Grading the Mavs' Season: Rick Carlisle

by mayur.patel on Aug 25, 2010 8:34 PM CDT

After looking at our last poll, most of MMB gave Brendan Haywood 7’s. Adding Butler’s grade to the mix, this is what we have so far:

Dirk – 9/10 (too close to call either way)

Kidd – 8

Marion – 6

JET – 5/6

Butler – 7

Haywood - 7

The last person on our report card is going to be Coach Rick Carlisle.

In his short 2 seasons in Dallas, Carlisle’s tenure has been rocky to say the least. Although he has had his moments, such as getting into the second round in 2008 and finishing with the 2^nd best record in the West the past season, he’s been known far more for his faults. Although he sometimes does not get as much credit as he should considering he had walked into a team with an aging and declining roster, the fact of the matter remains that he has made some truly questionable decisions which have indirectly led to some losses for his team. But I’ll leave it to you all as the fans to decide his grade.

Good: Say what you want about Carlisle, but the relaxed atmosphere he has brought to the Mavs has really helped this team throughout the last two years. This is in sharp contrast to the atmosphere around the team when Avery Johnson was coach as Johnson's demeanor wore on the team at the end of his tenure. Another key aspect that Carlisle has brought to the Mavs is experience from the head coaching level: he has been the coach of several teams in Indiana and Detroit that went far in the playoffs and learned from one of the most respected coaches in NBA history in Chuck Daly.

Negative: As many as there are, lets just name a few.

Roddy B in Game 6/Season – If anyone needs that to be explained at all, you might need to have your MFFL card revoked.
Not Playing Caron Butler in Game 3- Sitting Butler for part of the second half is one thing, but when you sit one of your best scorers for the entire second half, it is an absolutely questionable coaching decision.
Overplaying Jason Kidd – Granted, this team would probably not have won the division if Kidd had played lower minutes, but at the same time, Kidd was very ineffective in the playoffs, which, despite rumors of a sickness, probably had to do with fatigue.
JJ Barea – Let me be honest for a second, I think JJ Barea can be a solid back-up point guard when played in the right situation. However, that situation does not involve playing 20 minutes a game! Carlisle’s insistence of playing Barea clearly was one of the reasons to the Mavs’ downfall.

Feel free to list any more negatives you know about Carlisle.

My Grade: 4. Bleah. Look, the guy has shown that he can coach in his stops. But the fact of the matter is that he made some questionable decisions this past season which really hindered this team (especially in the playoffs). I’m sure the rest of you will have somewhat similar grades (if not lower)!

Outlook: Three words: make or break. This is probably the biggest season for Carlisle since he has become coach of the Mavs. If this team struggles and flames out in the playoffs again, he’ll likely be gone, but if this team does end up succeeding, I think its safe to say we’ll see him another year at the very least.

Poll

Grade Rick Carlisle (enough said) with 10 being the highest and 1 being the lowest.

1

12 votes

2

2 votes

3

12 votes

4

17 votes

5

30 votes

6

22 votes

7

28 votes

8

17 votes

9

7 votes

10

5 votes

152 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 15 comments | 0 recs |

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Comments

8 votes not counting mine and no comments?

I gave the man a 3, lowest grade so far on the poll (which is sad considering that it appears only the trolls have voted so far).

I understand the man has experience,that’s great. The issue is that we have an unconventional team and to utilize that we need an “outside the box” thinker. I know he got the Washington players midseason and maybe there were some integration issues but that’s no excuse. When you have players that aren’t pulling their weight (i.e. Dampier and Terry) you have to try the new guys. Haywood could have made a big difference for us if he’d gotten some time and there were days when anything would have been better than Terry. Lets be honest, his only real lineup change was the “small ball and Dirk” set. What’s worse is that he’s too inclined to change his lineup as a reaction to what the other coach does. You won’t see Phil Jackson frantically making substitutions just because the other team changed their lineup, he makes his move deliberately and lets the other guy respond to him. Rick needs to have a better grasp on who’s capable of what and put out a solid lineup and let them do their thing.

As for the aging team defense, the more experienced player isn’t always the best player in a tough situation. We had a decent amount of youth and energy on the bench. Problem is that most of the time that youth ad energy STAYED ON THE BENCH.

I honestly think that Rick is our weakest link now, there’s only two things that could keep us out of the western conference finals: the Lakers or Carlisle failing us as a coach again.

by elbow greater than face on Aug 25, 2010 11:53 PM CDT reply actions

For the most part, good stuff

You won’t see Phil Jackson frantically making substitutions just because the other team changed their lineup, he makes his move deliberately and lets the other guy respond to him.

Exactly! You need to make other teams adjust to you, not the other way around – a trap that Carlisle fell into too many times last year.

As for the roster part, there were literally almost no young people on the roster when he took over. Unless you want to count someone like JJ Barea, the young guys didn’t start showing up till after with Roddy B and DoJo.

And I’d end OKC to the end of your list.

Mavs MoneyBall!!
Dallas Stars Examiner!!
poster formerly known as hinduplaya

by mayur.patel on Aug 26, 2010 12:08 AM CDT up reply actions

Okay, fair enough.

I should retract “young” and replace it with “not as old”. I mean the 40 minute on Kidd when we have Barea is the tip of the iceburg.

