StackAttack

It was today, FranzKafka, a poster over at lonemavsfan.com had a media pass and is going to be posting stuff that happened throughout the day later tonight, I'll update this thread then. For now, the two pictures he's put up so far:

__________________
"You can't do nothing to D-Wade," Rasheed Wallace said. "If you say 'boogety-boogety booh' to him, that's a foul."

StackAttack

Nothing about interviews yet, just two more pictures:

__________________
"You can't do nothing to D-Wade," Rasheed Wallace said. "If you say 'boogety-boogety booh' to him, that's a foul."

StackAttack

"One thing I noticed right away were the sloganned placards up on the walls in the gym. I don't know if these are old or new, but I wrote them down ...

"Contain"
"Take the defensive challenge"
"42%"
"Dallas Mavericks Full Throttle Basketball"
"Effort, Energy, Execution"
"Communicate your thoughts"
"Keep your man in front of you"
"Everybody rebound"
... and another that was obscured.

The gym 'feels' small. Kinda weird that. It's a story or two below the level of the main arena floor and locker-room. Million dollar talent walking miles of stairs during the season? Don't know how Cubes sleeps at night bearing that risk One slip and Austin Croshere is your 4. Gulp.

Btw, speak of the devil ... I took a bathroom break about half way thru the proceedings and as I emerged from the water closet who falls in pace next to me under the stands but a certain ex-Pacer. Anticipating this moment, I even had a question ready for him. [can I dance or can I freakin' dance?] "Mr. Croshere," I sez I sez I sez, "Conseco Fieldhouse is considered to be possibly the best arena in the NBA. What do you think of the AAC? Does it measure up okay." He agreed that Conseco was pretty nice, but noted the facilities around us were pretty much the equal. He considered the Denver arena to be the nicest - which surprised me a bit - who knew? Anyway, I asked him what he thought of the atmosphere in the bowl during his trips in as a visitor. He sorta mulled it over and bobbed his head, thought the place could boil some water when the heat rose. [that's how the NBA guys talk in the fantasies constantly swirling thru my head] Croshere seemed like a good dude. Real relaxed but not cocky. Pleasant. Just two guys chattin' ... strollin' along under the stands. Mav media honcho Sarah Melvin saw me alone with one of her players and almost had a cow. She shooed me back down the stairs to the gym and outta AC's hair. LOL.

I have a photo of Austin that I'll download later - it's in front of the white drapery. Dude was so white that between his pale magnificence, the home unie and the backdrop - almost all you could see was a blue 44 suspended magically in the air. You know how you hold a flashlight right up to your eye as long as you can? Like until you can smell your freakin' retinas burning? Well, AC's calves are just as deadly to one's vision. I had to take that photo just to prove my story. You'll see.

Anyway, I digress ... so I get there ... I note Josh looks to be in a good mood, constant smiles. Turn around and there's Dirk, like 10 feet from me, full home unie and sneaks, like 10 feet from me, just doin' the media day thing with the photogs, like 10 feet from me. Shootin' a grin my way occasionally as the jokes flow. Just like the 5th best baller on the planet, like 10 feet away just bein' a big kid. I yawned and moved on ... nothing to see there.

Around the corner I found Cubes taking his turn in front of the big green backdrop. [see panorama ya mopes] Whenever I meet Cuban it always strikes me how big a guy he is. Dude ain't little. Anyway, I lean in and say I'm Franz from LMF, "Thanks for the invite." He sez sure, no prob, big grin, havin' a ball, in his element. I move on - figuring [correctly] that I'll get some more pow-wow time with him later on.

But, before I can walk a few paces away a very interesting thing happens -- Dirk and Cubes catch sight of each other and suddenly it's all, "Hey! Dirk! Long time no see! Welcome back!" "Hey! Mark! Good to see you! Yeah, just got back to town!" Kinda cool witnessing that scene - luckily I had my camera ..."



"Took another circuit around the gym. Media Day had an upstairs and a downstairs. Upstairs were proper press conferences featuring AJ, Cubes and Dirk. The NBA had a room of their own, too, for their photogs - and there were some other 'big media' doings about up there. I avoided all of that, just hung out in the gym downstairs. The players would move around a circuit of stations. Some photog, some video, you can kinda see the set-up in the pan. I found Mo Ager in the far corner..."



