<font size="+2"> One roster spot left for Mavs </font> <font size="+1"> Powell is the likely option, but rookie Marshall is in the mix </font> <font size="-1"> 01:45 AM CDT on Tuesday, October 18, 2005 </font> <font size="-1"> By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News </font> AUBURN HILLS, Mich. ? The Mavericks hit the halfway point of their exhibition season tonight against Detroit. Barring injuries, 11 spots on the opening-day roster are taken. The last one is up for grabs, although Josh Powell probably has the inside track simply because he's bigger than the other serious contenders. Among those is 6-7, 190-pound Rawle Marshall, who went to college at Oakland University, about five minutes from the Palace of Auburn Hills, where the Mavericks will play the Pistons tonight. Marshall's story is unique. Born in Guyana, his family moved to New York when he was 4, then to Detroit when he was 14. He was salutatorian of his high-school class. He was a good basketball player, too, but frightfully skinny. Overlooked by most major universities, he landed at Ball State, then transferred to Oakland after his freshman season. Mavericks/NBA Sign up for Eddie Sefko and David Moore's free Mavericks/NBA newsletter As a senior last season, he led Oakland to its first NCAA tournament berth. In the play-in game against Alabama A&M, he had 26 points. Against eventual NCAA champion North Carolina in the first round, he had 16 points. Now, he's in camp with the Mavericks, who thought enough of him to guarantee his rookie salary. He knows it's possible he will end up in Fort Worth with the Flyers of the National Basketball Developmental League. But he'll still be on the Mavericks' 15-man roster when the season starts. "It's been a new experience and it's been a little hard at times," said Marshall, who received helpin his search for tickets as Oakland University gave away about 100 tickets to friends and family. "But I'm just relishing every minute of it." Marshall has never played a game at the Palace, although his school did practice there occasionally. The Mavericks picked up on Marshall's speed and athleticism during his senior season and are excited about his potential. "This guy is a prospect," said assistant coach Del Harris. "He has the intangibles. He's only lacking in experience. He's as close to a twin as what Josh Howard was when he came in the league as you're going to get. Understand, Josh was a first-round pick and he (Marshall) was undrafted. So there's a little gap, but not an insurmountable gap." Coach Avery Johnson is a bit more subdued about Marshall. Said Johnson over the weekend: "Typical rookie. One day you get some prosperity. And the next day you're broke. I can say that because I've lived in both situations." Rawle Marshall went to Oakland University, about five minutes from the Palace of Auburn Hills, where the Mavericks meet the Pistons in a preseason game tonight. Pulling a Pat Riley: Avery Johnson put the Mavericks through an hour of film work on Monday afternoon, then had a two-hour practice. It was reminiscent of the marathon practices for which Riley was notorious. "With the travel and the game last night, human tendency would be to take it easy," said Harris. "But it was a tough practice and everybody was into it." Briefly: DeSagana Diop made a detour to Toronto on Monday to renew his visa, accompanied by assistant general manager Keith Grant. Diop was expected to meet the team Monday night at their Birmingham, Mich., hotel. Diop, said Del Harris, has evolved beyond being a project. "He's an exciting prospect," he said. "He's 23 and people are going to have a nice time in Dallas watching him grow as a player. How long is it going to take before he's a really recognized player? A month? A year? I don't know. But it's definitely going to happen as long as he stays healthy." ... Avery Johnson departed quickly after practice to get to a prior engagement . -------------------------------- Sorry, but aren't their more than 12 roster spots, aren't their 15? But I think Powell will get it, even though I like Marshall a lot.
It's the difference between your active-twelve-man-roster (all the guys at every game) and your reserve, injured roster of 3. In order for a player to move from the 13-15 spot, a waiver, lopsided trade or (most commonly) injury must occur. Then, the player can be moved into the regular rotation for a set time span (was 10 days before the new CBA). But, at any time the 12 spots must be filled. Let's say all the expected people make the first 11 spots and Josh Powell gets the 12th. That's your roster going into every game. Then Rawle Marshall, Pavel Podkolzine, and one of Samo Udrih/Erick Strickland/Kaniel Dickens(these are the last three out, since Podkolzine and Marshall are pretty much reserve shoe ins) will be the 13, 14, 15 spot. Now if Damp gets injured with a sprained ankle and he's going to be out for a month, they'll "ACTIVATE" one of the bottom three. They may do this according to position or skill. But, since there is a set time for how long a player must wait until returning from the injured list, a less sever injury won't necessarily mean an opportunity for one of the "Injured" players (13-15). A team may prefer to keep a player active who cannot play, simply so he will be allowed to play sooner. Each night of his injury, he will receive "DNP- Coach's decision." Most likely the bottom three are going to be in the NBDL this season. It will be interesting to see how all of this works out since this year all 15 players will be active in either the pros or the farm system, so there could be a situation where Damp gets hurt and Podkolzine and Marshall are already injured from the D-League. That's when 10-day (short-term) contracts come into play. But, that's for another day... Thanks for keeping me up to date with all your posts, I can't wait for the Season!
