<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">So much has happened to Mavericks guard/forward Rawle Marshall over the past year. And not all of it was good. On March 18, 2005, Marshall was the star player of the 16th-seeded Oakland University squad that faced top-seeded North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Marshall had 16 points and five rebounds against the Tar Heels, who won 96-68 and went on to win the national championship. A year -- and a trip to the National Basketball Development League -- later, Marshall has positioned himself as a key player on an injury-riddled Mavs team that plays at the Washington Wizards tonight. The 6-7, 190-pound rookie is to make his third consecutive start tonight and is brimming with confidence after scoring a career-high 12 points in 25 minutes during Wednesday's 95-81 victory over the Houston Rockets. Guard Jerry Stackhouse said Marshall's regular practices against him, Josh Howard, Marquis Daniels and Adrian Griffin have helped the rookie's progress. "He knows there's not going to be any tougher players than what we have and what he goes against in practice," Stackhouse said. "He's got a different look of all different types of guys. "But what probably helped him more than anything was the fact that he went down to the D-League and was able to get some time on the floor. That league is showing its worth, and it might have shown its worth" against the Rockets. In 21 games for the D-League's Fort Worth Flyers, Marshall averaged 17.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.38 steals in 30.2 minutes per game. He rejoined the Mavs on Feb. 26. "There's definitely a lot of things I can improve on," said Marshall, who signed with the Mavs as a free agent after he was not drafted. "I just want to keep working hard and focus on defense. "And by focusing on defense, that kind of leads a little bit to my offense." Coach Avery Johnson wants Marshall to be consistent. "We just need him to be efficient, and we need him to be productive," Johnson said. "Hopefully, he'll just stay in the gym and keep working, because there are a lot of guys that have played a couple of good games in our league, and you don't hear from them anymore."</div> Source
One of best things about the Mavs is how many young and athletic players they have. Kudos to the scouting department for finding guys like Marshall and Daniels to add to this team from a pool of "undrafted" players. On another thread I posted that the Spurs' bench has the edge over the Mavs' bench due to playoff experience for this year. However, the Mavs' bench looks much better on a future potential standpoint. I agree, development of these young players is money in the bank for the Mavs' future.
