http://www.star-telegram.com/287/story/269564.html
Mavs will not feel right until Dampier is healthy
DALLAS -- Erick Dampier grows weary of criticism that the center position's lack of scoring punch is the Mavericks' weak link.
"It's very unwarranted. It looks like we're not doing anything out there, but you take us away and who's going to get the rebounds? Who's going to play defense? Who's going to block?" Dampier said about the tasks he and fellow center DeSagana Diop undertake on a nightly basis.
"I've come a long way offensively, so if I'm out there doing all the dirty work, I at least want to get the opportunity to score, too, just like anybody else."
The 6-foot-11, 265-pound Dampier won't be doing much of anything for another month or more. He continues to rehabilitate from shoulder surgery in June that repaired a tear in his right rotator cuff.
He'll be with the team in Las Cruces, N.M., for tonight's preseason game against the Kings and Thursday in Houston. He's only along, however, for the camaraderie.
Dampier suffered the injury late in the regular season, but he never let on publicly that he was playing with significant pain.
He averaged only 7.4 minutes in the playoff series against Golden State, a situation deemed as a strategic move by coach Avery Johnson to counter the Warriors' small lineup, just as Johnson did the season before in the playoff series against the Suns.
On Monday, Johnson said the injury was why Dampier didn't play.
"It's definitely a lot better now," said Dampier, who's still not cleared for contact drills. "It's just a matter of getting stronger and getting out there on the floor, pushing guys, pulling on it and seeing how it responds."
Since the Mavs traded for Dampier before the 2004-05 season and locked him into a seven-year, $73 million contract, the stoic figure has often been a source of aggravation for Mavs fans who wonder why he can't do more.
"Can I get 10 to 12 points? Yes I can," Dampier said. "How many opportunities am I going to get to get those 10 or 12 points? That's what it basically comes down to."
The season prior to joining the Mavs, Dampier put up career numbers, 12.3 points and 12.0 rebounds. But his output with the offensively loaded Mavs -- averages of 7.1 points and 7.9 rebounds over three seasons -- more closely resembles his career marks over 11 NBA seasons.
"He doesn't have to change who he is," said Johnson, who was instrumental in the Mavs trading for Dampier. "He's pretty good for us. He's been a little inconsistent, like everybody. More than anything, Damp sets the best screens in the NBA; we have a stat that tracks that. Damp is, per minute, one of the better offensive rebounders, if not the best."
The Mavs might not draw up many plays for Dampier, but they're about to find out just how valuable he is when they play perhaps the first two months of the season without him.
"When he's dominant, we're a different animal," Dirk Nowitzki said. "Hopefully we'll get his shoulder right, get him in good shape, so as we head down the end of the season he'll be the animal we know he can be."
Who's No. 1 at the 2?
Avery Johnson continues to play it coy about who'll start at shooting guard -- Jerry Stackhouse, Jason Terry, Trenton Hassell or Eddie Jones.
"I have my No. 1 option that I hope it can work with this guy there," Johnson said. "If it doesn't, then we have a Plan B."
Briefly
Avery Johnson is no stranger to New Mexico. He played his first collegiate season at New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs in 1983.
Devean George's injured foot will be evaluated Thursday. He doesn't expect to play in the preseason, and the Oct. 31 opener is uncertain.
DJ Mbenga made his first road trip as he works back from knee surgery. Avery Johnson said Mbenga likely won't play tonight, but could play Thursday at Houston.
Center/forward Jamal Sampson's chances of making the team might have taken a hit. A sprained left ankle will keep him home.
Mavs will not feel right until Dampier is healthy
That's just wrong.
that's okay, with Pierce and Kobe, white boy can be the sixth man.
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