Why I'm warming up to Rick Carlisle

When word leaked out that the Dallas Mavericks were in negotiations with Rick Carlisle to be the team's new head coach I was less than enthused. My main problem with Carlisle was his reputation as another defensive specialist whose Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons teams consistently ranked at or near the bottom in offensive categories. Nothing against defense, mind you -- I am aware of the philosophy that offense sells tickets and defense wins championships. But I wanted someone with more of a balance, someone who stressed defense but also had an innovative scheme when it came to offense as well, someone to exploit the talents of Dirk Nowitzki, Josh Howard (or whomever we get for him in a trade), Jason Terry and Jason Kidd. I thought the Mavs might be moving too quickly in their pursuit of Carlisle, that perhaps they should wait until after the playoffs were over to see if there was a bench coach out there somewhere who could become a star head coach with the Mavs.

But the more I think about it, the more a Coach Carlisle sounds appealing. For one thing, he drastically improved Detroit and Indiana after becoming their coach (although Detroit's won-loss record declined each year after his first). But I'm not sure Carlisle ever had the offensive weapons with those two teams that he can have with the Mavs. So perhaps all those offensive statistics are misleading. Finally, one of my problems with former coach Avery Johnson was that he stuck to his system of running isolation plays after the team acquired Kidd instead of moving to a motion offense that would take advantage of Kidd's abilities. Carlisle, on the other hand, has always employed a motion offense. As for the idea of elevating a current assistant coach at a team currently in the playoffs: The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that the Mavs are too veteran a team to entrust to a first-time head coach. NBA coaches should begin their head coaching careers with younger teams, like Seattle or Portland.

Upon further review, Carlisle seems to be the best available among those with head coaching experience. Mike D'Antoni couldn't win a title at Phoenix with better players than he would have with the Mavericks. Besides, if he leaves the Suns, he should probably go to the Eastern Conference. And if D'Antoni does leave, you can bet that Phoenix will go after Carlisle, if he's available, and, given the choice, I'm betting 99.999 percent of all coaching candidates would choose Phoenix over Dallas. For the life of me, I can't see what anyone sees in Flip Saunders. His teams seem to win in spite of him during the regular season and then consistently fold in the playoffs. He is the most overrated coach in the NBA.

So go ahead, Mark, negotiate with Carlisle. Better yet, sign him.

Now, speaking of trades, has anyone else heard rumors of a Dallas-Denver deal that would involve the Mavs sending Howard, Erik Dampier, Brandon Bass and Deaven George to Denver for Kenyon Martin and Carmelo Anthony?