Training camp update: Day 11.

Injury report for Saturday:

• Beno Udrih- Out for Sunday. He is day-to-day with a sprained right shoulder.
• Hassan Whiteside- Out for Sunday. Day-to-day with a strained left patella tendon. I asked Coach Westphal about Whiteside returning to practice next week and he thought that was not realistic.
• Samuel Dalembert- Out for Sunday, the adductor stiffened up at practice today which is not a good thing.

Coach news and quotes:

• Starting line-up for Sunday confirmed as Evans, Garcia, Wright, Thompson and Cousins.
• Coach Westphal on the morning of practice: “It was a nice spirited workout today, the guys are nice and sick of each other and that’s good.”
• Coach Westphal on Darnell Jackson: “He is a very good defender, he doesn’t back down from anybody. He can defend the 4 and the 5 position. He’s a tough guy who can shoot a mid-range jump shot pretty well and he’s been very consistent and very aggressive everyday.”
• Westphal on Tyreke Evans: “He’s been coming in early, working on his shot and I think you can see the results of that. Other than that, he’s laying low and trying to get through training camp, like a vet.”
• Westphal on the growth of Jason Thompson: “He’s getting a lot thrown at him. He has to play two positions pretty much interchangeably. The thing I like about JT is he is always ready to play hard, every practice, every game, he’s got an amazing motor and a spirit about him, so I really appreciate that.”
• On Rick Carlyle passing out at yeterday’s Mavs practice: “I try to take care of myself and I know Rick does too. It’s a tough thing to hear about and I guess there are no guarantees for any of us now, are there.”

Observations by TPP:

• The three man group of Joe Crawford, Pooh Jeter and Marcus Landry stayed late to shoot three’s with Bubba Burragge. This has almost become an everyday occurrence for the group.

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  Jason Thompson and Shareef Abdur-Rahim stuck around late to work on baseline jumpers and converse. You have to love both the dedication of Thompson and that Shareef is still trying to make an impact on the players even though he is moving upstairs.

• For the second day in a row, Francisco Garcia and Tyreke Evans put in extra work with Coach Hughley on the deep ball. Evans still lacks the consistent stroke of a pure shooter but he is definitely working to refine this approach. Garcia typically hits 9 out of 10 from deep. He appears to be varying the arch of his shot here and there so he doesn’t get bored.
• Omri Casspi is continuing to put in the extra work on his corner three. In Thursday’s post game interviews in the locker room, Casspi was hard on himself for being off mentally. While the coach is asking him to shoot the open three, he continues to pull it down and drive to the baskets. The question now becomes not if he can hit the shot but if he is mentally ready to shoot the shot. Let’s hope this is a short-term hiccup in Omri’s game.

I sat down with Donté Greene this afternoon to discuss some of the issues surrounding him right now. I will have that interview up shortly.

If you missed last nights Carl Landry interview, you can find it here.