Rajon Rondo Says Things “Back To Normal” With Rick Carlisle
Rajon Rondo and Rick Carlisle seem to have patched things up, as they said they would.
After a heated exchange this past Tuesday against the Toronto Raptors, much was made about how much Rondo and Carlisle would be able to co-exist. Tim McMahon of ESPN Dallas even followed up with a report that Rondo will be “unlikely” to re-sign with the Mavericks when he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer.
But now Rondo has cleared the air, again via McMahon:
“I just got built-up frustration,” said Rondo, who has had a couple of long individual meetings with Carlisle since their blowup. “I take a lot of the blame for what I’ve been doing on the court, but just a little frustrated. The most important thing is communication with Coach. I’ve talked to a lot of the coaches, I’ve talked to a lot of staff members.
“Coach and I, when I first got here, we were talking a lot and watching film after every game. He’s backed off a little bit with the addition of Amar’e [Stoudemire], trying to help get him up to speed. Our communication was great at first. Not that it wasn’t so great, but it’s just that we weren’t communicating enough. That shouldn’t be the case the rest of the season.”
Communication has been the key response word from both Rondo and Carlisle. Being that Rondo does have a stern, competitive personality, staying on the same page as him is probably always a good idea. In this situation he’s certainly saying the right things, so there’s not much reason to believe that he isn’t willing to work through any kinks with his new head coach.
The Mavericks have a chance to be a wild card in the Western Conference. Whether or not they’re made better since adding Rondo is still yet to be concluded, but if they keep communicating and find their niche, this could still be a lethal pairing.
