Jan Hubbard 
Carlisle's hello much different than Johnson's goodbye
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
DALLAS -- When the Dallas Mavericks introduced Rick Carlisle as their new head coach Wednesday, it would have been a nice touch to play the opening to The Twilight Zone before the news conference began.
"You're traveling through another dimension... your next stop: The Twilight Zone."
The last two years have been weird for the Mavericks. If you had asked me on May 14, 2006, about Dallas having a new head coach in 2008, I would have ventured that Mark Cuban would have a better shot of winning Dancing With the Stars.
At the time, the Mavericks held a 2-1 lead over San Antonio in their Western Conference semifinal series. Excitement was building. The franchise was brimming with optimism.
Or so it seemed. We discovered in the ensuing two years, however, that a pattern of negativism and cynicism began developing when the Mavericks reached the NBA Finals against the Heat. The root was a lack of belief, certainly on the part of the head coach, that the team was as good as the record would suggest.
The Mavericks have never seemed to enjoy their success, and that's had a deleterious effect on their self-image. Despite averaging 59 victories the last three seasons and visiting the Finals once, the Mavericks never developed the confidence and swagger that is characteristic of successful teams.
Perhaps it can be explained on one level.
"I say the same thing every year," Cuban said. "There's one winner and 29 people tied for last place. The goal is to win a championship."
But it is still strange that, except for perhaps Jerry Stackhouse, a team as good as the Mavericks has never displayed that healthy sort of cockiness. Maybe Rick Carlisle can change that.
Carlisle was impressive Wednesday in his first appearance before the local mass media, and he seemed to understand how strange the situation has been.
In retrospect, Johnson's last news conference was nothing short of bizarre. He said the team that reached the Finals wasn't that good, the 67-win team from 2006-07 could have lost another 15 games and wasn't that good, and that it was a miracle the Mavericks made the playoffs this season.
"I'm not sure if Avery said this or not," Carlisle said, "but whoever I was speaking with said, 'Yeah, Avery came out and said this team is not a playoff team next year, in his opinion.'
"I don't know if he said that or not. But I'm just sure that this is a veteran team with a lot of pride, and that will provide a lot of motivation for these guys over the summer to get in great shape and come into training camp in the best possible condition to really go at this hard."
Wouldn't that be ironic -- that Avery's lack of belief in his players ultimately motivated them after he left?
The mood Wednesday was the polar opposite of Johnson's last news conference. Instead of focusing on the Mavericks' shortcomings, Carlisle concentrated on the possibilities.
Perhaps that was the effect of being fired from his first two jobs in Detroit and Indiana. If losing a job is the equivalent of failure, then the smart coach adapts when he gets another opportunity. Carlisle's reputation is that he is a structured coach who hates the fast break, and instead of waiting to be asked about that, he brought up the subject.
He admitted that in the past, he ran a set offense and spent a lot of time calling plays. But he said that's not who he is, especially with a point guard like Jason Kidd.
"When you play with Jason Kidd," Carlisle said, "I think you got to open up the floor and you got to allow him to push it up, and our wing guys are going to have to get conditioned to really run. The thing that Jason Kidd does better than any point guard probably in the history of the game is push that thing ahead."
By trading for Kidd, the Mavericks committed to the running game. Kidd will turn 36 during next season and is in the last year of his contract. The Mavericks must tailor their team to his talents, even if it is for only one season.
As Mavericks GM Donnie Nelson pointed out: "The reality of the West is any year can be your year. Look what New Orleans has done. We feel if we make a couple of tweaks, we can be right there."
It would be foolish at this point to suggest the Mavericks will be favorites to win a title, or even that they are a primary contender. But perhaps one tool that Carlisle has is to point out that three years of averaging 59 victories is a sign of excellence -- not failure and not luck. It's OK to be frustrated if you don't win a title, but it's not a miracle for a good team to get close.
And if someone believes that sort of weirdness, you can't help but to be better when that person leaves and a new, positive person takes over.
Jan Hubbard, 817-390-7760
