With Jason running the floor and hitting the open man as he did in Dallas’ opener, other NBA teams should be aware: These are a different set of Mavericks.

The team definitely is adjusting to the new offense, as evidenced by the high number of turnovers in the first game of the year. But as coach Rick Carlisle explained, he’s not concerned about that.

“In the majority of

[Kidd’s turnovers] he had a great idea. In a couple of cases there were guys put in tough positions in terms of being able to make a cut and catch. But I’m not worried about that. These guys have to adjust to him out of a different mode of play, and he’s got to learn about what all these guys can do.”

“A lot of it is point guard play, and Jason is a great point guard. So I know we’ll have the ability to keep turnovers down.”

Jason spoke about things he thought could be improved up to the Star-Telegram:

“I’m very comfortable with it. It’s just getting everybody else a little more comfortable with it and just to understand that there are no mistakes. A pass or a dribble always indicates something, and if you do something, there’s always another way to get through a play.”

INFECTIOUS ENERGY
With a new coach and a new outlook, everything is looking up for No. 2 and the Mavericks. As Carlisle said to the Dallas Morning News wrote:

“Every player in the league wants to play here. I sense that this is a positive situation and will continue to be as long as Mark (Cuban) owns it. There were a bunch of guys that were dying to come here for below their market value this summer. They love Dallas. It’s not just a rumor that this is a great situation. It’s a great situation.”

NEXT UP
Kidd and the Mavs continue preseason play in Chicago tonight, Oct 9th, at 7:30pm.

RELATED ARTICLES
Jason Kidd is enjoying Dallas Mavericks’ faster pace (Star-Telegram.com, Oct. 9th, 2008)
http://www.star-telegram.com/287/story/962413.html
Dallas Mavericks hoping wins go hand-in-hand with grins (Dallasnews.com, Oct. 8th, 2008)
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/100908dnspomavslede.3565acd.html