Full-Court Press

Nowitzki didn't feel well early during free agency

DALLAS -- Dirk Nowitzki wasn’t exactly feeling well after the first week of this past summer’s NBA free agency.

The Mavs had high hopes of landing The Colony’s Deron Williams – a top-flight free agent point guard with the Brooklyn Nets. But instead of coming to the Mavs, Williams broke the Mavs’ hearts when he tweeted that he was re-signing with the Nets.

From there, it appears as though the Mavs couldn’t get anyone of substance to take their free agent dollars. To make matters worst, free agent point guard Jason Kidd told the Mavs he was going to re-sign with them, but then surprisingly changed his mind and decided to sign with the New York Knicks.

About the same time, Jason Terry couldn’t convince the Mavs to re-sign him, so he took his talents to the Boston Celtics, leaving Nowitzki to ponder the seemingly dire circumstances he was now in.

“I was pretty obviously disappointed the way July started,’’ Nowitzki said during Friday’s Media Day. “First, Deron didn’t come and then J-Kidd and Jet left -- obviously two warriors that went through a lot of stuff with me.

“We won the championship together, and so they were like brothers to me.’’

Nowitzki likes the way the Mavs rebounded this summer when they acquired Chris Kaman, Darren Collison, OJ Mayo, Elton Brand and Dahntay Jones. Still, he already misses Kidd and Terry.

 “It was tough to see those two guys go somewhere else,’’ Nowitzki said. “It’s going to be weird to see them in a different uniform, for sure.’’

-- Dwain Price

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Carlisle prefers the longer training camp

DALLAS -- There’s a huge difference between the start of training camp last year and this year.

And that suits Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle just fine.

Before the lockout shorten the 2011-‘12 season to 66 games, NBA teams went through just 16 days of training camp. But this year with a new collective bargaining agreement in place for its first full season, the Mavs will have 31 days of training camp before opening the season against the Lakers
in Los Angeles on Oct. 30.

Obviously, coach Rick Carlisle likes the longer training camp better. And since the Mavs play preseason games Oct. 6 in Germany and Oct. 9 in Spain, the NBA let them start training camp three days earlier than the majority of the other teams.

“We had an eight-day training camp last year and this year we have 31,’’ Carlisle said Friday during Media Day. “One of the by-products of playing one of the European teams is you get to
travel and those sorts of things.

“We’ll have 31 days together before opening night in LA. The other teams start on Tuesday. It’s a big advantage compared to last year.’’

Training camps opened last year on Dec. 9 with the Mavs opening the regular season with a Dec. 25 home game against the Miami Heat.

-- Dwain Price

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Marriage obviously agrees with Nowitzki

DALLAS -- Since he went through marriage ceremonies this summer more times than the average man, marriage obviously agrees with Dirk Nowitzki.

The Dallas Mavericks perennial All-Star exchanged wedding vows with Jessica Olsson during ceremonies in the Carribean. He also had wedding ceremonies in his wife’s home country of Africa and in his home country of Germany.

“It was a busy summer, for sure,’’ Nowitzki said Friday. “I kind of opened up a new chapter in my life, so that was fun.

“I traveled around a bunch and got married like four times, I think. It was good times.’’

When someone asked Nowitzki if he married the same woman all those times, Nowitzki laughed said, “Yeah.’’

Indeed, Nowitzki had fun with his marriage with the media Friday during Media Day. Especially since when the blessed event hit the Internet over the summer, Mavs officials kept denying he was married.

“After the fourth wedding I’m like I’m out of here for about a month,’’ Nowitzki said. “So I left for four weeks and I just got back.

“But things are great. I’m looking forward to married life for a long time.’’

-- Dwain Price

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Carlisle believes Mavs have a shot at the NBA title

DALLAS -– No one has to tell Rick Carlisle that no one is looking at his Dallas
Mavericks squad and thinking NBA championship.

Then again, Carlisle could care less what prognosticators think about his team. He knows the Mavs won 57 games and were the Western Conference’s No. 3 when they won the NBA title in 2011.

That gives Carlisle hope that the revamped Mavs have what it takes to win the whole thing again this season.

“We won the championship as kind of what in football and baseball would be viewed as a wild card type team,’’ Carlisle said. “We were on the radar, but we weren’t prominently on the radar.

“You look at the last two Super Bowl winners (Green Bay Packers and New York Giants) -- both wild card teams. Last year the (St. Louis) Cardinals won the World Series -- wild card team.’’

While the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder, Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs may be considered one of the five teams with the greatest chances of winning this year’s NBA championship, Carlisle sees a growing trend in sports that he likes.

“There’s more and more parity in sports and I think that’s something that’s going to continue to work its way into the NBA game with the new CBA (collective bargaining agreement),’’ Carlisle said. “Coming into this we feel like we’re in that handful of teams that’s got a shot, and we’re going to approach it that way.’’

-- Dwain Price

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Three players added to Mavs' training camp roster

DALLAS -- The Dallas Mavericks added three players to their training camp roster on Thursday, running their training camp roster to 18.

They include center DJ Mbenga and guards Josh Akognon and Tu Holloway.

Mbenga previously played for the Mavs, Golden State, the Los Angeles Lakers and New Orleans. The Mavs originally signed the 7-foot, 240-pounder to a rookie free agent contract on July 14, 2004, but waived him on Oct. 30, 2007.

Meanwhile, Akognon (5-11, 185) played for Cal-State Fullerton and was the Big West Conference Player of the Year during the 2008-’09 season when he averaged 23.9 points.

The 6-foot, 190-pound Holloway was the Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year last season when after averaging 19.7 points and 5.4 assists for Xavier.

The Mavs have their Media Day on Friday at 1 p.m, then open training camp on Saturday with two-a-day practices.

