The Education of Roddy Beaubois

   Roddy “French Cuffs’’ Beaubois has essentially alternated this preseason with being en haut and en bas. And what does Mavs coach Rick Carlisle do to combat those times when the rookie is en bas?

   “Nous avons juste fini donner un coup de pied à son âne le jour suivant en pratique,’’  said Carlisle, who is presumably coup de pied à son âne at practice as you read this.

   “Ups’’ and “downs’’and “We’ve just got to kick his ass the next day in practice.'' (Which is what Rick really said, in English.) It’s all part of The Education of Roddy Beaubois.

   "When good things didn't happen right away, he just completely lost energy,’’ Carlisle said. “And the job of an NBA player is to play with energy first. It's just part of his growth. The good news is that it only an exhibition game. The bad news is it's painful, painful to go through.

   "He was great in one game and stunk in the next. And he knew it.’’

   Thursday in the win over Detroit, Beaubois opened as a first-teamer at the 2-guard. And there, in his first career start, he was great and he stunk – all in the same game.

   After Detroit jumped to a 4-0 lead, Roddy himself scored the next five to get Dallas rolling. It was an eventful six minutes: He was the target of a game-opening alley-oop from Kidd, but Jason’s toss was beyond the reach of the 40-inch leaper. He splashed in a 3-pointer while being guarded by Rip Hamilton, then scooted by Rip for a layup, then teamed with Dirk Nowitzki for a pick-and-roll bounce pass that The UberMan converted with a dunk.

   But he got into foul trouble again, and in the end, he wasn’t allowed to start the second half, totaled just … minutes, and ended up accumulating more fouls (six) than points (stuck on five).

   So Carlisle and the coaching staff (and teammates like Jason Kidd) are bringing Roddy along, through the ups and downs.

   On the plus side, Carlisle said Beaubois enthusiastically jumps into the film room to watch his mistakes, as he did following the Memphis game. “He saw the film,’’ Carlisle said, “and knew how bad it was.’’ (Dallas also has him watching film of NBA point guards like Chris Paul, Deron Williams and, of course, Jason Kidd.) The coach also is quick to note that Beaubois has all “the tools and the skills’’ to contribute to Dallas this year, even while he’s stuffed down on the guard depth chart below Kidd, Barea and Terry and, for that matter, Howard and Ross, too.

   Said Carlisle: “The level of awareness and play is going to continue increasing as he gets more experience.''

   On the minus side, Carlisle seemed to hint that the 6-2 guard has yet to figure out that he needs to be the aggressor, that Roddy needs to be proactive in his approach to improvement.

   "You can't wait to get knocked down before you get back up and start swinging,’’ Carlisle said. “You're going to get your lunch handed to you every time if you do that.''

    Beaubois has attempted to keep a low public profile. He has an exotic background and an electric game but when he speaks, there aren’t many ups or downs. It’s all very even.

    "Every practice, it’s something new," he said early in camp. "But it’s great. I’m getting more comfortable.’’

    Beaubois seems to be beyond the “intimidation factor’’ that would be normal for a kid jumping from a second-level European team to the NBA. He is surrounded by marvelous and caring tutors in people like Kidd and Terry, assistant coaches Darrell Armstrong and Monte Mathis, and of course, Carlisle – who seems to be attempting to be both caring and demanding.

   "This is part of growing up in this league,’’ Carlisle said. “You're not playing in Guadeloupe or Nice or Monaco. You're playing in Washington, and in Houston, and in real NBA cities against guys that are trying to kick your ass every night.’’

   They coup de pied à son âne every night in games.

   They coup de pied à son âne every day in practice.

   It’s all part of The Education of Roddy Beaubois.