FAIRFAX, Va. – Eddie Jones was routinely flipping 3-pointers before Saturday night's 90-86 exhibition loss to Washington, when he slipped over to assistant coach Paul Westphal and whispered, "Automatic."

Later, Jones made his first appearance as a Maverick, starting in the third game of the preseason. He made one of his three 3-point tries against the Wizards, and, just as important, he was a threat to do so.

"Eddie obviously looks a little rusty, but he was able to knock down a 3," Mavs coach Avery Johnson said. "And we'll see more of those go in once he gets in better shape."

That ability to stretch a defense is a prime reason why Jones is a candidate to be the starting shooting guard. Devin Harris is the starting point guard.

"Definitely rusty," said Jones, 35. "I think I'll be better next game. I got to make those when they leave me open."

Though he loves defense, Johnson won't necessarily go with the best available defender at shooting guard. He wants a player who can spread the floor offensively, as well as one who can defend. And he is still gathering facts. That's why Jerry Stackhouse started the first two exhibitions and Jones was in the lineup Saturday.

"Right now, we already know what our two small guys can do," Johnson said of Jason Terry and Harris. "There is lot of video on them. So right now, my first thought is I want to see how Stack fits in there. That's something I've been thinking about all summer. And we'll see how Eddie Jones fits in. And maybe we'll see how [Trenton] Hassell fits in."

One factor working against Hassell is that he's only made 14 3-pointers in 59 attempts in the last three seasons. An outside shooter who can spread the floor he is not.

That's a strength for Jones, but he brought some extra weight into training camp. Jones is expected to play 18 to 22 minutes per game in the regular season. He said coming in with weight to shed is "very typical" for him.

No matter how things break down, this group of wing players has Johnson thinking that the Mavericks may find the sort of player who can be a grunt worker, but with some scoring punch.

"This gives us our best chance," he said. "We have a better chance than we had last year. Trenton has been awfully good. We think he can help us in a lot of areas."

Yes, expectations are high: Avery Johnson was asked if this was a team he was confident could win the NBA title this season.

"Oh, yeah, we can do it with these guys," he said. "The only problem sometimes is I believe it more than them. That's what we're working on."

More dancing: Mark Cuban isn't the only one making a splash as a dancer. The Mavs Dancers 2007-08 calendar is going to be released at a party Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the House of Blues. The public is welcome, and the dancers will perform and be available for autographs.

This is the fifth annual calendar and was photographed entirely at the House of Blues. The calendars cost $12.99 and will be on sale at the AAC fan shops Nov. 3.

Briefly: Dirk Nowitzki, Terry and Stackhouse sat out Saturday's game. Terry will play the rest of the preseason, Johnson said.

DeSagana Diop was named a co-captain for Saturday's game after hitting three of four shots Friday in Chicago. "It's good because he went two-for-a-hundred all summer," Johnson said. "My son actually called me after the game last night and said, 'Daddy, Gana missed all of his shots in Vegas [summer league], and he made two last night.' So even my son, who was a ballboy in Vegas, noticed." Devin Harris was the other co-captain.

The George Mason students at Saturday's game haven't forgotten J.J. Barea from his days at Northeastern, a Patriot League rival of GMU. Apparently, Barea used to gel up his hair pretty good in college and, of course, the students in attendance serenaded him with "hair gel, hair gel, hair gel" chants.

Oleksiy Pecherov, the Wizards' first-round pick last year, is with the team after a season in Europe. He was an MVP at the Global Games a few years back. A 7-footer, Pecherov is considered a poor man's Dirk Nowitzki and, indeed, he hit his first 3-point try.