MAVERICKS NOTESDiop is trying to scale the wallBy ART GARCIAStar-Telegram Staff WriterDALLAS -- DeSagana Diop doesn't want to admit it, but he hit a wall before the All-Star break.It's not a rookie wall, because he's a five-year veteran. It's a minute wall, as in the 23-year-old center already has played more minutes this season than in three of his previous four in the NBA."There's some validity to that because his energy wasn't as good," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said Wednesday. "He probably played in more games in the first part of the season than he did all four years in Cleveland."Not quite. But his 52 games by the break were more than he averaged (48.25) per year with the Cavs. The most minutes he played in any season (943 in 2002-03) should be surpassed tonight against Memphis at American Airlines Center.Diop has played 937 minutes this season, an average of 17.7 per game. In each of the Mavs' six games before he headed to Miami for an All-Star weekend vacation, however, Diop failed to log more than 14 minutes despite being the starter.Foul trouble was part of the problem. But so was not having the same spring in his step that helped lead to the lineup change -- with Erick Dampier becoming a sub -- on Jan. 14.Diop had hit a wall."I don't think I did, but that's what everybody has been telling me," he said. "I think the break helped me because I never played that many minutes in 52 games."Diop wasn't shut in on South Beach during the break; he managed to get in a couple of workouts and "a lot of sleep."He appeared refreshed in the first game back Tuesday against the Los Angeles Clippers with a season-high nine points, eight rebounds and a blocked shot in 25 minutes as the Mavs won 93-91 at home."We thought he was re-energized and, again, he's a young guy. Hopefully he'll kick it into second gear," Johnson said.BrieflyThe Mavs' lengthy film session before Wednesday's practice focused on the uneven performance against the Clippers. "It's good and bad, but that's even us as coaches," Avery Johnson said. "We evaluate ourselves just as much as we evaluate players. There are things that all of us continue to work on."The Mavs' gritty fourth-quarter defense against the Clippers was underscored by the one point Dallas scored in the last 5:59. That point came with 1.2 seconds left on a free throw from Jerry Stackhouse. "Thank God I was on fire in the last six minutes," Stackhouse said with a hearty laugh.