-- Dwain Price

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@dwainprice

James likes the Mavs' locker room

 DALLAS -– He may only be a rookie, but Bernard James knows a snazzy NBA locker room
when he sees it.

And the Dallas Mavericks’ center put his team’s locker room among the best the NBA has to offer.

“This is actually one of the better designed locker rooms that I’ve
been in,’’ James said. “I worked out for 14 teams (prior to the June 28 NBA Draft),
so I got to see 14 of them.

“I like this setup more than all the other ones that I’ve seen.’’

A PlayStation 3 and flat-screen TV are among the amenities in each of the Mavs players’ locker. The overall locker room also is very spacious.

-- Dwain Price

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Mavs host neat workshop for over 200 women

DALLAS -- On Monday, the Dallas Mavericks got to know a little bit more about some of their fans.

The Mavs hosted a workshop -- named Basketball 101 -- at American Airlines Center for over 200 women. And by all accounts, the workshop was a smashing success.

"This is a cross section of our fans,'' general manager Donnie Nelson said. "It’s the Al- American moms,
grandmas and daughters.

"It's really a cool mother-daughter opportunity and event to come and to get kind of see the secrets that you normally don’t see. They see the locker room, the practice court, and the war room
and such.''

The women were sent to eight different stations and spent eight minutes at each station. Nelson spoke about the franchise, coach Rick Carlisle talked about his team, assistant coach Monte Mathis lectured the women on defense, and assistant coach Jim O'Brien discussed offensive strategies.

Also, player development coach Tony Brown discussed the insights of his job, while guard Dahntay Jones and rookie center Bernard James shared their expertise while in the Mavs' locker room. In addition, head athletic trainer Casey Smith and assistant trainer Dionne Calhoun shared two stations -- one on the weight room and another concerning strength and conditioning.

Amanda Billings, a 29-year old nurse from Dallas, attended her sixth Mavs' workshop Monday. And she's getting more knowledgable with each trip.

"We just love coming here because it’s always so much fun and they teach a lot,'' Billings said. "In the past they had referee stations and they always gave us inside tips about it's not always about what you see.

"Everyone was like why do certain players not get calls and some players do? And they were like people want to see a good game, and if you’re a big man we’re not always going to call every little thing on them.''

Billings was delighted to meet Casey, who has won two gold medals while being on the medical staff for the USA during the past two Olympics.

"He’s fantastic and he knows so much, and it’s real cool since he was the trainer for the Olympic team,'' Billings said. "I’m a nurse and I told him if you ever need a nurse I’m more than
happy to come help you out. He’s a really cool guy.''

The Mavs have held one of these workshops for 12 years. And Nelson has attended all 12.

"It's unique, especially for us, because we don’t have a chance to really bond like this a lot,'' Nelson said. "We live in a little bubble where the fans are up there.

"We have a chance to engage in 200 women, and its been neat.''

-- Dwain Price

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Mavs open training camp with two-a-days on Saturday

DALLAS -- After being swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs last season, the action will be back at American Airlines Center this weekend for the Dallas Mavericks.

The Mavs will host Media Day on Friday, then open practice on Saturday with two sessions. That'll be followed by one practice Sunday, two on Oct. 1 and one on Oct. 2.

Coach Rick Carlisle's team will leave for Europe on Oct. 3 and return on Oct. 10 after playing preseason games in Germany and Spain.

The Mavs were 36-30 during last year's lockout-shortened season and endured an overhaul during the offseason that included the losses of Jason Kidd, Jason Terry and Brendan Haywood.

-- Dwain Price

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@dwainprice

Cuban said Nowitzki will come back stronger

 DALLAS -– All the new changes the Dallas Mavericks made during the offseason doesn’t
faze forward Dirk Nowitzki.

At least that’s what owner Mark Cuban is saying.

Fifteen months removed from winning their first NBA championship, the Mavs will go into this season with eight new players. Will the changes affect Nowitzki, the Mavs’ superstar who turned 34 this past June?

“I just think Dirk is going to come back stronger, ready to play, ready to prove something,’’ Cuban said Monday. “He is going to love the circumstances because last year -- year before even -- you didn’t have to guard us.

“You just had to cover Dirk, keep Jet (Jason Terry) from hitting an open jumper, DeShawn (Stevenson) and (Shawn) Marion from hitting an open three.  Now opponents will have to guard everybody.''

-- Dwain Price

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Carlisle not worried about Mayo replacing Terry's scoring load

DALLAS -– Rick Carlisle isn’t worried if O.J. Mayo will be able to fill the scoring load left vacated when the Dallas Mavericks lost Jason Terry earlier this summer to the Boston Celtics via free agency.

In 31.7 minutes per game last year for the Mavs, Terry averaged 15.1 points and shot 43 percent from the field and 37.8 percent from three-point range. In 26.8 minutes per game last year for the Memphis Grizzlies, Mayo averaged 12.6 points and shot 40.8 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from three-point territory.

Carlisle – the Mavs’ coach – knows Mayo has the ability to put the ball in the hole.

“O.J. is going to score,’’ Carlisle said during a Monday afternoon press conference at American
Airlines Center. “His game is not going to look exactly like Jet’s.

“He’ll be able to do some of the things Jet did and he’ll be able to do some things differently that Jet didn’t do. Above all we’re going to need him to be a consistent defender.’’

Owner Mark Cuban also believes Mayo will be able to supply the Mavs the scoring punch they got from Terry.

“I think (Mayo) can be a star,’’ Cuban said. “I think O.J. know that this is his next break as far as who he is really going to be in this league, and coach will give him the opportunity and we’ll see what happens.’’

-- Dwain Price

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@dwainprice