Reminder: Hoop Troop Tryout

What: Mavs Dr Pepper Hoop Troop and Best Western Party Patrol Tryouts

When: Saturday, September 13th, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Where: American Airlines Center Practice Court

More Info: The Dr Pepper Hoop Troop is looking for individuals with some type of cheerleading, tumbling, stunting, or other acrobatic experience, and the Best Western Party Patrol is in search of crazy Mavs fanatics to help keep the arena rowdy on game nights. Men and women who are enthusiastic, want to show their Mavs spirit, and are at least 18 years of age are encouraged to come and tryout.

Ike postpones Bass-Pacman Beach Battle

The Celebrity Beach Battle, hosted by Brandon Bass and Adam "Pacman" Jones, set for Saturday, Sept. 13th, has been postponed due to the upcoming weather conditions expected from Hurricane Ike.

The new date is Friday, Sept. 26, from 6-10 pm at the Yucatan Beach Club in Coppell. Click on the flyer for more details.

Mavs & Carter host Blood Drive

What: Mavs and Carter BloodCare to Host Blood Drive

When: Saturday, September 13, 2008, 12:00 - 5:00 p.m.

Where: Irving Mall (Southeast side adjacent to Fuddruckers)
3880 Irving Mall, Irving, TX 75062, 972-255-0571

More Info: The Dallas Mavericks and Carter BloodCare are joining together to host a community blood drive event on Saturday, September 13th at Irving Mall. The blood drive, which is the first held in partnership with Carter BloodCare and the Dallas Mavericks, will feature an appearance by the Mavs Street Team.

Everyone in attendance will receive Mavs goodies, and everyone that donates blood will be entered into a drawing to win two pairs of tickets to a 2008-09 Dallas Mavericks regular season game.

Potential donors must be at least 17 years old, weigh a minimum of 110 pounds, and be in generally good health. People who wish to give blood should eat a nourishing meal before donating and must bring a photo ID.

For more information about donor eligibility, call Carter BloodCare at 1-800-DONATE-4 or visit http://www.carterbloodcare.org/

NBA TV announces Fan Night

To help celebrate its 10th year, NBA TV is offering up a free preview week and a new interactive feature called Fan Night. For the first time ever, fans will have the chance to vote for games they want to see televised nationally on NBA TV each Tuesday night.

“We’re proud to launch the new NBA season on NBA TV and NBA.com with the introduction of Fan Night, a landmark multi-platform experience that takes fan interactivity to an unprecedented level,” said Bryan Perez, SVP and GM of NBA Digital. “This is a great example of our commitment to increase fan involvement and take full advantage of all our platforms in an integrated manner. Fans voting online to consistently program a major, national sports network pushes the boundaries of sports digital media.”

Fans can let their voice be heard by logging onto NBA.com and selecting which of the available matchups taking place around the league should be aired nationally on NBA TV. The top vote getter will air on the network the following Tuesday night. Voting will begin Oct. 28 for the first Fan Night matchup on Nov. 4.

The 2008-09 season marks the inaugural year of the NBA’s partnership with Turner Sports to manage the NBA Digital portfolio which includes NBA TV, NBA.com, NBA League Pass, NBADLeague.com and WNBA.com. The NBA TV schedule includes a lineup of 96 live games – the most of any network beginning Nov. 1 with Washington at Detroit. The free preview week is Oct. 28 - Nov. 4.

Community Tickets available for kids

Do you know of group of deserving kids who would like to come to a Mavs game? Well, there's a program designed to do just that.

The Dallas Mavericks Community Ticket Block Program provides the opportunity for well-deserving philanthropic organizations to attend Mavs games through donated tickets. Mavs players generously purchase and donate these tickets in order to allow underprivileged youth a chance to enjoy a Mavs game.

Non-profit organizations benefiting at-risk youth that are interested in being considered for these tickets can find more information here.

New Fan Shop Opening in Plano

What: Grand Opening weekend of the Dallas Mavericks Ultimate Fan Shop at The Shops at Willow Bend

When: Friday, September 5th through Sunday, September 7th

Where: The Shops at Willow Bend
6121 West Park Blvd, Suite C121A (near the food court)
Plano, TX 75093

Details: To celebrate the grand opening of the club's newest apparel store, the Mavs Mascots will appear from 10-11:30 a.m. on Saturday, September 6th while the Mavs Dancers and ManiAACs will be appearing at the store from 1-3 p.m.

There will also be various merchandise specials all weekend long. The Dallas Mavericks Ultimate Fan Shop at The Shops at Willow Bend will carry all the latest Mavs apparel and other Mavs items, as well as a variety of Cowboys, Rangers, Stars and collegiate apparel.

Individual game tickets on sale soon

The Dallas Mavericks have announced the on-sale dates for single-game tickets for the preseason and regular season:

• Preseason Single-Game Tickets will go on sale Monday, September 8 at 10 a.m. There will be four home preseason games with the first one tipping off on Tuesday, October 7 vs. Washington (7:30 p.m.). Tickets will be available at the American Airlines Center North Box Office, online at mavs.com and via phone by calling 214.747.MAVS.