"See that expression and body language? Never left him. You could almost see the little gears movin' in his rookie brain: "Don't say anything stupid. Don't do anything stupid. Don't say anything stupid. Don't do anything stupid." Constantly grinding himself thru the NBA discovery process. Several players were asked their opinion of his game. To a man ... Stack, Buck and others ... they were impressed. A media guy there from Iowa, covered the Big 10, said he was the real deal. Kinda shot streaky, but good. I asked if he could defend. He shot back, "Oh yeah." We'll see. Never really saw anymore of Ager after that. Hmmmm, kinda odd.

Anyway ... the other rooks - Barea, Washington, Carroll, Ebi [rookie-ish] and Pops were making the rounds then. I got a photo or two of them but they're still in the camera. Patience grasshoppers. Ebi was thin, 'bout the same height as Pops. But Pops is more filled in. Thought I'd wander back down Dirk's way, see what's up..."



"Got there just in time to see Dirk crackin' wise on Jason Terry. See the lady in black with the blue sweater around here waist? She was Dirk's personal Media Day handler or something. She was a sight. Her hair frightened me. I hid behind Croshere's calf whenever she came near.

Somewhere about this time I spotted the Mavs' strength coach, Robert Hacket, standing up high on the stairs at the end of the gym. I thought I could get a good panorama photo from up there, so I ascended thusly. "

My own note, doesn't JET look quite a bit more buff in that picture? Also, I love Ager's body language. This guy isn't going to settle for the D-league, I guarantee it.

__________________
"You can't do nothing to D-Wade," Rasheed Wallace said. "If you say 'boogety-boogety booh' to him, that's a foul."

t1no

Very nice thread Stackattack.

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DALLAS MAVERICKS

xray

This is good stuff...

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to StackAttack again."

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StackAttack

Thanks guys, but credit should go to Franz, he had the great idea to shoot off an email to Cubes and ask if it would be a possibility to have an LMF rep on site, and whaddaya know, Cubes gave him a pass. One of our two local grandpas should try that the next time something like this happens.

"Got up the stairs and took my pan photos ... yer welcome. Hacket was being interviewed by a female reporter. I am going to guess she is one of the female reporters for the FWST - didn't catch her name. Hacket was giving her a very thorough run down of the merry Hell he had planned for the players come Denton. It sounded BRUTAL. Check the FWST the next few days to see if she writes it up - could be a good read. He said the players all had to pass a grueling test before he would vouch for their fitness officially. The test was 10 up-and-backs the length of the court - or 5 round trips if that's clearer. The player then rested for 2 mins and repeated the run. Their average time had to fall below certain graded levels to be deemed acceptable - 60 secs for bigs [except for DJ - 58 secs for a big gazelle like he per RH], 58 for middles [except for medium gazelle's like Josh - 56 secs], and 54 secs for the scooters like Jet and Devin. He told a story about two players 3 years ago who took 5 weeks of daily tries before they finally passed. Commence the guessing of their identities - first prize is a trip home northward during rush hour from downtown Dallas.

Anyway, being a jogger who has recently discovered the wonders of carbo-loading, I asked Hacket if NBA players carbo load. He said not so much. Their training and diet was more similar to a 400M or an 800M runner - sustained bursts. Hacket ain't shy and it didn't take much more than a nod and a mumble to keep him talking. He said the players aren't spoon fed their meals, but they are his nutritional captive audience on the planes and after practice. I got the feeling that the Mavs don't see everything the players eat, but they actively encourage and provide monitored healthy food within arm's reach around the players constantly. He has even instructed road hotel room service to limit the menus available to certain players. He did acknowledge that pasta was ALWAYS waiting for the players, however. I made the observation that NBA players bodies remind me of Olympic swimmer bodies. He agreed - lean and long just like a swimmer. I told him my concern about Dirk's back going out some day and drastically changing the way he plays the game. He said the Mavs medical people hawk stuff like that rabidly. Always trying to emphasize the core [abs, etc.] muscles on the player as a preventive to just such problems. I then popped him a bicep and was like what about that gun right there, huh? How about that, little man? And he ran away into the Mav offices. I descended thusly."

