Jerome Miron-US PRESSWIRE
The Dallas Mavericks went into Berlin and the one person who everyone had their eyes on is the German celebrity, Dirk Nowitzki. However, not much came out of this game that Mavs fans could see. This was a very contested game between these two.
Nowitzki only scored 8 points and Darren Collison, Vince Carter and Chris Kaman all scored 14 points each which lead the team in scoring. Alba came into this game with a purpose and of they showed it. This is an European team playing against a NBA Team and I am sure to a team from overseas it’s a big deal. They kept it close for pretty much the entire game. Alba Berlin actually lead after the first quarter, but the Mavericks ended up with the victory 89-84. Although, the Mavericks did come into this game a little sloppy. They turned the ball over 27 times which caused Alba to score 20 points off those turnovers.
“We obviously have a lot work to do,” Coach Rick Carlisle said, “We had 27 turnovers and if you’re a NBA team the things you have a chance for anything that is an unacceptable number.”
The Mavericks will work on their turnovers throughout these playoffs, but the one thing that they may need to be concern about is that Rodrigue Beaubois went down during late in the 3rd quarter and did not return to the game.
“Sprained ankle is what I understand. I do not know the severity of it. We will see how he’s doing and update everybody probably in two days,” Carlisle said, “the hope is it’s not serious obviously”
The way Beaubois went down and the way he was acting it could be another set back for the young guard. He has a history with that left foot. In August of 2010 he broke his left foot which left him sideline for more than half of the 2010-11 season. In June of 2011 he had surgery on that left foot again. Although they are just saying that it’s only an ankle sprain it would not surprise me come Monday if the team announces it’s something more than just a sprain ankle because the way he landed it looked more than just an ankle sprain.
If Beaubois is out for awhile then it may be time for the Mavericks to depart with young Roddy B. This is the 3rd time that his left foot/ankle has been injured and could be a problem down the road. Even though they have not really seen what he could do for them for an entire season and it has not really hurt them much during the past three season he has been with the team; it will still be a problem since the Mavs will have another season where they cannot see what he could do for a whole season.
If it is just a sprain then the Mavericks will still need to keep an eye on that foot/ankle and get it treat it right. If Beaubois keeps becoming a problem with injuries then the Mavs will just have to depart with him and move on. There is no need to keep him on the team year after year if he is going to keep injuring that same foot. There is obviously some type of problem that he has with that foot ever since breaking it the first time and it may never heal the right way making it a weak spot on him where it will cause more damage in the near future.
However, if Roddy B is not here for the pre-season due to his injury then it will hurt him more since the new guys O.J. Mayo and Collison will have more minutes to show Coach Carlisle what they can do throughout this pre-season. Mayo scored 8 points tonight to go along with 4 assits, 3 rebounds and 2 steals in 26 minutes on the court. Collison scored 14 points, 9 assists and 2 steals in tonight’s game in 35 minutes of play. It may not mean much now, but these are the two that could possibly be the future of the Mavs after Dirk Nowitzki calls it quits. Keep watching these pre-season games and you will start to see the chemistry that these two will have and it will play a big part during the regular season.
Like I said it’s only the first pre-season game of the season and there is still lots of work that the Mavs need to work on, but in the end it should show up a little when the regular season tips off in less than a month. For now it’s off to Spain to take on FC Barcelona Regal Tuesday night then they will head back home to face familiar teams in their own league.
