Practice Report (01/08/12)

Earl K. Sneed reports from the Mavericks' Sunday practice where the team looked to improve without injured point guard Jason Kidd before heading to the nation's capital to meet the president.

DALLAS — Before accompanying his team to the White House to meet President Barack Obama in celebration of last season’s champion run, Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle monitored the squad’s Sunday practice very closely.

Sunday was originally scheduled as an off day before the defending champs learned they would leave Dallas a day early thanks to a detour to the nation’s capital en route to Detroit for Tuesday night’s matchup with the Pistons. And with a practice dedicated to correcting Carlisle’s dislikes following a 96-81 home win over a lowly New Orleans team the night prior, the coach concentrated on fine-tuning things before he and his veteran-laden roster headed to D.C.

“This was good and we’ve got to get right. These are gonna be two tough games,” Carlisle said while looking ahead to the two-game road trip and back-to-back in Detroit and Boston.

More importantly, the coach utilized Sunday’s practice to make adjustments after seeing the team play its first contest without future Hall of Fame point guard Jason Kidd in the first unit.

Injuring his lower back while boxing out San Antonio big man DeJuan Blair during the first quarter of a 93-71 road loss Thursday night, Kidd has missed the Mavs’ last seven quarters of play. He is expected to miss at least a total of three games due to the injury.

“Everything is fine. Just need some rehab and a little rest,” Kidd modestly said of the injury after watching his team practice without him.

After traveling with the team to visit the White House, Kidd will jump back on a plane separately heading back to Big D to receive treatment. And with the 38-year-old scheduled to sit out a minimum of two more games, Carlisle says it’s important everyone else increase their level of play without the team’s floor general on the court, as the Mavs try to claim their first road win of the season Tuesday night.

“I thought we did OK and I know we’re gonna do better,” Carlisle said while pointing out that the Mavericks still dished out 22 assists against the Hornets without Kidd in the lineup.

He added: “A lot of what we did today was about ball movement off of our play-call action and off of our flow game. And, you know, we’ve just got to keep working at it. … We’re winless on the road, so there’s urgency for us to get on the board. And again, it’s two tough teams, two tough places to play, and we’ve got to keep getting our games better. That’s really where it’s at, and without J-Kidd it’s an even bigger challenge.”

Fortunately for the Mavericks’ sake the team has added even more depth and ball-handlers to use at Carlisle’s disposal in order to make up for the loss of Kidd. Saturday night against New Orleans that was on display perhaps the most, as the team finished the night with 11 of the 12 players that saw action scoring at some point of the game. The Mavs (4-5) also featured six scorers in double figures, getting contributions from across the board to offset a previously stagnant offense.

And with a combination of ball-handlers and scorers for Carlisle to choose from, the coach willingly admits that the Mavs’ lackluster 41.4 percent shooting to start the season isn’t as concerning as it appears.

“Look, there’s gonna be games where there’s gonna be spikes up and some teams will shoot it good some nights and so on and so forth. But each team has gotta just keep going and keep working, and then eventually those things will fall into place. … But for us, a lot of our offensive stuff starts at the defensive end. Our main emphasis is gonna be on defensive rebounding and secondarily is what’s happening on offense and ball movement and being efficient. And when we have good shots we’ve got to take them,” Carlisle concluded.

But before putting the coach’s words into action the team will journey to meet the nation’s first African American president, rightfully taking their place alongside champions of the past that have also been honored at the White House.

"He’s got the hardest job. I’m just there to shake his hand and take a picture," Kidd joked while looking ahead to Monday.

Note: The Mavs will now head to the White House on Monday to be honored by President Barack Obama for last season’s championship. The team returns to action for the first game of a road-road back-to-back on Tuesday night in Detroit in a game that will air on Fox Sports Southwest 6:30 p.m. CT.

After battling the Boston Celtics a night later, the Mavs return home to face off with the Milwaukee Bucks next Friday night in a game that will air locally on Fox Sports Southwest at 7:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by calling (214) 747-6287.

Single-game tickets are on sale and available at the American Airlines Center North Box Office, online at mavs.com, via phone by calling 214-747-MAVS or 1-800-4NBA-TIX and all Ticketmaster outlets (Fiesta Grocery Stores, Wal-Mart, Simon Mall in Garland and the Shops at Willow Bend in Plano).

Rivalry Pack: Aside from being a season ticket holder, the only way for Mavs fans to attend either of the two Los Angeles Lakers games is through the Rivalry Pack. Tickets to the Feb.22 and March 21 games vs. the Los Angeles Lakers can be purchased as part of a three-game package that includes one (1) of the three premium games and two (2) additional regular season games.

RPL Nights: RPL Nights return for the sixth season and will feature special discounted tickets for 10 pre-selected games. Tickets normally priced $9 will be $2, $15 will be $10, $31 will be $20 and $42 will be $32.