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Dallas Mavericks to train minds, bodies when camp begins
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Sep. 28--Newness is the dominant theme this week for the Mavericks. That's the way it is with a coaching change. That means there will be some strange sights when training camp begins Tuesday, like Dirk Nowitzki and other Maverick veterans actually thumbing through the playbook. "I think training camp is going to be interesting," Nowitzki said. "After 10 years, having to learn new plays and new calls, it's going to be fun. I don't think I really looked at the playbook the last couple of years. "We'll have some movement in the offense and hopefully some more fun." For the last few years, Nowitzki, Josh Howard, Jason Terry and others haven't had to blow any dust off of the playbook. They knew it from cover to cover, and the calls and plays didn't change much, if any. That will change this week. Rick Carlisle's playbook will be required reading. And it will symbolize a welcomed change for the Mavericks, who have been short on fun and offensive motion, not to mention playoff wins, the last two seasons. They go into the 2008-09 season bubbling with hope and enthusiasm. Carlisle's first training camp will be heavy on conditioning, running and teaching. But he also won't forget what wins games. While the Mavericks expect to run much more offensively than they did under Avery Johnson, they also will have a defensive mentality. Carlisle's not looking to reinvent the wheel in that regard. "One thing I'm not going to compromise going forward is the emphasis on the defensive end," he said. "You can't be a good up-tempo team unless you're getting stops." In that respect, not much will change for the Mavericks. Johnson was a fanatic about defense and changed the Mavericks' attitude about that end of the court. Carlisle will try to build on that. Offensively, the Mavericks had the benefit over the last half-dozen years of having basically the same plays and the same terminology. Don Nelson's system was essentially carried over to Johnson. That was part of the problem. And that's why the Mavericks are eager to go to work for Carlisle.
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