Dallas signed Ace Custis to a non-guaranteed contract.

The Mavs held the Blue-and-White scrimmage Friday night.  The Blue
consisted of Michael Finley, Gary Trent, Howard Eisley, Steve Nash, Greg
Buckner, Christian Laettner, Dirk Nowitzki, and Shawn Bradley.  The White
team consisted of Hubert Davis, Etan Thomas, Donnell Harvey, Eduardo
Najera, Bill Curley, Mike Jones, and Ace Custis.  Courtney Alexander
(sprained ligaments in fingers of left hand, day-to-day) and Jamal
Kendrick did not play.  Not surprisingly, the Blue team crushed the White
team 97-66.  

Random thoughts from the night: 
This was the first I've seen since last season of Gary Trent and all that 
talk about his lossing weight is true (down to 248 from 284).  No longer
does he have that huge, bulky chest - his jersey was even hanging on him a
little bit, instead of being pumped out like it was before.  He looked
good and got a number of rebounds (7) and baskets inside, but Harvey was
giving him fits.  There was a Star Telegram article last week that talked
about how Trent was upset with all the overly physical play and cheap
stuff that was going in practice.  Competetion is one thing, cheap stuff
is another.  Assuming that most of that cheap stuff is coming from Harvey,
hopefully it's just rookie enthusiasm and he'll learn that some stuff is
not appropriate.  [Dirk Nowtizki was undercut while in air at one point
during the game.  I'm not positive who did it (I was more concerned about
Dirk being okay), but I think it was Harvey - he has to learn that that
crap has no place in the NBA.]

Donnell Harvey was the talk of the night.  He was aggressive and active
and going all-out - maybe a little too hyper, though.  He was actively
going after the rebounds and playing tough defense.  He stripped the ball
cleanly from an unsuspecting Trent at one point.  He got over excited at
the end trying to slam the ball on a break, but only caught the front of
the rim and went crashing to the ground [don't let the rim hurt ya] and
tried to score again the next time down and again failed.  The Blue team
also tried and failed to get flashy at the end with a number of over
thrown lobs (and Hubert not letting Finley get up for one of them) and
thrown away passes.  Finley had a good long talk with Harvey during
halftime and Bradley talked with him after the game.  After seeing him
play (but still depending on pre-season), I'll reassess my opinion that
he'll start the season on IR and give him a good chance at starting the
season on the active roster.  He needs to work on his free throws,
though.

Etan Thomas had a nice, but not too stand-outish night.  He hit a couple
of shots and got a couple of rebounds.  Same with Eduardo Najera.  Najera
left me with a little better impression from the game, but I still put him
on the likely on IR list to start the season.

Hubert Davis tried to carry and direct the rookies, but it was too big of
a task.  He led the team with 15 points as his sweet shot was hitting.  He
tried to get his teammates to get back on transition defenses, but they
were slow to catch on - lots of defensive lapses from the rookies.

Mike Jones looked decent, but is still a long shot to make the team.
After seeing him, I'd give him a slightly better chance than before.  He
did well running the team, but (as a point guard) needs to learn how to
direct his teammates and make sure they know what is going on and where
they need to be.

Ace Custis had a nice performance, but is still a long shot to make the
team.

I saw this white, balding, old-looking guy on the court before the game
and was wondering who the heck he was.  I had forgot all about Bill
Curley.  He looks a lot older than 28.  His 6 points was one of the
surprises of the night - he has a soft outside shot.  He'll either be cut
or spend time on IR.  I don't see any place for him on the active roster.

Back to the Blue team...
Finley was Finley and Dirk was Dirk.  Both continue to shine.  Dirk was
high man for the game with 19 points and Finley had 18.

Howard Eisley started and performed well running the team, but his shot
was off.

Steve Nash needs a hair brush.  His hair was sticking up everywhere and
looked like he had just got out of bed.  Surprisingly, he did play a lot
in the game.  He had just returned from Vancouver (Nelson told him to take
a few days off after his Olympic play) and only had one practice with the
team.  He continued his good Olympic play and hit a number of shots
(though, once he missed 2 fairly open shots and then drained a contested
one as the shot clock was running out as the Blue team had 3 shots at the
basket).

Greg Buckner was quite - can't recall much about his play.

Christian Laettner played well in the 1st quarter, but didn't leave much
of an impression for the rest of the game.  Really my only specific
remembrance of his performance was his driving to the basket and sending
Hubert Davis flying as Hubert stepped in to take the charge.

Bradley was Bradley.  There has been much talk about him working out this
summer and coming into camp in better shape, but I saw the same Shawn
Bradley at the scrimmage that I've seen in years past.  My mom had
believed the hype and was disappointed in his performance.  He fumbled the
ball some and had trouble putting the ball in the hole in traffic.


For those who were there (and there were a couple of thousand), give 
yourself bonus points if you spotted and recognized Morlon Wiley.  Give
yourself double bonus points if you spotted and recognized Scott Llyod.


patricia