Nowitzki is "bouncier" than ever, he says, after taking a summer to relax for the first time in his NBA career. Every other year, there were Olympic qualifiers, European championships or other responsibilities to the German national team.

After realizing a dream and getting Germany to the Olympics, where he was the country's flag-bearer in Beijing last summer, Nowitzki finished the second round of the playoffs in May and then did ... nothing.

Now, he's found himself more Dirk-like than ever in training camp. And people are noticing.

"Physically, Dirk's in a lot better shape than he was this time last year in terms of his energy level," coach Rick Carlisle said. "And it's mentally draining, going to Beijing and flying all over the world and playing in qualifying tournaments.

"This year, it's different and his play is reflective of that."

The Mavericks seem to have a lot of players on their team who are tired of resting and can't wait to get cleared medically to play, such as Shawn Marion, Josh Howard and Tim Thomas.

Meanwhile, Nowitzki has only now realized how good it is to be well-rested.

"I definitely notice it," he said. "It usually takes me awhile to get rolling, but I feel a lot more energetic than I normally do in the preseason. I basically didn't compete at all this summer. ... I feel great."

While preseason statistics are about as important as the length of a player's hair, Nowitzki has been shooting 63percent over the last four exhibitions.

Tonight, he'll most likely get more of a challenge when the Mavericks meet Cleveland for the second time in four nights, this time at the University of Pittsburgh's Petersen Center.

Carlisle said Cleveland coach Mike Brown told him before Saturday's game that Shaquille O'Neal, LeBron James, Andersen Verajao and Mo Williams - all of whom sat out at American Airlines Center - would play tonight.

That should make this a good dress rehearsal for the regular season. The preseason ends Friday in Houston.

The regular season opener in a week can't come soon enough, especially given that Nowitzki is clearly in midseason form.

Carlisle said that the situation with Nowitzki and the German team was somewhat different than J.J. Barea, whose shoulder surgery kept him from playing for the Puerto Rico national team.

"You have some situations where you have younger guys that you would like to play for their national teams because they're at a stage where they need competitive, high-level international experience to help their NBA careers," Carlisle said.

"On the other hand, if you have veteran players, you'd probably rather see them forgo the opportunity to play for their national teams and save their energy for the regular season and prevent the possibility of injury."

After 12 years in the NBA, Nowitzki has finally found that out.

Roster update: The Mavericks have until 5 p.m. Monday to finalize the 15-man regular-season roster.

Most likely, they will keep Shawne Williams on the roster, though he isn't with the team. The Mavericks have a few options with him, which includes holding on to Williams until they see if anybody will take him via trade. The Mavericks probably would have to take back some deadwood to move Williams - either bad contracts or somebody else's problem.

They also could suspend Williams if the league agrees that his conduct last season was detrimental to the team.

They are not expected to waive Williams because he is owed more than $2.4million.

If he stays on, Nathan Jawai and Jake Voskuhl would be the logical players on the bubble. The Mavericks have 17 players currently.

6 p.m. today, at Pittsburgh (HDNet)

Mavericks SCHEDULE

PRESEASON

OCTOBER

Day Date Opponent TV Time

Tue 20 vs. Cleveland* HDNet 6:30 Fri 23 at Houston Ch. 21 7:30

* at Pittsburgh

REGULAR SEASON

OCTOBER

Day Date Opponent TV Time

Tue 27 Washington FSSW 7:30

Fri 30 at LA Lakers Ch. 21/ESPN 9:30

Sat 31 at LA Clippers Ch. 21 9:30