OJ Mayo has been one of the most inconsistent players on a disappointing Dallas Mavericks team this season. He played fairly well at the start of the season with Dirk Nowitzki nursing an injury, but Mayo has had a tendency to disappear for nights at a time over the past month or so.
The Mavs are officially out of playoff contention, but head coach Rick Carlisle was hoping Mayo would turn in a solid performance against the Memphis Grizzlies — his former team — on Monday night. That did not happen, as Mayo scored only two points on 1-of-6 shooting and recorded only one assist.
“He wasn’t into it in the first half,” Carlisle said after the 103-97 loss, via NBA.com’s Jeff Kaplan. “We showed him some film at halftime where he was virtually just standing around defensively and said, ‘Hey, we need you’; just tried to get him going a little bit. He just had a bad night. I guess I’ll write it off to that. But I tell you what, if I was playing against my former team, I’d come out ready to go. I’d come out ready to go at them. But that’s me, you know, that’s me.”
Carlisle, who typically goes to great lengths to defend his players, was clearly angry with his point guard’s lack of effort. When asked about the poor performances Mayo has been prone to as of late, the Mavs coach pulled no punches.
“Well, the good news is there’s only an opportunity for one more [poor outing],” Carlisle said. “I just want to see him show up. I just want to see him show up and compete. He didn’t compete tonight. And I tell you, with all the time we’ve put into helping him develop and bringing him along, in the biggest game of the year – an opportunity to be a winning team – for him to show up like he did tonight, I was shocked. Look, sometimes guys have bad nights, so make sure to put that in there, too.”
It was probably a little too late for that last comment from Carlisle, as the message was already sent that he has not been pleased with Mayo’s lack of consistency. Just two years removed from an NBA championship, Mayo’s poor play toward the end of the season has been a microcosm for the disappointment Mark Cuban’s club has endured.
