Training Camp Report: Day 13 - Dirk tests out ailing knee with full practice
Training Camp Report: Day 13 - Dirk tests out ailing knee with full practice
DALLAS – After receiving a scare in Europe when 11-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki was held out of Tuesday night’s 99-85 loss to F.C. Barcelona Regal due to a right knee effusion, the Dallas Mavericks were happy to see No. 41 back on the practice court Friday as the team returned home.
Addressing the media after going through the team’s full workout, a sweaty Nowitzki showed know visible signs of the swelling around the knee that kept the Mavs’ go-to scorer sidelined. Still, after experiencing similar swelling on the same knee last season, Nowitzki and Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle aren’t giving the 7-footer a clean bill of health just yet.
"It's alright,” Nowitzki modestly said when asked about the ailing knee. “It's gonna probably be a piece of work. I’m gonna keep practicing and monitor the swelling. The fortunate thing is I did the whole practice today. We'll see how it responds over the weekend. We have a fan scrimmage tomorrow and we’ll check after the weekend, but it’ll be alright hopefully."
“Well, he practiced today. He worked yesterday, and so we’re monitoring the whole situation very closely,” Carlisle added. “You know, the hope is that we can get through this. Part of it may have been the length of the trip, the flight. He had an incident in practice where he kinda had an awkward movement that may have triggered the swelling the night of the Barcelona game, so we’re looking at it very closely. He did a good job today and we’ll see where things are at with each day.”
With Nowitzki’s status for the team’s Monday night preseason home opener against Houston still undetermined, the preparation continued after splitting two exhibition games overseas. Meanwhile, the Mavs put their jet-lagged bodies back to work after taking Thursday off following their arrival back stateside Wednesday night.
Learning how to play without their go-to player but falling to a talented Regal team that has been together since mid-August, the Mavericks couldn’t stay unbeaten this preseason after narrowly squeaking out an 89-84 victory over ALBA Berlin on Saturday despite 27 turnovers. And with Nowitzki hopefully inching back to 100 percent, the team went back to the drawing board with an open scrimmage scheduled in front of the hometown fans on Saturday.
“It was a great experience. It was an opportunity for the guys to spend a lot of time together and get to know each other. With eight new guys, that’s a great thing for us. And the competition was very, very good. You know, we got some things done and obviously we’ve still got a lot of work to do,” Carlisle said of the squad’s trips to Berlin and Barcelona.
“In the second game against Barcelona, we kept our turnovers down and did a much better job there," the coach added. “But we’re looking for efficiency. We’re looking a lot at our flow game, which is random movement – pass, screen, play off each other. With a group of newer guys, that kind of getting familiar with each other takes time. … It was kind of a scramble, because of Dirk not playing the second game. So, I don’t take a lot from the second game, other than playing Barcelona was a great experience for us, ‘cause they’re as good a passing team as there is on the planet right now. And they play a style of game that’s really terrific to watch and very hard to guard, so that was good for us.”
Note: Saturday, the Mavericks will host the first annual “Mavstoberfest” at the American Airlines Center, which will feature an open practice. Doors for the free event will open at 4 p.m. before the 5:30 p.m. scrimmage, with parking available for $5-10.
