Roddy details his injury and the future

(This is the first in a periodic look at key topics
involving the Mavericks leading up to training camp Sept. 28)
 
Roddy Beaubois was doing his best Lance Armstrong on
Thursday in the Mavericks’ locker room, pedaling the stationary bike up
and down imaginary hills.
 
That and weightlifting is about all he can do. He still
wears a protective walking boot on his left foot, which needed a pin inserted
in it to stabilize a broken bone near the outside of the foot suffered in early
August.
 
At least he’s not on crutches anymore.
 
Now, he’s getting primed for what the Mavericks
hope/expect to be a breakout season for the second-year guard. He took some
time to detail what his off-season was like, starting with the injury that
happened when he was working out with the French national team in preparations
for the World Championships.
 
“I was feeling a little pain for a couple days, but
they X-rayed it and didn’t see anything,’’ Beaubois said. “I
couldn’t feel it every time, so I thought maybe it’s nothing. Sometimes
I’d feel it for a couple of minutes. But I’d come back and it would
be good. Then, one day, whoa, it just broke. When it broke, I knew it. I knew
it was something bad.’’
 
Beaubois said he’s hopeful to be ready to go by the
start of the regular season on Oct. 27.
 
Beaubois, meanwhile, said he hopes to be back with the French
team next summer as they try to qualify for the 2012 Olympics.
 
As for this season, he’s excited about the
possibilities as he continues to try to master the point guard position. And he
likes the way the Mavericks are put together.
 
“It’s a learning process,’’ he said.
“Sometimes, (in the summer league) I was like, Damn, what’s that?
The last two years I’ve played two, so it’s a different position.
 
“We got a good team. But last year we had a pretty
good team and we finished in a bad way. We just have to work hard again.’’
 
Beaubois also mentioned that the situation in Game 6 against
San Antonio, in which he was having a terrific game but sat on the bench for
most of the decisive fourth quarter, is long gone.
 
“It’s some tough choices for coach,’’
he said. “If we had won, it would have been great. It’s just a
coach’s decision. I just need to be ready when they call my name. For
sure it was difficult. It was a very important game and we lost it. It was
tough. I was feeling great. But it’s all good. That was last year.
I’m focused on this year.’’