Finally freed, Roddy refuses to complain

Published April 30, 2010 at 7:01 a.m.

An off-season of second-guessing coach Rick Carlisle commenced during Game 6's fourth quarter, as rookie guard Roddy Beaubois' sat the bench despite playing a huge role in Dallas' third-quarter comeback against the Spurs.

But Beaubois insists he isn't, and won't be, among the second-guessers.

"Everybody told me to just try to be ready and when they called my name, I just played my game," Beaubois said, after scoring 16 points in 20 mostly-electrifying minutes Thursday.

But when he was helping Dirk Nowitzki lead the Mavericks comeback, didn't part of him think, "See, Coach, this is what I could have been doing all series"?

"You don't think about it," he said. "Like I said, it was coach's decision. I think everybody tried to play very hard and did a good job. It's OK. But when he called my name I just wanted to push myself and try to win the game. That's it."

And how did he feel about sitting out most of the fourth quarter, until Carlisle inserted him with about three minutes left? Didn't he want to be in the game, helping his teammates the way he did in the second and third quarters?
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"For sure," he said. "But that is Coach's decision. We don't know, maybe it was a better decision, but for sure I wanted to be there to help the team."

Even in the somber Mavericks locker room, several teammates took time to praise the rookie, not only for his play Thursday, but the flashes of brilliance he showed this season.

"Man, if he keeps improving, stays humble, he's going to be fun to watch for a long, long time," Dirk Nowitzki said.

Brendan Haywood: "I've seen a lot of rookies break mentally around this time and nothing breaks this kid and he has no fear. He's going to be a great player."

Last, but certainly not least important, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban:

"I was proud to see him come in and he just played hard and obviously had a big impact on the game. He showed all the "Free Roddy B" people who have been wanting to see him, and he did it on a big stage.

"It's funny, you look at the series George Hill had last year when he had a little bit of impact and this year he just killed us. Hopefully Roddy will look back at this year and Roddy had a little bit of an impact and next year he'll be killing people."

Cuban laughed when asked whether he, too, got caught up in fans' desire to see the rookie play more: "Yeah, when he made a couple of shots and drove to the basket I was screaming 'Free Roddy B' from behind the bench."

But when asked whether he was comfortable with Carlisle's playing rotations during the season, Cuban wouldn't bite.

"I'm not a coach," he said. "So I don't even have an opinion on that."

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