Mavstoberfest Gives Fans View Of New-Look Mavericks
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DALLAS – Since watching the Dallas Mavericks’ one-year title reign end with a first-round playoff sweep in May, the Dallas fans had yet to see their new-look team hit the hardwood.
That all changed Saturday night as the Mavericks hosted their first annual “Mavstoberfest” event and open scrimmage with about 3,000 fans in attendance at the American Airlines Center.
Splitting in half for an intrasquad squad – with a white team and a blue team – the Mavs looked to showcase their eight newcomers while playing one 12-minute quarter. Meanwhile, 11-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki shook off the right knee effusion injury that forced him out of the team’s 99-85 exhibition loss to F.C. Barcelona Regal on Tuesday, leading the White squad alongside center Chris Kaman against big man Elton Brand, eight-time All-Star Vince Carter and the Blue team.
But while the Blue team would finish the quarter of play with a 33-27 victory, the final score wasn’t as important as introducing the new-look lineup to the hometown fans, as the Mavericks began erasing last season’s crashing end.
“I thought it was pretty good for this kind of a scrimmage,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said after seeing his team compete against itself. “You know, we had a good practice beforehand and we’ve just gotta work on getting better every day, getting
acclimated with each other, getting the new guys integrated and so on and so forth. … The thing that I’m liking is that we’re getting a little more accustom to how to play a flow game with a new group of guys. It’s a daily challenge for us.”
“We put [last year] in the past. It’s pretty much a whole new team. Half the team, pretty much,” backup big man Brandan Wright added after showcasing his above-the-rim abilities with an impressive showing Saturday night while playing with a strained quad suffered on Day 2 of training camp. “We’re not even thinking about last year anymore. We’re excited to get this year started.”
Sitting out the scrimmage were fourth-year guard Rodrigue Beaubois (sprained left ankle) and off-season addition O.J. Mayo, who was held out of the event after a fall down a flight of stairs left him with a heavily-bandaged right hand and a cut on his shooting hand.
Mayo is expected to practice with the team on Sunday, however, as the Mavs prep for Monday night’s preseason contest against the Houston Rockets. And after splitting two exhibition games overseas, the Mavericks will try to again dazzle their fans, this time for four quarters, in their home preseason opener.
“We’re taking incremental baby steps, which is natural,” Carlisle said of his team,” but we’ve gotta keep pushing to get better and better.”
