Tim MacMahon, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Matthews insists he'll be ready for opener, but Carlisle not sure

DALLAS -- Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle and shooting guard Wesley Matthews are dealing with their first disagreement.

Matthews, who is less than seven months removed from rupturing his left Achilles tendon and a fresh, four-year, $70 million deal, is determined to make his Dallas Mavericks debut in the Oct. 28 season opener. Carlisle considers that scenario a long shot.

"The possibility of Wes being back for the opening game has not been ruled out," Carlisle said. "I personally view it as a bit of a long shot, but it's possible. He has done extremely well. How it goes over the next few weeks will determine where he's at."

On Monday at the Mavs' media day, Carlisle said Matthews was "going to take a little longer" in his recovery.

"He's not going to want to tell you that, and we're going to have to fight to keep him off the court, but we've got to make sure we do this the right way and that's he's really 100 percent healthy and conditioned and all of those things before getting into an NBA game," Carlisle said.

Matthews, who earned the nickname "Iron Man" due to his durability, toughness and relentless work ethic, didn't blink Monday when informed of Carlisle's comments. His goal for his recovery remains the same.

"I'm trying to be ready by opening day," Matthews said. "Whether I can play in it or not, I can't really control that. But my goal is to [be] ready and available opening day."

Matthews has consistently been given encouraging feedback from doctors during his recovery process. He has been cleared for "everything but contact" to begin training camp. Mark Cuban seemed to make a point to focus on Matthews moving well during defensive drills in videos the Mavs owner sent out on Cyber Dust.

Matthews isn't much interested in a history lesson on how hard it is to come back from a torn Achilles tendon. He had a brief conversation with Kobe Bryant on the subject when the Lakers legend reached out after Matthews suffered his injury against the Mavs in March.

As far as Matthews is concerned, the struggles of other players coming back from this injury aren't relevant.

"I don't really pay too much attention to that because if I paid attention to people that were in my situation before me, then I wouldn't be up here standing and talking to you guys," Matthews said, "because I can't think of too many undrafted free agents that have done what I've done."

What Matthews has done is establish himself as one of the NBA's most well-rounded shooting guards. He's a premier 3-point shooter who is also an effective post-up threat, a savvy, physical defender who embraces the challenge of guarding the opponent's best wing and a lauded locker-room leader.

Well, that's what he was before suffering one of the worst injuries that can happen to an NBA player. Can he be that guy again?

"I'm not confident that I'm going to be that player," Matthews said. "I'm confident that I'm going to be better than that player."

On that point, Matthews and his coach completely agree.

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