Mavs Thursday Practice: Your All-Access Pass

Mike Fisher -- DB.com

   WHITE-HOT CARROLL: Matt Carroll was so astoundingly hot during a series of 3-point-shooting drills that teammates including Dirk Nowitzki paused to watch the show.

   Carroll paused, too.

   After moving around the arc to the five pre-determined spots (and doing especially well from the right corner), he sprinted up the stairs leading from the AAC practice gym to the locker room. I asked him for a moment of his time ...

   “Oh, I’ll be back,’’ he said.

   Carroll simply needed to run upstairs for a moment. Then he returned, talked with me for a few minutes … and jogged back out onto the floor for another jaw-dropping 3-point display.

   “My shot feels good, and yeah, I’m confident,’’ Carroll told me. “But I’m also more confident in my situation with the team.’’

    Last year, of course, Carroll was a midseason acquisition joining a successful squad. There was never quite a fit there.

    “That was especially true because the team was doing well, so there was no reason to disrupt or change what was happening,’’ Carroll said. “That just makes it hard for a new guy to find a niche.’’

    How frequently he’ll get a chance to play the role of 3-point specialist still isn’t known. But, with a half-year and Lasik surgery part of his foundation, he certainly is re-convincing teammates that he can do it.

   “I’ve got a new nickname for him,’’ Kris Humphries told Quinton Ross as players watched Carroll’s marksmanship. “He’s ‘Matt The Machine.’’’

   LIMPING KIDD: I noticed that Jason Kidd was not on the floor when the media was allowed to enter the practice session. I was told that he left early but that the reason was nothing serious. Come to find out, according to Eddie Sefko, Kidd stepped onto a teammate's foot, tweaked an ankle just a bit, and went upstairs as a precautionary measure.

   ON THE TRIP: Josh Howard (ankle) was also gone by the time the media was allowed in. Tim Thomas (knee) was still there, working on free throws. Though neither will play, both injured players are planning on making the quick trip to Washington for the 6 p.m. preseason game with the Wizards.

   Thomas seems close to closing in on full workouts. Howard is expected to participate some time in the last week of the team’s preseason schedule.

   MARION AND MORE: Coach Rick Carlisle said he is continuing to experiment with different on-the-floor combinations. But then he stopped himself and got straight to the point of the driving force in Friday night’s combinations.

   “We’re working on different combinations,’’ he said, “but it’s going to be good for us to be able to get Shawn Marion out there for the first time. We’ll do that, and go from there.’’

   POPEYE’S SPACE: Mavs assistant Popeye Jones is given credit for helping to develop the all-around game of Brandon Bass and others. On Thursday, he spent a considerable amount of time working with raw center Nathan Jawai on a singular low-post move, a lean-in-and-then-step-away trick designed to give the shooter a little bit more operating room.

   After the regular practice had ended, power forward Kris Humphries remained on the floor to meet with Popeye and the two of them worked on the same move, though in Humphries’ case he was allowed to operate from 15-feet out.

    CARLISLE AND THE THREE PHASES: Carlisle was asked what he would be looking for from his Mavs in preseason game 2, and as he is wont to do, Rick talked … without saying anything.

    “We need to get better offensively, and defensively we need to be better,’’ Carlisle said. “And rebounding will be a big factor in any season. I’ll be looking for more consistency there in the game in Washington.’’

    And there you have it. Offense, defense and rebounding!

    FISHELLANOUS: Spud Webb attended practice … Sometimes when players pair up for their free-throw work, it’s a buddy system. Sometimes it’s without any design. But for what it’s worth, Jawai paired with Humphries, Jake Voskuhl paired with Drew Gooden, Tim Thomas paired with Roddy Beaubois and odd-man-out Erick Dampier worked alone. … Rookie Roddy Beaubois seems to have himself a “big-brother’’ coach in assistant Monte Mathis. Mathis stays on Beaubois at all times, right down to telling him what time it is and how many minutes he has between now and the time to get to the team bus for the flight to Washington. …The Mavs will return from D.C. immediately after the Friday night game and don’t yet know their weekend practice schedule. … Carlisle’s scouting report on the Wizards: “They’re going to be the most improved team in the league.’’