"About this time I noticed Mike Fisher was in the house. He was twirling a notepad and chatting with Greg Buckner - see http://www.dallasbasketball.com for his write-up of Media Day. Standing next to Fish was a mini-me version of Fish - 15-yr-old Tony Fisher, spittin' image of the old man. I should mention at this point that there were exactly 3 people in the entire AAC at that moment who were not working. Me, Tony Fisher and some awestruck youngster following a photog around. Can't express enough how nice it was for M to throw us this bone - he absolutely did not have to do it but he did and the LMF was repped and not all a God's chillens get repped so everybody note your thanks to M 'cause I'm sure he be peekin' in to make sure I'm not talkin' outta school or noffin'. Werd.

Which brings us nimbly to Ben and Skin. I hope you are familiar with their fine work on 1310 The Ticket. They have a Saturday Show from noon to two and do plenty of post-game talk-radio action once the season starts. Also, they have big plans for a Mav-centric TV show on channel 21 - KTXA - come January. They plan a preseason episode and an X-Mas episode to whet your appetite for their 2007 TV debut. So, get your ears on. I knew Ben and Skin when they were just lads making their way. They've gotten pretty good at what they do.

At their station they had each player take a turn reading a promo [stay tuned for the upcoming "Fun with Cardboard Dirk" segment of tonight's program] and submitting to a quick interview with Skin [we're here with a man who swam with dolphins during his off-season, Jerry Stackhouse]. Every time I got a bit lost or bored I'd wander back over to their station and observe the antics. The players enjoyed it, too.

One player that sorta surprised me was newcomer Anthony Johnson. I sorta had my radar out for this guy the whole time. When he finally showed up he seemed very demure - quiet and hesitant to join the casual vibe. When I saw him headed to Ben and Skin's station I followed on his heels. Lo and behold he turned out to be a GREAT GUY. Very warm and funny - enjoyed Ben and Skin's silly antics and stuff. I left with a good impression of the guy. Johnson is taller than I imagined he would be, too. Stackhouse made the comment that Johnson is a 94-foot guy, no quit.

Somewhere around this time Buckner and Cuban sorta bumped into each other, sorta echoing the earlier scene involving Dirk and Cuban. I got a snap of Buck and Cubes slapping backs and trading hugs ..."'



"Stackhouse said Buck is a great clubhouse guy. Buck seemed pretty happy to be back."

"Before I continue, I wanna mention a guy I met and his website. His name is John Nagle. He writes for USAVoice.org - which is some sorta red-headed stepchild to USAToday or something. I imagine you'll find his Mav coverage at this link when he gets it rolling. He participates at the Mavscentral.com website as well, of which we are not familiar, but interested. MMkay? Seems a decent sort - a pro journalist that doesn't mind us common folk. spit

Oh, and before I continue, part deux ... here's a pic of Devin Harris. Some people wondered if there might be any extra meat on his bones. The answer appeared to be no, Hell no, and no not ever so quit askin'. The boy is what the boy is..."



"That is the last pic I have. I have perhaps 25 more or so that you will eventually see. But, I gotta keep my flickr.com powder dry for now due to limited monthly uploads, so ... keep hope alive in the meantime. I'll have a few photos from tomorrows TC in Denton, too, to add to the mix someday, maybe even tomorrow. Can you tell I'm getting sleepy ... yawn. Okay, let me just get these off the top of my head ...

Avery Johnson - photo to come - very quiet, moved with purpose from station to station - let's get it over with body language. He gave me a 'pardon' when I stepped outta his way on the stairs. Looked very fit. Musta spent HOURS with a mic in his face yesterday - gads.

Del Harris - photo to come, Captain Morgan style - Del moves around every room like it's his own living room. Casual personified.

Robert Hacket - no-nonsense purposeful dude - right temperament for the job of strength coach if you ask me.

Mo Ager - WAB suggested a competitive aloofness - no, just a wanna do right attitude - ready to go - ready to please - not ready to rock the boat at all - doubt he gives in to any vet when the ball's tossed, tho.

Jose Barea - he was there - good enough for ya? [I have a few photos of the rooks]

Greg Buckner - Buck's a casual dude - he, Ben and Skin kept each other doubled over with laughter at that station - they all go way back - sounds ready to rain the 3-ball

Pat Carroll - he was there - looks like a dude that knows even if he didn't miss one shot he still wouldn't make the team - he's no Adam Harrington [for Ron, if he happens by]

Austin Croshere - thinner perhaps than I expected, easy going guy, looked like he knew the score - I believe Buck said AC brings some shooting and versatility to the mix, IIRC

