TRAINING DAY: Tuesday's Mavs Camp Include Defense, Kevin McHale And Sunglasses

Mike Fisher and Angry Trey -- DB.com

   The Mavs tipped off their 2009-10 training camp on Tuesday on the SMU campus. The emphasis in the morning practice was on defense … but that didn’t stop Dirk Nowitzki from wanting to get with week-long visitor Kevin McHale to “pick his brain’’ for some offensive tricks.

   Your All-Access Pass to the first session … Mavs “Training Day’’:

   DEFENSE FIRST: From all indications, the focus of the two-hour morning session was on defense –positioning and conditioning. Coach Rick Carlisle has talked for two days about upgrading the Dallas defense to put in on par with the Mavs’ offense, which “has been right at the top of the league around here for a long time,’’ Carlisle notes.

    Summarized Shawn Marion: “It was fun. It was very intense, but we got some good stuff in. We’ve got our principles down for defense right now, and we will tweak with some other stuff later on, but we have a good base right now. … Right now we’re just trying to get the drills down. That’s the main part, and just trying to get the communication down. Good defensive teams talk to each other and have a good feel for each other, so that’s what we’re breaking ground on.”

    The Mavs were expected to get some offensive-focused work done in the second of Tuesday’s two-a-day workouts, which is closed to the media.

   McHALE HELPS: Kevin McHale and Rick Carlisle are good friends from their playing days with the Celtics. Now that McHale is no longer running the Wolves, he’s free to roam the NBA countryside … and will be in town all week helping tutor the Mavs’ big men with the sort of low-post moves that made McHale an all-time All-Star.

  Carlisle on McHale: “Kevin’s an old friend and he’s one of the all-time great players. In terms of post moves and footwork, he’s the best I’ve ever seen play. I believe he’s going to be back in coaching at some point. He’s an excellent teacher. You’ve got one of the all-time greats who loves interacting with the guys, so it’s great having him here for the whole week.”

  McHale on the Mavs: “They are are one of a handful of teams that have a chance to win an NBA championship, so it’s fun being out here and being involved a little bit. All of the guys have things to work on. They all have strengths and weaknesses, and I’ll try to just help them with a little bit here and a little bit there.”

  And most interestingly, Dirk on McHale: “I’m definitely going to try to pick his brain a little bit while he’s here. To me, he’s probably the greatest low-post player this league has ever seen. He had every move in the book, so he’s great to have. He could bring us to the next level.”

   THE PIANO MAN: The value of having an expert teacher like McHale around? Leave it to Carlisle to put it in pianist terms:

    If I had a (child) who wanted to be a piano player and I could go to Fort Worth and get Van Cliburn to teach him, I’d do it,’’ the coach said.

   QUOTE OF THE DAY: This is the most athletic team we've had since our Finals team and I'm excited." – Jason Terry

   SLOOOOW, J-HO: Josh Howard did some work in practice, but as we predicted, this camp is essentially going to serve as his rehab period after ankle and wrist surgery.

   “It’s going to be gradual,’’ Carlisle said. “Josh is able to do some things. He’ll do a little more tonight. But we’re going to err on the side of caution, but all of our rehab stuff is very aggressive. The goal is to have both of those guys ready to play some exhibition games.

   Tim Thomas (knee) was also in attendance but did not go all-out in practice.

   FISHELLANEOUS: The Mavs will engage in two-a-day practices throughout the week up until the first preseason game, on Oct.5 at the AAC against Orlando. … Dallas’ practice jerseys bear the name of sponsor HDNet. … McHale spoke at the team dinner on Monday night and was impressive. “He gave a good speech and talked about the old days and what their mindset was,'' Dirk said. … One of the conditioning drills: The team had to combine to make 80 layups in two minutes. “That’s not easy to do,’’ said Marion – and indeed, they didn’t accomplish the task. So their punishment was to make 40 layups in one minute. Which they did. … During his post-practice interviews, Dirk wore sunglasses on his forehead. More of the “beach look,’’ we suppose. … “One down, one to go!’’ said Marion upon the completion of his first half-day as an in-practice-uniform Mav. ... Coming up in a bit: AUDIO at the AAC ...