Mavs Scrimmage: Player-By-Player, The Whites

Terry's The Announcer, Gooden's The Center, Dirk's The Shoe-Thrower

Mike Fisher -- DB.com

Here’s our player-by-player scouting report from Friday’s Fan Jam “Blue-White’’ scrimmage with an examination of the White Team, featuring the humorous attempt at broadcasting by Jason Terry and the earnest attempts at playing center by Drew Gooden:

   The Blue review from two abbreviated “halves’’ of basketball (10 minutes each) at the AAC:

   6 Quinton Ross This is the downside to The Matrix’ stellar night: Somebody has to have been victimized by Shawn Marion. And Q is your guy. Ross did have a steal, and heck, it was just a practice. But Ross was no match for Marion … Quinton did have a chance to get the last laugh, but he missed a potential game-winning shot at the buzzer, leaving the score tied at 42-all.

   11 JJ Barea The unsual matchups you see for Barea in real NBA games? They happen every day in practice, too, which is why the 5-11 Barea frequently found himself guarding people like the 6-6 Matt Carroll … JJB’s penchant for getting to the hole in a fearless way showed itself again (though he missed the layup). So did his knack for drawing a charge, as he did once on the lightning-quick Roddy Beaubois. … JJB’s presence drew some laughs when in the pregame introductions Jason Terry termed him “the whitest guy from Puerto Rico that you’ve ever seen.’’

   3 Jason Terry By now, we’ know his offensive game so well. The best of it: He can salvage a bad offensive possession like few Mavs in history by setting up to launch what is for him a relatively high-percentage bomb. He did that on two occasions. … The worst of it: Jason Terry on the break still never quite looks like a point guard. He botched a two-on-one break by attempting a difficult bounce pass to the 7-0 Dirk Nowitzki, the pass never caroming up higher than Dirk’s knees and never close to really leading Dirk. Jet on the break might as well just finish himself … It’s impossible to put a price on the spirit that Terry brings to a club, but it was on display during those pregame introductions when he drew comparisons between the shaggy-haired Dirk and “Hulk Hogan,’’ when he referred to the goggled Matt Carroll as “Kurt Rambis’’ and when he completely botched the pronunciation of Roddy Beaubois’ last name but make up for it by calling him “"Roddy Mbenga Diop Olajuwan Beaubois."

   33 James Singleton Came off the bench for the Whites; is he not one of the top 10 healthy players here? … Did some scrapping inside, but wasn’t able to muscle through a forest of arms for a finish. … As a guy who succeeds because of his ability to do little things right over the course of time in a way that maybe wears on an opponent, maybe this wasn’t his best format.

   41 Dirk Nowitzki He wore his trademarked practice gear, the baggy gray sweatpants, the oversized long-sleeve dark-blue undershirt, and even a blue headband to keep the Hulk Hogan Hair out of his face. But there was a noticeable difference: The UberMan looked liked he’d lost at least 10 pounds. It wasn’t reflective in the way he moved or the way he played. And it will take time to see if the weight loss benefits the Mavs’ running game (or, frankly, if the loss of bulk hurts Nowitzki as a post player; he’s never had a massive base). … He didn’t exactly pound Jason Kidd when the smaller man switched to him, and he didn’t exactly look like he was prepared to shut down the likes of Kris Humphries on the other end. But let’s be honest: For one of the 10 greatest players in the world, Fan Jam is largely about signing autographs, throwing shoes and not getting hurt. So, mission accomplished.

   77 Jake Voskuhl Really had just one opportunity to show anything, and failed to do so when he bobbled a reception on the break … If there is an injury or a vacancy and the Mavs have to decide whether to keep somebody like Voskuhl (a veteran who knows his way around the block) or somebody like Nathan Jawai (a project who doesn’t know his way around the block) ... well, Voskuhl didn’t help his case here.

   90 Drew Gooden I’ve heard some mixed reviews here from fans who watched the scrimmage, but nothing mixed from me: Gooden displayed an array of crafty offensive moves that befuddled Erick Dampier. He was very aggressive as a rebounder. He has range as a shooter. Again, this is somewhat of a free-lance format, so someone like Gooden – a free-lance liver – has a chance to excel. But he looks to be in excellent shape, he can run and jump (he jumped center for the Whites) and on nights when the other team in playing a glorified 4 at the 5, he might just be competitive.

FISHELLANEOUS: The starting five for the White was Gooden, Dirk, Ross, Jet and JJB … Josh Howard (ankle) and Tim Thomas (knee) sat out the scrimmage. … J-Ho received an extremely warm welcome from the 7,700 in attendance, maybe second only to the applause for Dirk. … The team will engage in single practices on Saturday and Sunday in preparation for the preseason opener at the AAC Monday against the Magic … Terry’s pre-scrimmage entertainment was almost as crowd-pleasing as the finish, when Mavs players stood on the court and tossed their shoes and towels into the audience.