Arriving at the Mavs first official practice today one could easily assume that this team never won a title. A small group of media people that were all locally based, no ESPN talking heads, and only 10 basketball players made what should be a huge moment for a franchise with it's first Championship seem normal. Other than Shawn Marion's choice of hair color, the most eye catching issue were the players in attendance. Or the lack of players in attendance. During Coach Carlisle's q and a we learned that Brandon Hayward would be the starting center for the reigning champs. Sounds good on the surface until you realize that Tyson Chandler, the best center in Mavs history, is not on this team. He joins the NY Knicks frontcourt that Jason Kidd pointed out is the same the frontcourt that qualified the USA for the Olympics. Ian Mahinmi will be Hayward's back up for now. J.J. Barea, Deshawn Stevenson, Brian Cardinal, Caron Butler and Peja were all missing as well. So much for the deepest team in terms of talent in the league.
Now a team that many thought was one of the oldest in the NBA will have to rely on their youngest players to repeat. A soon as practice was over, the only players that stayed behind for position work were Dominique Jones, Robrique Beaubois, Ian Mahinmi, Cory Brewer, and newest Mav Brandan Wright. Wright worked specifically with Coach Carlisle. The veterans had all the right answers to the missing teammate questions. After all, if you have been in the league for more than 5 years your pretty much numb to trades and free agency moves. The young Mavs know that the weight is on their shoulders. The biggest question is who will start at the 2 position. Carlisle made it clear that Terry will continue to be the 6th man. Most believe that Dominque Jones or Roddy Beaubois will split that time once occupied by Deshawn Stevenson. Talking with Jason Kidd, heading into his 18th season, he thinks that by definition of the position that Jones is more of a 1 and Roddy a 2. Mark Cuban has several moves to make to fill out this roster and only 16 days until tip-off at home against their only true rival, the Miami Heat.
Today the Dallas Mavericks meet President Obama at the White House. Dirk took to twitter to expresses his thoughts on his missing championship teammates.
