Dooling: Allen talked more to media than C's

In Jackie MacMullan's latest column [1] on the maturation of Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo, one of the most revealing quotes comes from Keyon Dooling, who discussed the relationship between Rondo and former teammate Ray Allen.

"Ray was great in many ways," Dooling told MacMullan. "Rondo learned a lot from him -- how to prepare, how to take care of his body, how to be professional.

"But the way Ray led was different than how Rajon did it. Not wrong, just different.

"Ray didn't know how to communicate with Rondo the way some of us could, like myself, like KG, who fully embraced Rajon.

"I love Ray. I love his family. He's a true pro. But it's unfair how this all came out. Ray had such a good relationship with all the reporters and Rondo was so quiet. So who gets all the good press?

"Sometimes it felt like Ray spent more time talking to the media than he did to his teammates.''

Meanwhile, Rondo once again called the accusations he attempted to freeze Allen out of the offense "ridiculous," but the C's general on and off the floor also claimed this year's team already has better chemistry than last season.

"Ray is Ray," Rondo told MacMullan. "Hopefully he's in a good place. I'm happy where I am. Whatever decision Ray made is what he made.

"I didn't talk to him before he made his decision and I didn't talk to him after it, so I don't really see how it has anything to do with me."

The piece details Rondo's role in team-bonding activities both this season and last, especially among current and former teammates Dooling, Kevin Garnett, Chris Wilcox and Marquis Daniels.

"It probably should have been handled differently," Daniels told MacMullan of the relationship between Rondo and Allen, "but I thought they both did a good job of keeping [their differences] under wraps. No one even knew about it until after the season. Give them credit for both being professional about it."

For more on the Celtics, visit weei.com/celtics [2].