[Kante]

Will be aired on NBA TV.

There was a welcomed sight at the Mavericks’ Monday morning shootaround.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle rejoined his troops after staying behind in Dallas while the team journeyed to Indian Wells, Calif. without him Saturday for a preseason battle against the Phoenix Suns. Carlisle was resting comfortably after fainting during the team’s Friday practice, forcing the head coach to watch on TV as his team scratched and clawed before eventually falling, 98-90.

The coach says that he feels much better now and will definitely be on the sideline Monday night when the Mavs take on the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“I’m feeling great,” Carlisle said. “I got a little lightheaded and fainted. And between Friday afternoon and today I’ve gotten about 300 text messages and a bunch of emails. There’s a lot of people that have stories about fainting, and evidently it’s more common than we think. And so, I just got to drink more water, make sure I’m more hydrated and go from there.

“The thing that was most disappointing was when I got home on Friday, my daughter said, ‘Daddy, are you OK?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’m fine.’ She goes, ‘Well, when Mommy went to go see you, I had to cancel my play-date.’ So I felt worse about that than fainting during practice.”

While Carlisle points out that he has no history of fainting, he does intend on making sure that the first time is the last time as well. Now that he’s back to work, the coach would like to correct the things that he saw and couldn’t adjust while watching his team play on national TV.

“We played a mediocre game. And we need to pick things up right about now. We’re going to be at full strength tonight…We’re looking to play better,” Carlisle said. “We’ve got to step it up tonight and regain momentum.

“There was some good things for me watching it from afar. You gain a kind of overall picture of the areas that we need to do better in and we will.”

The Mavs (1-2) will get their first chance to play better back on the American Airlines Center floor against the Cavaliers, who have gone 2-1 in their first exhibition season without the departing two-time MVP LeBron James.

“They’re a different team, but they’re playing a persistent style of basketball,” Carlisle said of the squad on the other side of the floor. “They’re quick, athletic, they stay after it. And so, you’ve got to play. They’ve got some hungry guys and they’ve got a lot of guys on that team that feel like they have a lot to prove without LeBron…It’s not a team you can take lightly by any stretch.”

The Mavericks will not take the Cavailers lightly when the two teams meet up Monday night. The Cavaliers-Mavericks game will tip off at 7:30 p.m. CT. For ticket information, visit Mavs.com or call (214) 747-MAVS (6287). The game will air locally on TXA 21 and nationally on NBA TV.

http://www.mavsfastbreak.com/2010/10...avaliers-mavs/