• Regular Season Single-Game Tickets will go on sale Saturday, October 4 at 10 a.m. The 2008-09 season will include 41 regular season home games. The Mavs will open up regular season play on Thursday, October 30 vs. Houston (7 p.m.) while the regular season home finale is set for Wednesday, April 15 vs. Houston (7 p.m.).

$2 Tickets: For the second season in a row, the Mavs will be offering over 500 $2 tickets for most home games this season. "We want everyone to be able to enjoy a Mavs game live," said Mavs owner Mark Cuban.

RPL Nights: RPL Nights return again for the third year and will feature special discounted tickets for 10 pre-selected games. Tickets normally priced $9 will be $2, $19 will be $10, $35 will be $20 and $50 will be $32.

Following is the list of games that are included in the RPL nights:

Tues., Oct. 7 vs. Washington (preseason)
Sat., Oct. 18 vs. Sacramento (preseason)
Tues., Oct. 21 vs. Chicago (preseason)
Thurs., Oct. 23 vs. Indiana (preseason)
Fri., Nov. 21 vs. Memphis
Tues., Nov. 25 vs. Indiana
Thurs., Dec. 11 vs. Charlotte
Mon., Dec. 15 vs. Denver
Tues., Dec. 23 vs. Memphis
Tues., Jan. 6 vs. L.A. Clippers

On Saturday, there will be a four ticket per person limit for all regular season games, RPL nights and $2 tickets. Tickets will be available at the American Airlines Center North Box Office, online at mavs.com and via phoneby calling 214.747.MAVS.

A lottery system will be in place for those fans that choose to purchase their tickets at American Airlines Center. Beginning at 7 a.m., a lottery number will be given to each fan that arrives early. At approximately 9:30 a.m. or when all the lottery numbers have been given out (whichever comes first), there will be a drawing to determine the first person in line. All numbers sequentially following the drawn number will be the second, third,fourth, etc. in line.

Tickets will be available through all channels simultaneously and lottery numbers (at American Airlines Center) do not guarantee anyone the right to purchase game tickets. Tickets will be sold upon availability. American Airlines Center policy prohibits camping out on the premises.

A complete list of preseason and regular season home games can be found at mavs.com.

Carlisle rounds out staff

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that Dwane Casey, Terry Stotts, Mario Elie and Tom Sterner will complete Head Coach Rick Carlisle’s coaching staff. Popeye Jones and Brad Davis remain with the franchise as player development coaches, Robert Hackett returns as an assistant coach in strength and conditioning, Monte Mathis is back as the team’s head video coordinator and Gary Boren continues as the team’s free throw coach.

“This rounds out what I believe is a very strong staff,” said Head Coach Rick Carlisle. “We have an excellent mixture of playing experience, head coaching experience, on-court teachers and technical knowledge. It has been a busy and productive summer for us connecting with our players individually and during the summer league environment. We now look forward to a productive remainder of the summer and the beginning of training camp.”

Read the rest of the official release at mavs.com.

Jet hosts Autobahn Celebrity Golf Classic

Just weeks before hitting the court for the Dallas Mavericks, Jason Terry will hit the links with other local celebrities as he hosts the 2008 Autobahn Celebrity Golf Classic. This is the first time Terry will host his Mavericks teammates and other professional athletes in this event benefiting children through Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Jason Terry Foundation. Sports celebrities and athletes will pair with participants for 18 holes of golf at the TPC Four Seasons Las Colinas on September 15.

"I believe it's important to utilize our gifts as professional athletes, and all that goes along with that, to provide children opportunities they may not otherwise have," said Terry. "If hosting teammates and other athletes in the Dallas area for golf will help change the lives of children involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters and The Jason Terry Foundation, I say tee-it-up."

Celebrities already confirmed for the event include Terry, Jerry Stackhouse, Gary Payton, Kurt Thomas, Rocket Ismail, Corey Dillon, Desmond Howard, Nick Van Exel, Michael Irvin, DeSagana Diop, Fred Brown, Spud Webb, Kenyon Martin, Raja Bell, Rashard Lewis, Antoine Walker and many more.

The redesigned TPC Four Seasons course in Las Colinas will feature caddies and an exclusive tournament format limited to only 18 teams. Jason Terry's celebrity friends will be paired with each foursome participating. For more information about the 2008 Autobahn Celebrity Golf Tournament or the Cantina Laredo "Party Under the Stars" contact Skyler Harper at 817.905.GOLF.

Terry has established his own foundation, The Jason Terry Foundation, supporting both community athletic and academic programs in his hometown. He also supports cancer causes and regularly participates in the NBA Read To Achieve and NBA All Star Reading Teams.

Big Brothers Big Sisters places caring adults in the lives of children in one-to-one mentoring relationships. Through the positive impact of those friendships, children with a Big Brother or Big Sister are more likely to graduate from high school and less likely to begin using drugs, begin using alcohol or become teenage parents. Contact us at 888.887.BIGS or http://www.bbbstx.org/

Southwest Division: Outlooks

The Southwest Division is arguably the toughest in the NBA, but is it tough enough to wrestle the trophy away from Boston? I bet the folks in Big D, Big Easy, Bayou City and Alamo City seem to think so.

The last of a three-part series by site writers from the Southwest discusses each team’s outlook for the upcoming season. As for the rest of the series, Part I: Major Moves Part II: Summer League.