Roddy B Gets To Sit At The Mavs' 'Adult Table'

   Earlier this week, new center Brendan Haywood was explaining how the team has bonded so quickly after the “Extreme Makeover: Mavs Edition’’ trade.

   “Everybody welcomed us with open arms,’’ he said. “Myself, Caron and DeShawn, we feel like we’ve been here for years. We all laugh together, we take each other out for dinner … but when we go, we make Dirk and J-Kidd pay for it. Because they’ve got the biggest checks.’’

   On Saturday in Chicago, Haywood’s back injury made him unavailable. Dallas dressed just nine players. An 11-game winning streak within reach. Second night of a B-2-B … no laughing matter.

   So the Mavs relied on a new meal ticket … and Roddy Beaubois was allowed to sit at the adult table.

    "I've gotten the opportunity to play, so I'm just trying to be aggressive," said Roddy B after his 24-point explosion keyed a 122-116 win. “I'm sure some teams don't know me so they don't know what to expect. But it's been incredible.’’

     “He's a talent,’’ said Jason Kidd, who has mentored Roddy B (and has since early in the year subtly been campaigning for more time for him). “He's going to be a special player in this league. He's a great student. He has all the tools to be successful. …’’

    Those tools? Added Kidd:

     *”He's a guy that people really don't know, but he can shoot.’’

     * “He has long arms to defend.’’

     * “And you can't teach speed.”

      If not for the fact that the Mavs had a plane to Minnesota to catch, J-Kidd could’ve gone on … and on. … (I mean, the kid even brings a deck of cards to parties to do tricks!)

     Coach Rick Carlisle is trying to keep a lid on this boiling pot. Like any coach, he has a comfort zone with veterans who know the playbook forward and back. … who know where to stand … who know exactly what to do … who have actually mastered English. …

     But in Roddy’s case – at least while Terry misses the next couple of weeks recovering from facial surgery -- the risk/reward is now so obviously so worth it. There are other guys who know what to do … but they can’t actually do it.

    Roddy B?

    "When he plays this good, he's this good," said Carlisle, who, by the way, is just as excited by all of this as you are. "And there are some nights when it doesn't go so well. But when he's been on the floor with Kidd, it's been a good situation for us.’’

    Indeed, Roddy at the 2 frees him from the responsibilities of quarterbacking the team. It allows him to be Jet-like … and to, as he says Kidd keeps telling him: “Just play, just play.’’

    Does this mean Rodrigue Beaubous has “arrived’’? (Beyond just the fact that he already has inspired a popular T-shirt and is the only 50/40/80-percent rookie shooter in NBA history?)

   “I'm reluctant to say anyone has 'arrived,’’ Carlisle said, “because learning this league is a long process. You don't do it in 38 or 39 games. You do it over a period of years. … He's been thrown into the fire to a certain degree because we need what he can bring us in Jet's absence. But the great thing about this kid is he's humble, and he understands there's a lot of learning to do, and he takes nothing for granted."

     The same goes for the Mavericks, who were arguably facing one of those “schedule losses,’’ a second-night B-2-B against a playoff-caliber team … again, with just nine players in uniform with Jet out, with Tim Thomas gone and with Big Wood scratched just before tip, joining Erick Dampier on the sideline.

    But those nine guys – playing a brand of SmallBall with Dirk starting at center – lit it up on offense. Nowitzki scored 27. Caron Butler had his best game as a Mav, his 24 matching Roddy’s. The Mavericks shot 56.3 percent and the magic touch even found scrappy “center’’ Eduardo Najera, who attempted six 3-pointers (his only shots of the game) and made three of them while totaling 11 points.

    “We’re loaded,’’ said Kidd, who has 15 assists (and 11 rebounds, for the rare non-points double-double). "We have guys who know how to put the ball in the basket, and we all enjoy sharing the ball and being part of a play that's successful."

    Added Dirk: “We shared the ball well … we had 31 assists, and I think that's a sign of a bunch of guys who want to play with each other."

    Play together, and laugh together, and dine together. And now Roddy B gets to play, too. At the adult table.