Erick Dampier - seemed very cheerful and jovial - looked like he enjoyed the Ben and Skin station - looked good, looked fit and ready to go - I heard Donnie [good Donnie story to come later this week, remind me] say that Damp's been seen on site working on his game more than anybody this offseason, IIRC [somebody said that, I think it was Donnie]

Donnie Nelson - photo and short funny story to come - always looks exhausted to me - very cordial dude

DeSagana Diop - photo to come - looked fit to me - still lean and mean - had some trouble pronouncing his promos sometimes but cheerfully hung in there until he got them right - near the end of my stay he entered the gym and casually reached up to hang on to the net hanging from a side rim ... so so tall

Ndudi Ebi - tall and lean, kinda taller than I expected, but kinda not-so-lean as I expected - he disappeared quite early - might have a photo of him and some other rook-types

Devean George - photo to come - I lurked this guy mightily looking for some sign of Laker uppityness, no joy, just seemed easy going and smiley - rather pleasant dude - sported an eye-catching sparkling diamond in each ear - looked fit and trim

Devin Harris - seemed to enjoy the event - got a little show-off in him, likes to perform for the peepus

Josh Howard - disappeared early, but seemed smiley and jovial when I saw him - seems like a real decent dude

DJ Mbenga - photo to come - never heard him speak - walked by him a coupla times - he's a specimen - I imagine Amare Stoudamire is DJ MBenga with hoop know-how - if I had to relay THE recurring buzz in the gym Monday it was "look out for DJ, 'cause he's coming HARD on Damp's tail-end" - it would be spectacular if his talent ever catches up with his body

Anthony Johnson - photo to come - can't add much to what I said earlier - definitely taller than I expected is the main thing - told a quick mysterious tale of spinning around in circles at 150 mph during the off-season, hinting that we might have a drag-racing buff on our hands ... needs looking into, that

Pops - photo to come - didn't hear him speak - he disappeared pretty quick, too - at this point, conventional Mav wisdom has him making the team, right? With Ebi and maybe Pat Carroll battling for the 15th spot?

Dirk - needs work - kinda uncoordinated and slow - HUGE ego

Jet - photo to come - he was saying all the right things - you've heard his interviews, they all kinda go the same way, he's a team guy - it's funny how somebody so short on TV towers over you when you meet them

Stack - kinda no-nonsense, but when he loosened up he was pleasant and funny - swam with dolphins down in Mexico over the off-season, also hung out at home in NC lots - rocks envy Stack's bulletproof-looking cranium [don't tell him I said that]

Darius Washington - I know he was there because I remember seeing him there - at least he'll get to experience Dynamic Denton while he's in the area ..."

VERY excited about Damp. And DJ. And...Dirk? That's not the guy I know. Oh well. As long as he's not selfish on the court, not much wrong with having an ego.

__________________
"You can't do nothing to D-Wade," Rasheed Wallace said. "If you say 'boogety-boogety booh' to him, that's a foul."

StackAttack

Media Day Blog Post by Stack:

Dallas Mavericks

Posted by Jerry Stackhouse on Oct. 2, 2006 at 3:53 p.m. ET

Obviously we were disappointed after the Finals but, after a couple weeks I kind of got back to normalcy. I took a little time off with my family and went back to North Carolina. I messed around with some of the guys that’s coming in this year. They’re going to have an awesome class. It’s going to be fun to watch. I do a lot of trash talking around here about UNC. I took a vacation to Mexico, went down to Cabo St. Lucas. It’s all about enjoying it as much as you can, man. Having a short summer made the season seem like it got back here fast, but we’ll take that every time.

I’ve always been a guy that just loved to play, play, play. Even in the off-season. I had to be a little smarter with that. Still working out and doing things to keep moving, but not just take the pounding of running on the court. Knowing that I’m having long runs on teams like this, you have to kind of save yourself a little bit. I didn’t play as much pick-up as a normally play and I’m hoping that will kind of have my legs and everything feeling good pretty much throughout the course of the year.

We know the makeup of our team. We know we have a championship-caliber team and we’ve added some pieces who have championship experience and have Finals experience that maybe can help us get over that hurdle that we faced after we went up two games. For real, for real, we just feel that that team got what we was supposed to have and we’re looking to get that. We’re trying to get that, and have a little interest added on to it this year. Its been going out and setting the tone throughout the season. You gotta have intermediate goals, and our first goal is to start the season off well and to, at the end of the regular season, be the No. 1 seed because we feel that having that home-court advantage is important when it comes down to, you know, playing in the playoffs.

