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D-Lord's Summer Camp Notes
By David Lord – DallasBasketball.com
On the eve of summer league, we play Catch-22 with observations from this week’s Mavs camp:
1. There were no names and no numbers to distinguish one player from another at Tuesday’s workout at American Airlines Center, just players in either a blue or a white jersey playing hard full-court ball. As a result, getting a real feel on any one particular player - especially the new ones - was next to impossible.
2. Did any of the new kids stand out? Nope, but that was partly due to the anonymous nature of things. Some blue guy would make a shot here, a white guy would get a block there, and so on. But to be honest, even if you knew all the names and had the whole thing on tape, you cant really read much into a single scrimmage.
3. The brief 4-day training camp was designed to cover the team basics as a framework for summer league.
4. Devin Harris ran the offense for the blue team and looked like the 10-year veteran who was in control. He still looks stunningly quick and plays in a different gear from everyone else.
5. During play, DJ Mbenga unveiled what appeared to be a new move, floating in a couple of nice running jump hooks from the middle of the lane for the blue team.
6. When a sloppy pass would get loose from the white team, it seemed Marquis Daniels was always the one coming up with the loose ball for the blue.
7. There was a player for the white team who made a couple of "who was that" moves to the basket with some blazing quickness, but I couldn’t ever find out for sure who it was. (Maybe Hector Romero.)
8. Pavel Podkolzin got doubled-and-stripped several times when, after receiving a post pass, he tried to do lots of dribbling to back the blue defender down for a better shot. (Someone please tell those big guys not to put the ball on the floor; get position first, then catch, turn, and shoot or pass. Drop step. But always remember you aren’t a guard.)
9. Getting the ball in the post to P-Pod was fairly easy. In addition to his size, he has notably good hands.
10. Daniels stayed on the court after the scrimmage was over, shooting spot up 3s off the pass for a good 30 minutes after everyone left. By my count, he was hitting somewhere around 70% during the time I was watching. Catch, shoot, swish - over and over and over. He told us later that developing his outside shot, especially the 3, is what the coaches want from him this summer, particularly in summer league.
11. Darius Rice caught our attention for the blue team, but we cant give a reason other than he just looked like he belonged. Maybe athletic stardom is in the genes? (His uncle is NFL great Jerry Rice.)
12. The NFL build, however, belonged to Michael Harris. Most of the players were lean and slender, but Harris's physique looked like a man among boys. It remains to be seen if that can translate into NBA excellence.
13. I never did identify Filiberto Rivera, the PG from UTEP, and sideline observers weren’t sure if he was even there on Tuesday.
14. There were several big men there who were similar in size to DJ Mbenga. But as I watched the players stand and listen to after-scrimmage instructions, I observed with amazement how unique P-Pod's size is in relation to the rest. The others, even the big guys, aren’t anywhere close to his size.
15. Paul Mokeski ran today's practice, and he will coach the B squad that goes to California. This fall he will be back with the Mavs in the same role as last year - working with the young centers.
16. The A squad will be coached by Avery Johnson, and will go to Las Vegas.
17. Our natural assumption was that only those undrafted players assigned to the A squad would have any shot at getting an NBA contract this fall. Not true, said Mokeski, who told us that some players were assigned to the B roster to ensure them playing time. On the A team, he pointed out, the minutes at SG will almost all go to Marquis Daniels, the PG minutes will be dominated by Devin Harris, and the minutes at C will be split between DJ Mbenga and Pavel Podkolzin.
18. Mokeski: "The main thing we are looking for in summer league is to see who can play some defense. We already know the offensive stats, but who can play defense is the crucial thing. Under Avery, the emphasis is always on a defensive philosophy."
19.The squads will use a core of about 5 base offensive plays during the summer schedule.
20. Old Mav favorite Popeye Jones was in attendance and helped assist the Mavs coaching contingent. He still has that million-dollar smile and the bright friendly eyes that lit up the league wherever he went.
21. We asked Mark Cuban about players on other summer league teams, and if the Mavs had interest in others besides these. He replied, "We scout everyone. If someone is good and on another team, we have no problem going after them. They are a free agent."
22. As he walked off the court to the locker room, we asked Marquis about his ankle, which required a nerve-deadening patch all year in order for him to play. He told us it is completely healed now due to the off-season rest, and the patch is no longer needed.
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Dallas Mavericks Off-Season Moves List
1) Start Devin Harris at point guard.
2) Start Jerry Stackhouse at shooting guard.
3) Make Jason Terry the sixth man.
4) Sign/trade for athletic center.
Michael Finley was the true heart of the Mavericks.
6-23-05 -- The day the albatrose Shawn Bradley was taken from around the neck of the Dallas Mavericks.
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D-Lord's Summer Camp Notes
Even though its practice, i'm glad to see this happening.
Thats definately some good news. If he can bang down the three at 35-40% in games there should be no doubt about starting.
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