Mavs Training Camp

[jthig32]

Well, the season is here, kind of. The first official Mavs event of '08-'09 is here, with media day this afternoon.

There should be a flood of blog posts today and articles tomorrow, so how about a central thread to throw them in?

Here's Fish's five thing to look for in camp:

Link

Starting Five
Camp Starts With A Quintet Of Questions
By Mike Fisher -- DB.com

As Mavs camp opens, DB.com examines what we believe are the five most pivotal immediate questions facing the club:

1 HOW WILL THEY HANDLE HOWARD?
We’ll give new coach Rick Carlisle the benefit of the doubt on how to handle Josh Howard on the floor; there are proven ways to utilize the erstwhile All-Star, and we look forward to chronicling the execution of those. But just as important – and more immediately – is how the organization will handle J-Ho’s psyche, his reputation and his ‘tude.
Outsiders might dismiss the importance of all this, but believe me, the braintrust is taking this very seriously. And they are starting with preparation for Monday’s Media Day, when they know Howard – after a summer of smoking, speeding, pouting and Anthem dissing – will face questions about all of it. As you read this, Mavs management is guiding Howard as to how to answer a firing squad of questions. And if they (and he) are wise, they will do so Monday. Furthermore, unless he comes across like Palin talking with Couric, this can all go away.
This can be temporarily painful; face his questions once, and forevermore, he can respond to further inquiries with a simple, “I’ve already addressed that and am ready to move on.’’ Or, J-Ho can attempt to avoid the questions (which will cause a country full of Pulitzer hopefuls to come out of the woodwork) and even exhibit irritation and anger (two of his least admirable character traits) and this can be Leon-Lett-level painful.
It’s up to the organization. And it’s up to Josh.



2 WHO ARE THE OTHER TWO STARTERS?
“Our strength,’’ Carlisle says, “is obviously going to be our trio of top players with Dirk, Jason Kidd and Josh.’’
To which we respond: No spit, Sherlock.
“And,’’ continues the coach, “I'd also put Jason Terry and Stackhouse into that mix because those are veteran guys who have been through the wars. I expect those guys to play big for us. … (and) our center position is terrific.’’
Oh. Now we’re getting somewhere.
One-through-three isn’t in doubt. But there is in-house debate over which center, Erick Dampier or DeSagana Diop, is better suited to be the starter. And there will be a crazy scramble for burn at the 2 guard, where vets Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse will try to hold off kids Antoine Wright and Gerald Green.
First, the center issue: Up until that fateful 2007 first-round playoff series against Golden State, former coach Avery Johnson actually juggled the two big guys pretty well. Dallas’ lineup – especially the one that topped San Antonio in 2006’s playoffs and advanced to the Finals – boasted a traditional look. For two seasons, Damp played around 25 mpg and Diop around 18.
The strategy at the position went haywire. First came playoff SmallBall in Spring ‘07. Then at last season’s training camp the coach demanded that his offensively challenged centers shoot more. Then Brandon Bass, not quite 6-8, played some center. Then Dirk Nowitzki was used there out of desperation instead of as a secret weapon. After starting the season by giving Diop 30-or-so minutes in games, Avery conjured up a late-December stretch during which he doghoused the center by giving him 10 or fewer in five straight games. Then the team traded Diop. And in the end, some hopes were even hung on a bunch of guys named Jamaal and Malik.
Before the Mavs re-acquired Diop, they spoke privately of projecting him as the starter. They open camp giving him no assurances of that job. Maybe it’s more button-pushing and more carrot-on-a-sticking. As we’ve said many times before, if Dallas has two centers playing at an acceptable level, they are way ahead of most of the rest of the center-starved NBA.
Now, the 2-guard issue: The Mavs have had in-house discussions of how other teams have handled starting backcourts that, like a possible Kidd-Terry pairing, offer some unorthodox strengths and weaknesses. One in particular: what the Sixers once did with Allen Iverson and Eric Snow, where neither player offered great size but still meshed together in a dynamic way. Terry lacks the size to fit as an ideal 2 and Kidd lacks the shooting ability to be the all-around threat of some of his contemporaries at the 1. However, that tandem would help Dallas speed and control the pace. Terry, the second-most deadly jumpshooter on the team behind Dirk, would be able to spot up and await pinpoint feeds from Kidd. The duo could work inside-out, with Terry setting up Kidd as a post player. And defensively? Well, there might be some problems there.
But so would there be with Jerry Stackhouse getting extended first-team minutes. Last year, the demands on the soon-to-be 34-year-old Stack were simply too great; not only did he play 24 minutes per, but he was even asked to take turns guarding the likes of Kobe Bryant.
One team source tells DB.com: “Whatever his spot in the rotation, Stack needs to be a 15-minutes guy. Anything more than that and it means there’s a failure to develop a better answer.’’
That’s not a dig at Stackhouse, who once played for Carlisle in Detroit 2001-02 and was a full-time starter while averaging 35 minutes and 21 points. It’s simply an attempt to move forward and away from reliance on 2-guards in their 30’s who are likely to experience a personal decline. … and a hope that the Mavs’ record isn’t tethered to that decline.
All of this, says Carlisle, is “why you have training camp, to figure those things out.’’



