Though I'm always skeptical when a head coach drafts a player 24th overall and then contends he "pin-pointed" the kid all along - see: Jimmy Johnson on 7th-rounder Leon Lett, circa 1991 - I'm willing to forge into the Rodrigue Beaubois Era with an open mind.
Well, I lied. I won't sit well with Beaubois without pre-conditions. You?
I know the French guard has long arms and mad hops - yes, it's very weird that his YouTube highlight video is set to a song by Michael Jackson - but here's my worry: He ain't gonna play next season. Not quality, crunch-time minutes anyway. Maybe some spot duty here and there, but he's not going to pry the ball from Jason Kidd or J.J. Barea.
In fact, coach Rick Carlisle admitted he couldn't promise that Beaubois (boo-BWAH) would be a rotation player, meaning among the Mavs' eight regulars.
Ugh.
"He has dynamic athleticism," Carlisle said last night at the AAC's Old No. 7 club. "He's an energy guy, a change-of-pace guy."
Actually, it could've been much worse. When NBA commish David Stern initially announced around 8:50 the Mavs were choosing 7-foot Ohio State center B.J. Mullens, the groan soared out of the AAC, through the nearby Chili's and echoed around desolate Victory Park. But just as we were assembling the list of failed Mavs' Great White Nopes (Blab, Garnett, Montross, Meyer, Anstey ...), a reprieve. Another foreigner, yes, but a reprieve nonetheless.
Here's hoping Beaubois is better than the Mavs' two previous French imports: Antoine Rigadeau and Tariq Abdul-Wahad.