Devean was hurt a lot last year and I think he’s healthy now, so he has something to prove. It’s always nice to have guys that have something to prove. Ager, going the last pick in the first round, he has something to prove to all the teams that passed him over. And then there’s Anthony Johnson with his experience, I’m glad that I have another guy who is capable. He is a guy who scored 40 points in a playoff game just last postseason. So, you can never have enough weapons. Austin Croshere with his experience, playing in this league 9-to-10 years is going to be huge to be able to not have to play Dirk so many minutes during the regular season.

Dirk looks good. He spent a lot of time after the World Championship was over when he had a good time where he didn’t really do anything. He got to spend some time with his family and now he is here and we’re going to use this next month to kind of get him back to where he wants to be for when the regular season starts. Hopefully that time he has taken off over the last few weeks will give him renewed energy to start training camp.

Media Day Blog Post by JET:

Posted by Jason Terry on Oct. 2, 2006 at 4:38 p.m. ET

The Finals was a great experience but our goal was not just to get there, it’s to win it all. I think we took strides towards doing so this season. We kept our guys in tact. We had myself as a free agent. I’m locked in now. Dirk’s locked in. We have J-Ho, Devean, Jerry Stackhouse, Ghana, Big Damp – you know, the key guys that were a part of that team are back and in addition we’ve added three solid veterans that have Finals experience. Austin Croshere, Devean George, Anthony Johnson – these are guys that are quality players and we can only get better as a team.

I took some time off, you know, came back and tried something new. I’m doing a little swimming this summer and increased my endurance and my stamina. But other than that I’m a family man, so I spend a lot of time with my girls taking them out golfing, playing soccer. You know, doing the little daddy things. I split time in between Seattle, Dallas and I have a home in Atlanta also that we spend time at. But my focus every night, it was always tough to sleep knowing that we let an opportunity pass us by. But going into this season’s training camp, I’m excited.

I played with Anthony Johnson in Atlanta my first two years and the thing about the guys we brought in, everybody came in early in September and started to work out. We’ve worked out together and we’ve already bonded and that’s going to be a big help.

The championship. That is THE goal. Everyone putting on that Maverick uniform, or, even around the city, the Maverick fans, they’re ready. They know what we got to do to get it done.

__________________
"You can't do nothing to D-Wade," Rasheed Wallace said. "If you say 'boogety-boogety booh' to him, that's a foul."

StackAttack

Mike Fisher's Media Day write-up on DallasBasketball.com. I guess I'll post whatever training camp stuff that goes down in this thread as well, so if Bray or Ed or Yao could change the title to Training Camp.

Dirk Nowitzki opened this season the same way he closed the last one: By carelessly and violently destroying official team equipment. That and a skillion other assorted notes from Monday's Mavs Media Day:

# First of all, the new ball sux. It's slick, difficult to palm, features a faded-orange color, and is rumored (according to Mavs gossip) to have less "give'' when shot off the glass.

"I can't palm it,'' Jason Terry said, as he demonstrated just that. "It's too soft. It's too slick. It's like an indoor-outdoor ball. Man, I had one of those when I was 6. And I never used it, either.''

The official word from the NBA is that the new sphere "is a microfiber composite with moisture management that provides superior grip and feel throughout the course of a game."

Yeah, but did the NBA forget to ask the actually users of the actual ball what they think?

My media brother Skin gets credit for the ball-related line of the day, suggesting that maybe the NBA should continue the theme by installing chain-link nets.

# Nowitzki was chipper, his still-short hair starting to grow out, his willingness to visit with the media punctuated by him grabbing a microphone that was situated too low and pulling up on it, busting the electronic equipment.

At least it wasn't an exercise bike.

During Nowitzki's state-of-The-UberMan address, he was asked if he's tired from a short offseason (what with the NBA Finals appearance and then Germany's FIBA Worlds run).

"I'm 28, not 20,'' Dirk said as a sort of acknowledgement, "so I can't be up all night. ...''

Dirk froze, and chuckled, apparently with his own private Levitra commercial running through his head.

# You'll be happy to learn that Erick Dampier still doesn't look happy.

I mean that in the happiest way; Damp's gruff demeanor may hide a Mary Poppinsesque heart. But I eavesdropped when some ABC-TV people were asking him on-camera questions, and, well, Damp is Damp.

