Dallas Mavericks: Rick Carlisle is Earning His Paycheck

As the Dallas Mavericks look to prove the moves made this offseason, Coach Carlisle will have his hands full.

The Dallas Mavericks have been a successful franchise in the NBA ever since the turn of the century. Despite going through three head coaches, most people agree that Rick Carlisle is the best coach Dallas has ever seen.

Carlisle has an impressive track record as a head coach for the Mavs and previously with the Pistons and Pacers. This year’s team is going to be a new challenge for the veteran coach. Although he’s used to seeing a new roster year after year, this one is very unique compared to the rest.

Since Carlisle took over the Mavericks in 2008, veteran leadership has been not just the theme, but the strength. Players like Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Jerry Stackhouse, Shawn Marion, Tyson Chandler, and more headlined the teams throughout.

This year, however, aside from Dirk, Deron Williams, and Andrew Bogut, the Mavericks are pretty limited in veterans. When Dallas normally rolled out a very deep, veteran bench, it helped with leadership on the court at all times.

Harrison Barnes, Seth Curry, Justin Anderson, and Salah Mejri give the team more rotational youth than Carlisle is used to. In fact, in the past, I have talked about how difficult it is to be a young player for Coach Carlisle. He is tough and demands respect and many of these young players don’t recognize that early on.

Factor in the number of rookies that have been given contracts this summer and Carlisle is going to have his hands full. That is going to include coaching both on and off the court.

For these reasons, Rick Carlisle is really earning every dollar of his contract this year. These players don’t just need to make progress in this season and become better players, they need to be ready to compete at a high level every single night. It is time for them to grow up and that starts with the coach.

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No matter what happens with the young players of the Dallas Mavericks this year, it is important to recognize that Carlisle has been hired to work with these players and any progress they make in their game can be partially attributed to his work and expertise.