Nelson: 'The boys are excited about getting out there and showing what we can do'

Earl K. Sneed writes that, like Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, president of basketball operations and GM Donnie Nelson believes the new-look team will surprise plenty of people this season.

Nelson: 'The boys are excited about getting out there and showing what we can do'

DALLAS -- Last week, we heard Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban express how excited he is to see his new-look team come together and jell this upcoming season.

Mavericks president of basketball operations and GM Donnie Nelson then shared in that excitement.

Despite admittedly expressing the magnitude felt by the free-agency departures of veterans Jason Kidd and Jason Terry, Nelson still couldn’t contain his giddiness for the 2012-13 campaign when he held court with the media on Friday after introducing ex-Mav Eduardo Najera as the new head coach of the NBA Development League’s Texas Legends. And just like Cuban, Nelson has no doubt that the team of new additions and young veterans will surprise squads and fans around the league.

“I think we will, “ Nelson empathically answered when asked if the Mavs will shock people this season. “Certainly, we’ve got our work cut out for us. You know, there’s some pretty good teams out here in the West, but I definitely think we’re up to the task and I think the boys are excited about getting out there and showing what we can do.”

He continued, “We’re excited. I mean, you know, internally we’ve got new faces. It’s really kind of a neat opportunity, you know, to put kind of a different team on the floor.”

Adding the likes of young guards Darren Collison and O.J. Mayo to fill the voids of Kidd and Terry, Nelson freely admits that Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle may have to make adjustments after having plenty of veteran leadership in the backcourt during his first four seasons in Dallas.

But with Collison and Mayo expected to add more offensive explosiveness, and fellow new additions Chris Kaman and Elton Brand providing a boost to the Mavs’ interior scoring, Nelson says that Carlisle will have plenty of weapons at his disposal. That should also take some of the burden off of 11-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki’s broad shoulders.

“We’ve never had a low-post presence like Chris Kaman since I’ve been here, certainly; a guy that we can throw the ball into and you don’t have to throw the ball to Dirk every other possession,” Nelson explained. “You know, our backcourt is young and it’s athletic. I think we’ll be able to get after folks defensively a little bit more. So, I’m really looking forward to it. … Obviously, you take a guy like Elton Brand, with his kind of integrity and presence, and he can go inside, he can go outside; he gives our frontline some versatility. You know, O.J. Mayo, here’s a guy that can play a little bit of 2, a little 1. So, I think we’re more athletic. I think defensively we’ve got the propensity and the bodies to be a little bit better. We’re not veteran, so we’re gonna have to attack in a different way, but I think we’re a little bit more youthful and athletic and dynamic, and I think that’s a good thing.

“You know, the one thing that stands out is we don’t have veterans like we did. When you lose a guy like Jason Kidd and JET [Terry] in the backcourt, those are decision-making positions. We’re gonna have to do it in a different way. I think we do have the ability with our new guys to get in the paint and collapse some defenses. We all know what Roddy [Beaubois] and Delonte [West] can do, and to have Collison come in there, those are three young point guards that can get toe-to-toe with folks, pick them up fullcourt and they can get in the paint and make things happen. Jason Kidd and JET, those were two of the great Mavericks that ever put on a uniform in the history of our franchise, so I don’t think those are shoes that are easily filled. But I think these guys are gonna put their stamp on it and do it their own way.”