"Who's your current favorite player in the NBA?'' the ABC wonk asked.

Now, to this same question, other Mavs came up with something. (Convenient reply? JET said, "Dirk Nowitzki.'') But Erick pondered the question for a loooong time -- not trying to be difficult, I don't think, simply pondering -- before he finally replied.

"Um, I don't have current favorite player in the NBA,'' Dampier mumbled.

# Some of have wondered why the Mavs are bothering to travel to Denton for their four-day training camp, which commences Tuesday with two-a-days. What's the point of making the players drive 45 miles away? Will the Denton experience be a spartan one? Will players be coming back and forth to Dallas, or will they hang in Denton between workouts at, like, the mall? Or Grandy's?

The Mavs say that besides the ready availability of five courts (which should come in handy with 18 players, us bunch of media dorks, and the usual host of five dozen-or-so assistant coaches), they want camp to serve as a "bonding experience.''

So maybe the fellas will hang together at the Denton Mall, after all.

# Jason Terry performed for the cameras in the requisite arms-spread-like-an-airplane pose, told interviewers that the NBA legend he most compares his game to is Isiah Thomas (who knew?), swears that he's a terrible dancer (I somehow doubt it) and was more than willing to shill for the network by recording some sound bites.

"You're watching the NBA on NBC!'' JET squealed.

Which was good and all, but. ... the NBA is on ABC.

# FISHELLANEOUS: Almost without missing a beat, the legendary No. 44 once owned by the legendary Shawn Bradley now fits the legend-to-be Austin Croshere, who at 6-10 can't quite fill out the length but has the pigment part down pat. ... I remember Pops Mensah-Bonsu looking rather slight on TV. In person, he appears to be every bit his listed 6-9, 240. ... Free-agent rookie Juan Jose Berea might be stretching things to call himself 6-0. ... In terms of players' moods, there is no detectable hangover from having lost the NBA Finals. I say that, but at the same time, what was I expecting? A dozen Mavs 911 "depression'' phone-ins in by Kim Etheredge? ... It's early, and this is mostly likely a scary first experience for a kid, but at this point, it would be fair to say that top rookie Maurice Ager plans to let his playing do his talking. "Cooperative but reticent'' is how I would characterize Mo. ... Mark Cuban met the press featuring a nice haircut. ... The battle for Most Jovial Mav? After Day 1, DeSagana Diop and Jason Terry will get competition from new player development staffer Popeye Jones.

# Mavs President of Utopia Donnie Nelson and most other management folks left this day's stage for the players. Donnie stayed low-profile, but when he did greet media types with whom he is friendly, the exchange frequently followed the same path: A smile, a hug, and then a saluation that seemed quite fitting for the first day of a marathon NBA season.

"Here we go again!'' Donnie said, time after time.
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Really sad to hear about the new ball. Also, JET can't palm!? NOOOOOOOOO! JET dunks and the best dunks...heh, pretty funny about Dirk breaking the equipment...and I laughed out loud reading about Damp...also, the consensus about Ager? A no-talk all-business kinda guy, and I love it. His body language alone gives me a strong idea that this guy isn't settling for the D-League. But how would that work? We'd probably have the 15th man and Pops in the D-League. And DJ's not eligible for it anymore (neither is Ebi, so I hope we don't sign him, I'm a Barea guy myself). So if we stick Ager in the active lineup, someone, probably DJ, isn't going to be in the D-League or NBA rotations.

__________________
"You can't do nothing to D-Wade," Rasheed Wallace said. "If you say 'boogety-boogety booh' to him, that's a foul."

StackAttack

Mavericks wait is 'almost' over

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

For the last three months, Avery Johnson heard one word way too often.

It became so prevalent – and nagged at the Mavericks' coach so much – that he decided to turn it into a rallying cry for training camp.

"This year, I heard this one word that I hate now: almost," Johnson said Monday. "That's all I heard the whole summer – 'almost, coach.'

"We got to find a way to get that out of our system. That's our theme. How do we go from almost to all?"

From almost to all. Maybe it's not a Hollywood script. But it's a suitable game plan for the Mavericks as they begin training camp today at the University of North Texas.

On Monday, they mugged for the cameras and hyped the new season at media day. The prevailing thought is that they have unfinished business. Dirk Nowitzki and Co. can't help but feel that they lost a great opportunity when Miami crawled out of a 2-0 hole and beat the Mavericks 4-2 in the NBA Finals.

