Wright's Nights

'Bright Spot's 2 Chances To Shine

Mike Fisher -- DB.com

   Antoine Wright isn’t just the 2-guard starter for the preseason opener against Washington. He was informed by coach Rick Carlisle on Tuesday morning that he’s getting a two-game, first-team tryout that extends through Thursday at Chicago. … and who knows. … maybe beyond?

   “I tried to play it cool,’’ Wright told DB.com, adding, “but I did call my mom. Of course, I call my mom every day anyway. I can’t keep anything from her.’’

   Wright, the Texas A&M product considered the “bright spot of camp’’ by Carlisle, was buried on the Dallas bench a year ago after coming here from New Jersey in the Jason Kidd trade. He’d been a rotation player with the Nets (averaging 7.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game), then twisted his ankle in February, and was then “thrown in’’ to the Devin Harris-for-Kidd swap.

   He spent the end of last year “pretty much just figuring out what I would so for the summer (as a free agent),’’ he said. And then came the hiring of Carlisle – and Wright, who’d talked to a few teams due to his free agency – decided to sign a two-year contract and reunite with the coach.

Yes, “reunite.’’ Because while other roster members have played under Carlisle in his previous two stops (Jerry Stackhouse in Detroit and Keith McLeod in Indiana), the 24-year-old Wright goes about as far back with him as anybody.

   “I’ve known him since I was 17,’’ Wright told us. “I was in Las Vegas at the Tim Grgurich Camp, and he came right up to me. And the first thing he said was, ‘Kid, your shot is pretty good. But I could make it much better.’ And over the years, every time he sees me, that’s what he says. He kills me.

   “And then he got hired here,’’ Wright said, laughing, “and I’m like, ‘Sure enough, here we go again.’’’

   The 6-7 Wright – in 2005 the 15^th player selected in the NBA Draft -- is in a battle for minutes as a wing, where the Mavs are deep with versatile veteran talent. Carlisle may end up tempted to rely on a more “known quality’’ like Jason Terry and Jerry Stackhouse. Oldie Devean George is in the mix. Young Gerald Green has spent camp behind Wright on the depth chart. Forget for a moment who starts; there are not enough minutes for all of them to even be in the rotation.

   That depth,’’ Wright said, “changed my approach to this training camp. We have a lot of athletic 6-6-type wings. They can plug in other guys who they think can get the same results. So I tried to separate myself.’’

   Like how?

   “You try to be perfect,’’ Wright answered.

    Wright was a notch shy of perfect in Tuesday’s 108-82 preseason-opening win at home over the Wizards. Maybe due to nervousness, he committed two early turnovers, both involving exchanges with Erick Dampier. When he went to the bench with 6:44 left in the first, he’d done nothing on offense (but had begun a fine night shutting down Washington’s DeShawn Stephenson).

    He later found a groove, though, and while it can be argued that he has an early grasp on Carlisle’s offense because it is in some ways similar to what Kidd (and Wright) ran in Jersey, Antoine’s greatest work came largely on the break. He finished 4-of-4 shooting for nine points. Two of those shots were of the gymnastic variety – just what Dallas’ offense has long lacked – as Wright finished on the break on one play shortly after flying through the lane, absorbing a hit and a foul, and controlling his body to make the shot (and then the free throw) for a highlight sequence. The three turnovers he committed? Pretty much offset by the three steals and the four assists, plus the two rebounds and – something some of the other candidates for 2 time cannot do -- some damn stifling defense on DeShawn, who scored just three points on 1-of-7.

    As much as he’s trying to “play it cool,’’ Wright recognizes what this could mean, not only to him but to the rotation, to the team’s depth, to how much this could fortify the bench, to how much more explosive it could make the first team look. (Worth adding: Wright as a starter, or even as a prominent rotation player, might muzzle some critics of the Kidd acquisition.) He also recognizes that maybe he owes something to long-time pseudo-tormentor Carlisle, who despite Wright’s free-agent status, made sure to include the kid in his one-on-one summer tutorials.

    “Starting the first two games is a big move for me,’’ Wright said. “(Carlisle) supported me. All I’m trying to do is hold up my end of the bargain.’’

1150pm oct 7 2008