Mavs' disappointing opener not raising flags ... yet

Donnie Nelson wasn't about to shy away. The Mavericks' general manager believes his team is better than any he's helped put together in more than a decade in Dallas.

Even better than the 2006 club that reached the Finals. Even better than the group that won 67 the following season. Even better than any of the teams that won at least 50 the last nine years.

"I'll leave the grading up to you guys," Nelson said, "but this doesn't take a backseat to any group we've had in here."

The backseat is exactly where the Mavericks want to leave their first official outing together. Opening at home Tuesday night, Dallas was shut down in the second half in an 11-point drubbing by Gilbert Arenas and the Wizards. The Mavericks looked flat-footed and one-dimensional, struggling to find scoring from anyone not of German descent.

Reading too much from one game is both futile and foolish. The Mavericks are without Josh Howard, a former All-Star who's being counted on to produce in his shift to the backcourt. Howard's absence continues to leave a hole next to Jason Kidd -- one that Quinton Ross can't fill. Shawn Marion isn't up to speed after a preseason slowed by a calf injury. Drew Gooden is supposed to add athleticism and toughness to the frontcourt, but he was ineffective in his Dallas debut.

So maybe it was one of those NBA nights where things were just a little bit off and everything was clicking for the visitors. The Wizards, though, arrived in Texas with their own issues. Playing their first game for Flip Saunders, they were sans an All-Star, Antawn Jamison, and unsure of what Arenas had to offer after missing most of the last two years. What Washington got was a vintage Agent Zero, 39 surprising points off the bench from Andray Blatche and Randy Foye, and solid defensive effort all the way around.

The Mavericks didn't sound any alarms after the final buzzer, but Rick Carlisle was disappointed by the defensive effort and lack of punch outside of Dirk Nowitzki. And even Nowitzki missed 15 of 25 shots.

"We have to play better basketball," Dallas' coach said. "We have to make more shots and be able to get the ball inside more. Get the ball penetrated more and we are going to be able to have to get stops. It is as simple at that. At this point that is kind of where we are."

One Western Conference scout at Tuesday's game was surprised by the Mavericks' lack of movement, especially at the defensive end. Arenas repeatedly gouged the Mavs with the pick-and-roll, as big men Erick Dampier and Gooden were often caught out of position. That's exactly what Nelson was hoping to avoid after the offseason makeover.

"You've got to be ready for anything in the West, and with Gooden and Damp and a little Dirk at the 5, it gives us versatility," he said. "We can play slow-down, beat-'em-up basketball. And with Marion and Josh at the 3 and 4, we can have a heck of a small-ball team. There are lineups where we can switch 1 through 5."

The lineup also includes six players with at least 10 years of NBA experience, making them older than the franchise itself. (The Mavericks have entered their 30th season in the league.) Five of the six are currently in the rotation, with 32-year-old forward Tim Thomas expected to join once he recovers from knee surgery.

Experience is one thing. Being old is something else. The Mavericks are walking that line, with or without a cane.

"I see it as a plus," Nelson countered. "I would not want to err on the other side and we're coming in too young. I would rather err on experience, because what we want to do is build off what we did last year. In our opinion we're right in the heat of it, we have a shot at this thing and you don't want to sit there in first or second round and worry about somebody getting the jitters out there. I see that as a positive, not negative."

Kidd, 36, said this team is as deep as any he's played on during his 16-year career. That may be true, but looking at the Lakers (Friday night's foe) and Spurs, the Mavericks appear a notch below in the overall talent department.

"I don't need to worry about those teams," Nelson said. "I have enough for me to handle. We feel internally really good. We had some specific areas -- we wanted to get more athletic, we wanted to get more versatile, become more of a mismatch issue for our opponents, we wanted to become a better shooting team, certainly more of a veteran, experienced team come playoff time -- and I think we've checked off some of those boxes.

"This group is as capable of any of the past successes we've had here."

Just don't judge it after one game.

Art Garcia has covered the NBA since 1999. You can e-mail him here.

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