Monroe: Wright Accepts Role With Mavericks

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Wright accepts role with Mavericks
Mike Monroe

DALLAS — When the Mavericks finally completed the deal that returned Jason Kidd to Dallas before last year's trade deadline, assistant coach Popeye Jones was dispatched to New Jersey on owner Mark Cuban's Gulfstream jet, complete with every high-tech toy imaginable.

Jones' task was to escort the perennial All-Star and have him schooled in the rudiments of the Mavericks' offense by the time the plane landed.

Also on board were Antoine Wright and Malik Allen, players the Nets deemed expendable enough to throw in to make all the salaries fit into the league's trade rules.

While Kidd got a cram course in Mavs 101, Wright and Allen enjoyed recess.

“Malik and I were on the plane, too, but they weren't paying much attention to us,” said Wright, who made a pair of 3-pointers and scored nine points in the Mavericks' Game 4 victory that has the Spurs in a 3-1 hole in their first-round playoff series. “We were just trying to figure out what the plane did. It was, like, ‘I wonder what this button is?' There's a couple of gizmos on that plane.”

Wright has deciphered most of the Mavericks' gizmos now. He became a regular for Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, starting 53 games in his fourth season in the NBA after three years at Texas A&M. He averaged a career-high 7.3 points, but earned most of his playing time because of his defensive versatility.

When the Spurs-Mavericks series began, he was given first crack at defending Tony Parker.

That didn't work out too well, and after Parker torched the Mavericks for 38 points in the Spurs' Game 2 victory, Carlisle opted for a lineup change, benching Wright in favor of J.J. Barea.

Wright didn't pout. Instead, he focused on taking advantage of the playing time he got off the bench, and his contribution in Saturday's Mavs victory was significant.

Wright remains one of the Mavericks' options to defend Parker.

“It's just basically trying to put a bigger body on him and try to change his lift a little bit and slow him down,” Wright said. “It didn't work the way we wanted it to, but it's all about changing things up on him. You can't give him one constant look the whole game.

“Being my size, I'm supposed to try to make him have to shoot over me. Unfortunately, he has been getting into the paint too often, which is something we don't want. But that was the idea behind our thinking at the beginning (of the series).”

The playoffs being so matchup-intense, Wright likely will be in Carlisle's starting lineup should the Mavericks eliminate the Spurs and advance to the second round against Denver or New Orleans.

While at A&M, Wright learned plenty about adapting to changing cir stances. The Aggies pushed Melvin Watkins to resign as coach after Wright's sop re season, bringing in Billy Gillispie.

Over the past summer, Dallas fired Avery Johnson and hired Carlisle, and Wright was prepared.

“I knew you had to get on board with your new coaches from the beginning,” Wright said. “I think this summer I did a good job of working with Rick and some of the assistant coaches and showing them I was ready to be on board. That's half the battle.”

[ducks]

and if he does not
does he think teams will line up to trade for him...