Basketball is back! So time to catchup before the first pre-season game begins tonight (6 pm at Philadelphia - only on radio 103.3 FM). Dallas added Ruben Wolkowyski and Chris Robinson to their training camp roster - training camp opened October 2. Robinson was released October 9 before Dallas headed to Philadelphia for their first pre-season game. With the Mavs' having a full roster, Dallas traded 2nd round draft pick Kenny Satterfield to Denver September 25 for either a future 2nd round draft pick or money (probably depending on if Satterfield makes Denver's team). Gary Trent signed with Minnesota October 2 and Obinna Ekezie signed with the Clippers October 1. Vernon Maxwell is still a free agent, but not on Dallas' roster. Current roster: No. Player Pos Ht Wt B-day College Exp 1 Donnell Harvey ........ F 6-8 220 8/26/80 Florida'03 1 2 Darrick Martin ........ G 5-11 170 3/6/71 UCLA'92 7 3 Khalid El-Amin ........ G 5-9 200 4/25/79 Connecticut'01 1 4 Michael Finley ........ F 6-7 215 3/6/73 Wisconsin'95 6 5 Juwan Howard .......... F 6-9 250 2/7/73 Michigan'95 7 6 Danny Manning ......... F-C 6-10 241 5/17/66 Kansas'88 13 7 Adrian Griffin ........ G-F 6-5 215 7/4/74 Seton Hall'96 2 10 Tim Hardaway .......... G 6-0 195 9/1/66 UTEP'89 12 11 Muggsy Bogues ......... G 5-3 141 1/9/65 Wake Forest'87 14 13 Steve Nash ............ G 6-3 195 2/7/74 Santa Clara'96 5 14 Eduardo Najera ........ F 6-8 235 7/11/76 Oklahoma'00 1 16 Wang Zhizhi ........... F-C 7-1 220 6/8/77 China 1 21 Greg Buckner .......... G 6-4 210 9/16/76 Clemson'98 2 41 Dirk Nowitzki ......... F 7-0 245 6/19/78 Germany 3 42 Evan Eschmeyer ........ C 6-11 255 5/30/75 Northwestern'99 2 44 Shawn Bradley ......... C 7-6 275 3/22/72 BYU'94 8 45 Ruben Wolkowyski ...... F 6-10 270 9/30/73 Argentina 1 Muggsy Bogues did not report to training camp and Wang Zhizhi will be in China until sometime in December. Dallas has asked the NBA for special permission to carry 16 players until Wang returns, but it is not yet known if the NBA will grant that permission. If they do, Dallas will still need to cut one more player; if they don't, Dallas will need to cut 2 players before the regular season starts - on the bubble are Bogues, Khalid El-Amin, and Ruben Wolkowyski [I think Darrick Martin makes the team even with his broken hand]. The advantage of keeping Bogues is that his $1,520,860 salary could be used in a trade to make dollars work salary cap-wise and he is also signed for 02-03. Darrick Martin broke the 3rd metacarpal bone in his right hand during the first day of practice and his hand will be in a cast for 3 weeks. Ruben Wolkowyski has a gimpy ankle/foot and hasn't been practicing much (didn't play in the scrimmage) and likely won't play tonight. Greg Buckner suffered a minor injury during Sunday's scrimmage and likely won't play tonight. He strained a tendon in his right foot and is only expected to be out a couple of days - he wanted to keep on playing, but the trainers said "sit". Dallas held an open scrimmage Sunday where the White team defeated the Blue team 82-77 in the 4 quarter, 40 minute game. The White team consisted of Dirk Nowitzki (24 points), Juwan Howard (27 points), Shawn Bradley (8 points, 11 rebounds), Tim Hardaway (11 points), Greg Buckner (2 points - DNP 2nd half), Khalid El-Amin (6 points), Chris Robinson (2 points), and Ruben Wolkowyski (DNP) and the Blue team had Michael Finley (21 points), Steve Nash (17 points, 12 assists), Adrian Griffin (11 points, Evan Eschmeyer (4 points), Donnell Harvey (8 points), Danny Manning (6 points, 9 rebounds), Eduardo Najera (10 points), and Darrick Martin (DNP). Nowitzki, Finley, and Nash all looked in regular season form. Nowitzki had a minor knee injury the last minute of the game that had everyone gasping "NOOO!" and he sat for the conclusion and settled for being a cheerleader (he was okay). Finley and Nash missed desperation 3-pointers in the waning seconds and 2 Hardaway free throws capped the scoring. Bradley struggled, as he has in each of these scrimmages I've seen, but was in regular season form for complaining to the refs. I asked my folks if it was possible to be ejected from a scrimmage (he would have definitely got at least 1 T if it had been a regular season game). Now, his game wasn't as bad as he has been in previous scrimmages and did do some positive things. Howard also looked good, but there is no way old Danny Manning with his 2 bad knees should beat Howard down the court - happened at least twice. I was surprised by Eschmeyer's performance (of course, my expectations of him are very low). He was aggressive, snagging rebounds, and setting picks. He did pick up 3 fouls in the 1st quarter and a 4th early in the 2nd (but I don't think he picked up any more). The other surprise was Adrian Griffin. Solid is what I'd describe his performance as - nothing that stands out, but did a good job and handled the ball well playing some point (he played mostly at 3 and 2 in Boston). Harvey had an awesome dunk, but didn't do much besides that. El-Amin did not impress me. It was a strongly contested games with both teams wanting to win (with Nash and Finley on the one side and Nowitzki, Howard, and Hardaway on the other you knew that would be the case). The defense wasn't strong, but you knew that also would be the case. The lower bowl of the new arena was almost full for the start of the game and there were a sprinkling of fans in the rafters, but a number of people left before the game ended. The Mavs are ready to play and it starts tonight - though the real games don't start until October 30. Let the games begin!!! patricia