The bright side of changing lineups

The constant lineup shuffling – four starting fives through six games – may not breed consistency, but it does allow the coaching staff to experiment with different combinations. It’s allowed for players that otherwise may not had prominent spots in the rotation, such as Brandon Bass and JJ Barea, a chance to strut their stuff.

“We’ve learned a lot and a lot has been confirmed,” Avery Johnson said. “Lots has been confirmed about guys that we’ve had here and we’ve learned some new things about the guys we’ve brought in. Some of our guys play better with other people and certain guys play better on certain spots on the floor. Guys are different in guarding pick-and-rolls, so we’ve learned quite a bit.”

Three of the five starters – Josh Howard, Devin Harris and Eddie Jones – have already missed games for various reasons. Bass missed one game, and Erick Dampier and Devean George have yet to play.

“It does affect the team, but as more of a veteran team, we’ve got to be able to deal with that,” Jones said. “It’s not up to the coaches to make the perfect situation, it’s up to the players to go out and in any situation try to be successful.”

The Mavs, under Johnson, have made it a point not to worry about who’s not in uniform.
“We’re an NBA team, man,” Howard said. “We’ve got players that have been in the league longer than four years, so guys know what to do on the court. That’ll be coach’s decision once he gets that settled. We’re a team, we’re going to play with whatever we’ve got out there.