent, efficient offensive weapon many have come to expect.

His first 42 games, Ellis averaged 25.9 points and 5.7 assists, both on pace for career highs. He was also doing it on 46.7 percent shooting. His play had people raving, fans chanting M-V-P and hoop prognosticators touting him as an All-Star.

The past 10 games, though, Ellis' production on offense has tapered off.

He's averaging 21.4 points on 39 percent shooting. And while his turnovers have stayed the same, slightly over three per game, his assists have dipped to 4.4 per over the last 10 games. Golden State is 4-6 in that stretch."