The Dallas Mavericks returned to practice tonight after the 2012 NBA All-Star Weekend and Rodrigue Beaubois was joining the forces after he spend the last two weeks with his family due to the tragically and unexpected death of his father. Carlisle said he'll be ready to face the Nets tomorrow night and he is dearly needed with Delonte West sidelined. Roddy already worked out yesterday and according to @BallinWithBryan he was in high spirits.
His role against soon-to-be Maverick Deron Williams and former Maverick coach Avery Johnson remains unclear, but he should instantly take away and then eventually overtake all minutes from Dominique Jones, who you would think failed to make a case for himself challenging Roddy for the spot in the rotation with his play during the Frenchman's absence.
Roddy will most likely team up off the bench with Jason Terry and that combination worked beautifully throughout the season. Among all backcourt combinations that played at least 200 possessions for the Mavs this season (five units), Roddy and Terry rank 2nd in Efficiency Differential (net points per 100 Possessions) at +11.20, trailing only the current starting backcourt of Jason Kidd and Vince Carter (+26.31). When both Terry and Roddy came off the bench, the combination recorded an EffDiff of +9.99, considerably leading the only other combination off the bench that saw significant playing time this season: West and Terry (-1.62).
Unfortunately Lamar Odom also had to deal with a reportedly life-threatening condition of his father (he missed the 91-96 loss to the Lakers last Wednesday), but Mr. Odom already told reporters that everything is fine on Friday. That he is still missing will presumably only add to the questions surrounding his attitude and commitment, unless new information about the issue will pop up.
Mavs PG Rodrigue Beaubois (personal reasons) returned to practice today, but Lamar Odom remains away from the team due to family matters.
— Earl K. Sneed (@EKS_MavsNBA) February 27, 2012