3 DOLLARS AND SENSE WITH JASON KIDD
We’ve expressed our concerns regarding J-Kidd’s usual handling of contract dealings; he can be a passive/aggressive pain in the ass. Now, we turn to staffer David Lord (truly a genius when it comes to the NBA salary cap) to make some sense of it all:
Does Jason Kidd want an extension? of course. But I would say he obviously would not want an extension at this point, given his current market value based on his most recent play. So while the Mavs are completely justified in holding back from offering anything to the 35-year-old point guard, Kidd himself has no reason to push for an extension, either. Yet.
It is true that he grumbled his way out of NJ. But, heck, they re-upped Vince Carter for 60M or so and it'd been Kidd doing the heavy lifting there. So I can argue: Why shouldn't he have expected an extension in that context?


Anyway, now it's a new place, a new team and a new dynamic. And there is a strategy that I certainly hope is in place: This year, reward Kidd with a one-year extension. That leaves the Mavs plenty of room in the summer of 2010 to make a major free-agency splash for the end of the Dirk Era or to re-up Kidd, whichever makes most sense at the time. Such a plan would require Kidd’s side to be reasonable. And such a plan would require Dallas management to be prudent, something it has sometimes failed to do in its excitement to spent, desire to win and willingness to overpay based on loyalty, promise or fondness.
Meanwhile, the Mavs truly believe in what Kidd will do on the floor.
“He’ll be ready," Carlisle said. "He was an All-Star last year and he’s going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Look, he’ll be ready. I have a three-word answer: He’ll be ready.’’



4 CAN CARLISLE GET THE MOST OUT OF THE UBERMAN?
What a wonderful handling of a Dirk interview by our friend Eddie Sefko of the DMNews. His pre-camp stories on Nowitzki are absolutely loaded with German gold. The nut graph:
“I had a good time with Avery," Nowitzki said. “But sometimes I wish we had communicated a little more. We all know Avery ran a little dictatorship here. I think this league is still a league of players, not a coaches league.’’
This is in many ways a revelatory quote. It speaks to Dirk as a get-along guy, but also as somebody who recognizes that he feels most comfortable when he is supervised with some warmth. He’s got a subtle sense of humor; could ‘The Little Dictator’ implications be more obvious? Most of all, though, this quote – typical of Nowitzki, a hammer wrapped in velvet – speaks to whose team this is.
It’s not the “coaches team.’’ It’s the “players’ team.’’ It’s Dirk’s team.
Carlisle has coached the likes of Ben Wallace, Chauncey Billups, Reggie Miller, Ron Artest and Jermaine O’Neal. All superstar types, but all very much different. Maybe that says something about the sort of versatility Carlisle is capable of exhibiting as a coach – which we assume we’ll see when the much-ballyhooed “new playbook’’ is put into action.
The “new playbook’’ should feature much of the established “Mavs Way’’ book authored by Del Harris, and it should feature a “Carlisle’s Greatest Hits,’’ too. But most of all, it damn well better have been tailored to what the roster members do best. … and especially to what Nowitzki does best.

5 HAS THE BAR OF EXPECTATIONS BEEN LOWERED?
The inability to win close games. A 16-13 record with Kidd. Being completely outclassed in a first-round playoff series with New Orleans.
There are reasons to have doubts.
On the other hand. …
“With what we've been through – all the core guys have been through a disappointing time – we're looking for some excitement,’’ says Jason Terry, “and to go out and prove a point.’’
This club now features a host of “something-to-prove’’ people: Carlisle, bumped from the coaching ranks a year ago. Dirk, who admits he’s still haunted by having an MVP trophy tainted by a pair of first-round ousters. Kidd, dealing with questions about how a younger generation of point guards has passed him by. Jerry Stackhouse, a possible has-been. Gerald Green, a possible never-was. And of course, maybe most of all, Josh Howard.
To their credit, Mavs leaders are saying all the properly upbeat things.
Says Carlisle of win-loss goals: “I have never put a number on any of that stuff. Maybe you're setting the bar too low. You never know. So for us, it's going to be about competing at a championship level and at the highest possible level and competing our best. If we do that, then the number of wins will take care of itself.’’
Says Terry of adopting the right approach: “You can't go into the season if you feel like, ‘Aw, we don't have a shot.’ You've got to stay positive.’’
And finally, says Dirk of Dallas’ long-standing status as contenders: “I still see us right up there with everybody else.’’