The official word right now is that Rick Carlisle has interviewed and met with both Cuban and Donnie Nelson.

“We’ve had a couple of meetings,” Nelson said Saturday. “We’re very impressed by Rick, his basketball IQ and, more important, the kind of person he is. We’re excited about continuing the discussion.”

Of course we all know the unofficial story by now -- the decision has already been made to hire Carlisle.  Dallas wanted a proven commodity and apparently acted quickly on Carlisle out of fear that if they waited to see who became available (like Flip Saunders) all the proven options could have been taken.

Marc Stein says the deal isn't done yet, but that Carlisle is clearly the frontrunner.

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Indy Cornrows liked Carlisle during his time there.  To me, it says a lot if a fan of a coaches old team has good things to say about that coach.

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Gil LeBreton says Carlisle is a good choice because the players need a coach with experience and who has immediate credibility.

The Mavericks can't be blown up because there would be few, if any, recoverable pieces. They don't need discipline. They simply need a coach that they can believe in -- and one that believes in them.

The Mavericks don't need a college basketball coach or some eager, young assistant who wants to prove he's the next Gregg Popovich. They need, instead, someone who's comfortable in his own skin and who's willing to take Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd and Josh Howard for what they are.

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Jan Hubbard writes that Avery's constant negativity was the reason he had to go.

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Eddie Sefko likes Carlisle, and says that even though he has a defensive reputation he does balance that with a good offense.

Most notably, he coaches with a rare balance between offense and defense. While he's not known as an offensive genius – his teams usually averaged around 94 to 96 points per game – he has run a structured, motion offense, which would be a departure from Johnson's isolation offense.

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Can someone tell me what Galloway was trying to say in his article today.  He says he was wrong about liking the Kidd trade, but spends most of his time writing about why Devin Harris wouldn't have been any help.

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David Moore says the next coach needs to be able to put his faith in Kidd.

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Jeff Caplan says the Mavs will have to go with more youth next year because of their salary cap situation.

Caplan also has a list of the biggest offseason questions, the seasons most memorable moments, and grades each member of the roster.

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This Day in Mavs History

1999 Finished the 1998-99 season with a record of 19-31 (lockout shorten season).