Dallas Mavericks vow to back up tough talk

When asked about former teammate and boss Larry Bird's demeanor, Carlisle was blunt: "He hated everybody," he said.

Stackhouse, who has committed flagrant fouls on Shaquille O'Neal and others far bigger than him during his career, said this Mavs team can become a rough-and-tumble outfit. It's not that hard, as long as the commitment is there.

"Some guys have a little more of an edge than others," Carlisle said. "But they're all trying hard, and they know what's going to be important to our team."

Training camp update

Thursday: The coaches mixed things up and got some intriguing results. "Today we had Josh Howard with our second group because I wanted to see what his impact would be," Rick Carlisle said. "Not coincidentally, the second group won all the games. I see scenarios when he's definitely the best player on the court with those guys." Howard, by the way, has looked excellent through three days of camp.

Today: Defense has been overshadowed by offense, at least as far as the media's focus, but getting stops continues to be the coaches' priority. The players are happy that the system is not much different from what they are used to. "We've always tried to send guys [opposing offensive players] to the baseline over the years, and that's the same way," Jerry Stackhouse said.

Eddie Sefko

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