There were a lot of interesting quotes I couldn't squeeze into my column about Mavericks rookie Roddy Beaubois. Here's a sampling:

Donnie Nelson: “When you have that kind of athletic package, you know you have something pretty special. But that means nothing if you don’t have the software. When we actually had a chance to sit down, actually watch film with him and see how he saw the game, check his vision and his peripheral, all of those things checked off. We felt pretty good about drafting him, especially where we ended up picking him.”

Mark Cuban: “You guys know how high I’ve been on him and he’s showing exactly what we expected of him. As long as he keeps on learning … I just didn’t know if he’d get the opportunity. He’s one of those rare breeds that’s a true, pass-first point guard that’s also a scoring point guard. He’s almost like J. Kidd. He’ll pass to a fault sometimes, but he’s got the skills to go both ways.”

Rick Carlisle: “He’s just got to continue to stay at it, keep battling out there. The more you play, it gets tougher, because teams see more film on you, talk about scouting and that kind of stuff. But he’s a guy we obviously need to play well.”

Jason Kidd: “The sky is the limit for this kid. Roddy has taken in a lot. He’s starting, he feels comfortable and he does have a lot of talent. He’s going to make rookie mistakes, but the big thing is for him to just continue playing hard and keep learning. He’s up for that.”

Dirk Nowitzki: “He’s impressed everybody so far. He’s picked up a lot of the stuff quick. We all knew that he was fast and could score, but in the NBA game, there’s a lot more than just being fast. He’s learned the rotations, the defense, all the calls. I think he’s adjusted real, real well. We’re all impressed by his progress and improvement. He’s still got a long way to go in this league, but I really like his upside.”