"That's the one thing that's on your mind the most," Nowitzki said. "And you never know in this league if you'll make it back again. We had a heck of a year and you learn to appreciate it more over time. But a good year is not enough. We want a great year and, hopefully, a ring."

The close call in June was the main reason owner Mark Cuban, president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson and Johnson decided not to tinker with the top seven players.

Beyond that, they added key role players: Devean George, Anthony Johnson, Austin Croshere and Greg Buckner.

As camp opens, the process of finding out who fits in as the fifth starter and who earns playing time alongside Jerry Stackhouse and Erick Dampier off the bench begins.

And, as Cuban said, getting rid of lingering feelings from last season is a crucial step in the development of this team.

"It was two weeks before I'd walk out of the house," Cuban said of how tough the summer was. "The best analogy is it's like breaking up with the girl that you dated for four or five years. Everybody that sees you asks you about her. 'How's she doing? Well, we're not together anymore.' That's exactly what it feels like."

It should help that three of their newcomers have NBA Finals experience – George, Anthony Johnson and Croshere.

"I can relate," George said. "We won three, took a year off and went back to the Finals and got beat by Detroit. Almost is hard to deal with and hard to recover [from]. But you have to push through it."

Nelson added that the feeling the Mavericks still have after falling just short last year is most certainly a motivating factor.

"You feel like you got socked in the stomach," he said. "Usually, you go through a tough loss and you don't have time to sit on it. But I have a better appreciation for what they go through in the NFL, where that thing's in your belly for a week. This thing was in our gut for three months. So we are itching to get back on that floor."

__________________
"You can't do nothing to D-Wade," Rasheed Wallace said. "If you say 'boogety-boogety booh' to him, that's a foul."

StackAttack

What-ifs still haunt Mavericks
By ART GARCIA
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

DALLAS - Almost.

The word haunts Mavericks coach Avery Johnson. Jason Terry sighs at its mere mention. No one remembers who finished second, reminded Dirk Nowitzki. Devean George wasn't even on the team last season, but he's all too familiar with the word.

It's synonymous with the Mavs of 2005-06. It's what the NBA championship runners-up are determined to change.

"How do we go from almost to all?" is Johnson's quest as training camp opens today at the University of North Texas.

The Mavs will hold two-a-day workouts the next three days, leading to a team scrimmage Friday on the Denton campus. It's the first camp away from American Airlines Center since the AAC opened in 2001.

The theme for 2006-07 is taking that final step. The Mavs won't take it, Johnson said, by skipping steps along the way.

"You don't go from Oct. 2 or 3 and think about the Finals," Johnson said Monday during media day at the AAC. "There are a lot of things that have to go right for you."

Even if they tried, the Mavs couldn't forget all that went wrong in the final four games against Miami. On vacation in the Bahamas, an overzealous Heat fan kidded Terry by calling him "D-Wade" at every turn.

Defending the Western Conference title against San Antonio and a host of improved contenders, and holding the trophy that Dwyane Wade already has is the Mavs' only objective.

"The goal is no secret: to win a championship," Terry said. "You've got to play who's on your schedule, and we're playing everybody, so it doesn't matter who's gunning for whom. Our mind-set doesn't change."

George, one of four playoff-tested veterans added to an untouched nucleus, said "almost" was hard to deal with after the Los Angeles Lakers fell to Detroit in the 2004 Finals. It didn't matter the Lakers had won three titles earlier in the decade.

Getting another shot isn't guaranteed.

"That's really the one thing that's on our mind the most," Nowitzki said. "We lost a great opportunity to win. You never know in this league if you'll ever make it again."

No-go Europe

Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns face Philadelphia in an exhibition game in Germany next week. Something about that just doesn't make sense to that country's most successful basketball export.

"For me it's not understandable to have a game in Germany and we're not there," said Dirk Nowitzki.

The Mavs won't be headed overseas anytime soon, owner Mark Cuban reiterated Monday. He said it just doesn't make financial or competitive sense.

Nowitzki hasn't given up hope of a homecoming.

"I would love to be there and represent the Mavericks in my home country," he said. "...We go to beautiful Pittsburgh this year."

The Mavs play Cleveland in Pittsburgh this preseason. Cuban is from the Pittsburgh area.

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"You can't do nothing to D-Wade," Rasheed Wallace said. "If you say 'boogety-boogety booh' to him, that's a foul."