The Dallas Mavericks have had a lot of problems ever since they traded for point guard Rajon Rondo. They now sit in 7th place in the Western Conference and things just don’t seem right in Dallas. Although Rondo has taken much of the heat for it, the entire Mavericks organization is at fault. Monta Ellis is one of those guys.
According to Tim McMahon of ESPN:
“Ellis had nothing to say, refusing to stop to talk to reporters as he exited the locker room with headphones covering his ears. Ellis often bucks NBA rules by blowing off the media, particularly after poor performances.
Carlisle dismissed a follow-up question about Ellis’ extended slump by focusing on what he perceives to be the Mavs’ biggest problem.
“This is not a Monta Ellis shooting problem,” Carlisle said. “This is a Dallas Mavericks hard-play problem, all right? We don’t play hard all the time. And that’s a problem.
“It’s pretty clear that’s where our inconsistency is and we’ve got to get better. We’ve got to be a more together team. I believe that we can do it. We did it in the second half, but it’s work. It takes effort. It takes effort in the locker room, it takes sacrifice and we’ve got to be willing to do those things.”
Regardless of whether anyone will admit it on the record, Ellis is a big part of that problem. Folks in the Mavs organization have been fretting for weeks about the impact Ellis’ moodiness has on the team’s soul.”
Monta Ellis has seen a huge slump in performance and to be honest, the future doesn’t seem to bright for the Mavericks. Aging veterans such as Dirk Nowitzki, Tyson Chandler, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Richard Jefferson, one point guard who doesn’t want to be there in Rajon Rondo, and an unhappy Monta Ellis.
