< ><b>Mavericks Notes</b></P><><b>After easy 18 days, Mavs about to crank it up</b></P><>By Art Garcia</P><>Star-Telegram Staff Writer</P><>If it seems as if the Mavericks have been at home forever, perhaps it\'s because they just about have.</P><>After winning at Denver the day after Christmas, the Mavs have played only four games -- all at American Airlines Center. By the time the homestand ends Wednesday against Houston, the Mavs will have knocked only five games off their schedule over a span of 16 days.</P><>Throw in the off day before the homestand started and Thursday\'s travel day, and it\'s an 18-day stretch. No one is complaining.</P><>The Mavs (22-10) have won all four at home and five consecutive overall after thumping Indiana 121-101 on Saturday.</P><>\"This will be the rest time of the year,\" Mavs coach Don Nelson said. \"I\'ve never had a situation like this since I\'ve been coaching that I can remember.\"</P><>Nelson does recall a schedule that wasn\'t quite as kind. To open his first full season as Mavs coach in 1998-99, the Mavs were on the road for nine of their first 11 games. Predictably, the Mavs started slowly.</P><P>\"I\'ve only complained about the schedule that one time,\" Nelson said. \"[The league] beat us up terrible. They gave us no chance. We were going to be something like 3-12 at best. I usually take the schedule and don\'t say a thing.\"</P><P>The Mavs have used the leisurely schedule for extra practice time and better game planning. Lead assistant coach Avery Johnson has scripted practices to include scout teams, made up of reserves, running the offenses and defenses of the next opponent.</P><P>The Mavs are also taking advantage of morning practices on game days, a routine the team previously reserved for the road. It\'s been a sort of second training camp, which has proven valuable for a team with only five holdovers from last season.</P><P>\"When you have a situation like this, you pay the price,\" Nelson said. \"We already paid the price, and we will again.\"</P><P>The Mavs played more games than any other team in the NBA through the first six weeks of the season. Beginning with San Antonio on Friday, the Mavs head into the All-Star break with 18 games in 35 days. Included is a stretch of four games in five days this month.</P><P>Nelson couldn\'t help but wonder what the league would be like if every season had a \"break\" scheduled, similar to off weeks in football.</P><P>\"Wouldn\'t it be nice to have a day to go over [the opposition\'s] stuff and play? Then you would have good basketball,\" Nelson said. \"You\'d have fresher players, well-scouted teams and better games. But it\'s hard to do that and get 82 games in.\"</P><P><b>Daniels\' place</b></P><P>If it takes a month for Marquis Daniels\' sprained left ankle to heal adequately, Don Nelson is going to give him a month. And when Daniels does eventually return, he\'ll have a spot in the rotation. Now matter how crowded it is.</P><P>\"I like him on the floor if he\'s healthy,\" Nelson said. \"I\'ll figure out a way to get him there. It\'ll work out. He\'s too good not to play.\"</P><P>Had Daniels been healthy from the outset of training camp, he could have been the opening-game starter at point guard. Those plans have been scrapped for this season.</P><P>\"I like him at the point guard, but I think he\'s the utility guy this year,\" Nelson said. \"He\'s able to play all over. He and Josh [Howard] are both so flexible, they can play any number of positions.\"</P><P>It\'s been a lost season so far for Daniels, who missed his fourth straight game and fifth overall Saturday. But with more than three months and 50 regular-season games left, there is enough time to for Daniels to salvage the season.</P><P>\"He\'ll get over it,\" Nelson said. \"Those things have a tendency to heal, usually in the summertime. We\'ll give him whatever he needs to get back.\"</P><P><b>IN THE KNOW</b></P><P><b>Grueling road</b></P><P>After an 18-day stretch in which they will have played only five games -- all at home -- the Mavericks will embark on a more arduous part of their schedule. Starting Friday in San Antonio, the Mavs play 18 games in 35 days. Some highlights:</P><P>• Eleven of the 18 games are on the road.</P><P>• The Mavs will change time zones nine times.</P><P>• Four times they play on consecutive days in different cities.</P><P>• One eight-game stretch includes seven road games.</P><P>• There\'s a stretch of four games in five days.</P><P>• There\'s another stretch of four games in six days.</P><P>------------------------------------------------------------------</P><P>Come back soon, Quis!!!</P> |
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