I’ll also somewhat agree with your comment about OKC stopping us, but really if our team is coached right we’re way deeper and more talented so it should be a reasonably easy win for us.

by elbow greater than face on Aug 26, 2010 12:15 AM CDT up reply actions

5

if we’re on the same scale as the players, he gets equal consideration in the regular season and the playoff series. 8 or 9 if he knew what the hell he was doing with the rotation in the playoffs, same goes for his game to game adjustments. since he didn’t, and he played fucking barea or terry over beaubois, he gets a five.

an emotional grade would be 1. the guy comes off as an ass who somehow knows everything when he’s interviewed, and that, clearly, rubs me the wrong way. he needs to get his shit together this year, and figure out what he has; he needs to give nowitzki, and kidd serious rest during the regular season, and he needs to stop playing barea. if he doesn’t get out of the first round again, he should get shit-canned.

by buckets on Aug 26, 2010 12:49 AM CDT reply actions

if he doesn’t get out of the first round again, he should get shit-canned.

I’ll second that. It’s just too bad that Cubes is gun-shy on that whole firing the coach thing since he paid Avery for nothing for two years.

by elbow greater than face on Aug 26, 2010 8:49 AM CDT reply actions

I know I've defended Carlisle, but I agree with this.

I’m not his ultimate homer or some such, and he has to have playoff success. I’ve liked what he’s done in the regular season, but winning in the playoffs is a must for a team that doesn’t have any problems getting to them. A firing is in order if he can’t make it work this year, especially with all the talent AND having a year to let it mold.

I gave him a 6, by the way, which I think is fair for the 2nd seed in the West.

by tcat75 on Aug 29, 2010 1:28 PM CDT up reply actions

Our starting lineup was Jason Kidd, Caron Butler, Shawn Marion, Brendan Haywood, and Dirk

And we lost in 6 games in the first round. That is some crappy coaching.

by JoeyJoeJoeJr.Shabadoo on Aug 26, 2010 9:29 AM CDT reply actions

Uhm...

Those names are great on Paper, but what do they mean?

Kidd-Old, slow. Has experience and can shoot but is dead versus a quick guard.
Butler-Past his prime. Really a spot up shooter. Has lost a step, Not as intense and agressive as he used to be. Defense has fallen a bit.
Marion-Demoted to “above average” defender. Can no longer shoot. Can no longer finish. Could never pass.
Dirk-Straight Badass
Haywood-A big defensive body that might give you 12 points off of rebounds and good passes, on a good night.

Sure they sound cool, but they aren’t what they used to be.

~Karim!

by KarimTheDream on Aug 30, 2010 11:05 PM CDT up reply actions

I gave him a 7

WHich is what i felt he Deserved. Now People want to say that he was outcoached in our Six game series with the Spurs. I will agree with you on that. However I pose this Question to you. Do you really think that a Rookie SG and a SF that is at the SG postition would have made up for that? I think that THE Mavs got caught by a pretty good team that was well rested due to injuries who are coached by one of the premier coaches in the league. Now could things have happened Differantly? Maybe, but that doesnt take away from the fact that The Mavs simply got Beat by the better Team.

by I draft the Cowboys!!!! on Aug 26, 2010 6:02 PM CDT reply actions

I still think we got beat by a better organized team.

Popovich had his shit together, Rick did not. Manu was not his usual self after the nose incident, Duncan looked old and Tony Parker looked overrated as usual, we still lost. I really don’t think the Spurs had an overall better roster than Dallas did at the time, they just made better use of what they did have.

by elbow greater than face on Aug 26, 2010 6:47 PM CDT up reply actions

You really can't say that though

I’ll give the Spurs credit for going out and beating the Mavs, but lets look at two games for a second.
Game 3 and Game 6
In game 3, Carlisle played the immortal JJ Barea, Jason Terry, and Erick Dampier 31, 36, and 26 minutes, respectively. Now to give credit to those players, they did play a large part in helping Dallas overcome an early deficit and to take a lead in the 3rd quarter, but when the final quarter rolled around, these guys were gassed, whild Brendan Haywood and Caron Butler, who would have been better options, remained on the bench. Now at that point Carlisle could’ve been smart and played some of the other guys, but he STUCK with the tired players who ultimately ended up losing a crucial and winnable game.

As for Game 6, I agree that Roddy B is young and its hard to know what would’ve happen, but when you put a player like Terry, who has been dreadful in the series and would finish 1 for 7 from the field in Game 6, into the Game and then refuse to put Roddy B back in until the end of the game, that truly is an awful coaching decisions.

Am I saying the Mavs would’ve won Games 3 and 6? No, but if Carlisle had made these changes, there’s a good chance that Dallas would’ve won at least one of those games and hosted a Game 7 at the AAC!

Mavs MoneyBall!!
Dallas Stars Examiner!!
poster formerly known as hinduplaya

by mayur.patel on Aug 26, 2010 7:51 PM CDT up reply actions

I wouldn't say that San Antonio was the better team

The regular season demonstrated that the Spurs were a second-tier team. Then, after beating us, they were beaten 4-0 by the Suns in the next round of the playoffs. The series against us was the only time that the Spurs appeared to be a contending team, and that had a lot to do with Carlisle’s crappy coaching.

by JoeyJoeJoeJr.Shabadoo on Aug 26, 2010 8:06 PM CDT up reply actions

Thank you mayur and JoeyJoeJoe

@ mayur.patel thanks for digging up the #s on minutes for those, I hate having to find stuff like that

@ JoeyJoeJoeJr.Shabadoo way to put it into context that everyone should be able to relate to, I didn’t think big picture enough to phrase it like that.

Ricks case gets worse by the minute…

by elbow greater than face on Aug 26, 2010 10:08 PM CDT up reply actions

Where's the "Moron as Rick Carlisle" option?

by bruce182 on Aug 27, 2010 4:54 AM CDT reply actions

A work in progress

I didn’t vote on this one because all I can remember is the playoffs and Beaubois sitting on the bench half the year. And I didn’t think it was fair to give Rick a 1.

I think he will improve this year. I just hope he’s not so in love with certain players that it clouds his judgment as to who really should get the most playing time.

by young guns on Aug 31, 2010 8:39 PM CDT reply actions