10 Interesting Things About Nathan Jawai

   Nathan Jawai has registered nothing more than a bite-of-Vegemite-sandwich worth of playing time in the NBA. He’s 22, with 19 career minutes in six career games. So anybody who right now is insisting that the Mavs newcomer can play sounds almost as ridiculous as anybody who is insisting the Australian native can’t play.

   What we do know: His fans think he’s the second coming of Shaq, his detractors wonder about his enlarged heart and … well, he’s Australian. All in all, Nathan Jawai is somebody I kind of give a didgeridoo about.

   So he gets the “10 Interesting Things About Nathan Jawai’’ treatment:

   He did it again this weekend  ... but he did it coming off the bench. And there’s a reason … (stay tuned) …

   9 Of course, every big man with bulk gets the “Baby Shaq’’ comparison. But Jawai isn’t 7-2 and 400 pounds; he’s 6-10 and 280. So he might be more “Big Baby’’ Davis than “Baby Shaq’’ O’Neal. You’ll see the parallels, maybe, if you watch a lengthy YouTube showing Jawai’s work as the Rookie of the Year in his country’s National Basketball League. Keeping in mind the competition: He’s got hands, he can jump, and he’s got post-up moves.

   8 He’s from Bamaga. Which is in Queensland. Which is in Australia. Bamaga has a population of 1,789 people. You know when you look at a map of Australia and it looks like a dog’s profile? You know that part that sticks up like the dog’s ear? That’s Bamaga.

   So Nathan Jawai isn’t from nowhere. But he’s about as far from somewhere as you can get.

   7 He suffers from an enlarged heart, a scary health-related issue that could conceivably end his basketball career before it ever really begins. He’s got clearance to go forward; that’s why he played the few games he did in Toronto after sitting out a month. But without having spoken to the Mavs about this, I think we can assume that Jawai will be under constant watch on this issue.

   6 He is, of course, so notable in his native land that he’s worthy of what appears to be a newspaper’s 79-picture Nathan Jawai Photo Gallery. (No, I didn’t click through all of them.)

   5 The Mavs haven’t really even spoken much to him yet? As in, not at all?

  That’s probably so. At the same time, it appears the Mavs have spoken to Team Australia. Check out this link from the Aussie paper in which it is explained that the reason Nathan came off the bench this weekend is because the Mavs asked that it be so. Hmm.

   Says Jawai in yet another story:  “I’m pretty confident now I won’t get cut and I’ll have another chance.’’

   That confidence doesn’t come from the Mavs having spoken to the kid; but it seems they are nevertheless managing the kid from afar. Which would seem to suggest that while he might have nuthin’ or he might be Mavs trade bait, yes, he also might get a chance.

  4 Speaking of Nathan’s health: He apparently put on 20 unwanted pounds last year … during the season!  That does not speak well of lessons learned regarding conditioning. And I’m no doctor, but if you have an enlarged heart problem, should you really be adding 20 pounds of fat while your body is enduring the rigors of practicing the sport of professional basketball?

   3 It is unfair to be skeptical of Jawai’s chances given the experience Dallas once has with fellow countryman Chris Anstey? Not as long as we balance that with the understanding that just because a raw 20-year-old played some D-League last year (Jawai was with the Idaho Stampede) doesn’t mean he can’t someday be somebody. Check out this list of D-Leaguers-turned-NBA’ers. http://www.nba.com/dleague/tracker/

   2 Nathan is capable of saying the right thing … whether he needs to suggest that he’s got offensive touch or whether he needs to say that he’s a “banger.’’

   Jawai quote from a year ago upon entering the NBA: “I do a lot of things good, but not great. I can score if I want to score. I like to rebound and bang bodies. I love to play physically. The defense, the shot-blocking has to get better. When I was in Australia, I scored the ball a lot more. Here it will be more of the dirty work, playing defense, blocking shots.’’ 

   1 Long-time Raptors beat writer Doug Smith portrays Jawai as “a good guy and a good teammate’’ and Nathan’s quotes portray him as an optimistic lad.

   “I’ve got to take it as a positive,’’ he said of the Shawn Marion trade that brought him from Toronto to Dallas. “Deal with it. I’ve just to got to work hard, try to make it into the rotation at the Mavericks.’’

   At this early juncture, of course, that’s not Dallas’ plan with Jawai. There trade-bait possibility always looms, as does the possibility that he could vault up the depth chart. But short of that he seems at best the roster replacement for Ryan Hollins, last year’s latest example of this team trying to experiment with and develop an LIBB (Lightning-In-A-Bottle Boy.)

   I can think of worse ideas than having the team’s 15^th man be a 6-10, 280-pound developmental 22-year old, can’t you?