MINNEAPOLIS — After a lot of film sessions with Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, it appears as though guard O.J. Mayo has become a well-rounded player.
Over the past two games against Houston and Detroit, Mayo has produced 35 points, 11 rebounds and 15 assists. He’s also 12-of-25 from the field, 8-of-13 from 3-point range, and has no turnovers. “In a way he’s stepped up, and in another way he’s just allowed the game to come to him,” Carlisle said. “Every night with him it’s going to start with if he plays solid defense.“If he can see situations and read them, that’s where the growth as a player is going to come from him. And when that happens our team gets better.”As the Mavs (28-33) prepare to play Minnesota at 6 Sunday night at the Target Center, Mayo explained his progress as a simple matter of being more focused and determined.“I’m just trying to be locked in on the objective, whether it’s the possession or coming out of timeouts,” Mayo said. “Just trying to get locked in on the objective and trying to execute as hard as I possibly can.”Not only has Carlisle been impressed with Mayo’s offensive game, he’s also applauded his efforts at the defensive end of the floor.“There’s been a gradual increase in terms of how well he’s reading things,” Carlisle said. “We just need him to continue to do that.”Mayo said attention to detail has helped his defense, adding: “I’m just watching a little film and getting some synergy on different players and seeing where they like to be and try to cut it off.”Steady progress and patience at the offensive end of the court, in addition, has made Mayo even more of a potent threat.“At the beginning of the year his pick-and-roll game as a pick-and-roll player was below average, and he’s brought it way, way up since then,” Carlisle said. “The key thing now is to continue to make progress.”Even forward Dirk Nowitzki has noticed a change in Mayo’s offensive game.“It feels like his shot is automatic,” Nowitzki said. “It feels like the game is slowing down to him.“When he’s open he just steps in really calmly and just knocks it down like it’s practice, almost. He’s not rushed out there. Just one, two, step, and it looks great, he looks confident.”Counting last Sunday’s game in Houston when he committed no turnovers, Mayo has gone three consecutive games without making a turnover. Prior to this streak, he’d only had four games this season when he didn’t have any turnovers. Jones waivedAlready knowing he was not going to be part of their future, the Mavs decided to waive third-year guard Dominique Jones on Saturday.A first-round pick — 25th overall — in the 2010 NBA Draft out of South Florida, Jones never found his niche with the Mavs. Plus, he experienced way too many attitude problems while failing to become anywhere near as productive a pro as he was in college.The final straw for the Mavs came before Friday’s road game against Detroit when Jones left the court shortly before the opening tip-off and didn’t return until the game was more than two minutes old.In 80 career games for the Mavs, Jones averaged just 3.1 points and 1.8 assists in 9.3 minutes. Also, because of a coach’s decision, Jones didn’t play in 25 of the 30 games the Mavs have played since Jan. 1 and logged only 29 minutes in the games in which he saw the court.Jones, who will be paid $1.276 million this season, will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. But the Mavs, who tried to trade Jones last month, already knew they were not going to re-sign him. Briefly:• Shawn Marion is listed as day-to-day after suffering a left calf contusion late during Wednesday’s 112-108 win over Houston. Marion sat out Friday’s game against Detroit.• After not playing Wednesday against Houston, center Chris Kaman had 10 points and six rebounds in just 15 minutes against Detroit.Dwain Price, 817-390-7760 Twitter: @dwainprice
