Carlisle, Casey have mutual respect for each other

One day working as an assistant coach on Rick Carlisle’s Dallas Mavericks staff, Dwane Casey had an idea he thought would work.

So he did what any loyal assistant would do. He ran it by Carlisle first to get his thoughts on it.

Carlisle, though, had other ideas.

“I never will forget the first time I said ‘I’m going to throw something out there,’” Casey said. “[Carlisle] said, ‘Nah, nah, nah, don’t throw it out there. Don’t throw anything against the wall. If you’re the head coach, how would you do it?’

“So he had you thinking as a head coach as an assistant.”

Casey was an assistant to Carlisle from 2008-11. He was the defensive coordinator when the Mavs won the 2011 NBA title. Shortly after that championship season, Casey was a hot commodity and became the head coach of the Toronto Raptors — a position he still holds.

Although they are now on separate teams, Carlisle and Casey will forever share a special bond. The respect between the two remains the same.

“He’s done one of the best jobs in basketball,” Carlisle said of Casey. “Last year they were deciding whether to blow up the team and go with the lottery and all that, and he coached them into the top of the East and they realized they’ve got a good team, and they’ve gotten better this year.

“That’s one of the best [coaching] jobs in the last three-and-a-half years that I’ve seen. When he went there the first year they were not a good defensive team at all, and in one year their numbers totally changed.”

The Raptors were 48-34 last year and lost to Brooklyn in seven games in a first-round playoff matchup. The Mavs were 49-33 and lost to eventual champion San Antonio in seven games in the first round.

This year, the Mavs (38-20) and Raptors (37-19) are again sporting similar records and likely bound for the playoffs, with Toronto owning the second-best record in the East. Meanwhile, Casey acknowledged that he learned a lot working under Carlisle and appreciated the latitude he was given during his three seasons with the Mavs.

Casey said: “I think that’s one of his attributes as far as developing coaches is have them to think, ‘OK, if you were in charge of this team how would you make that decision, what decision would you make?’

“And just don’t throw it out there unless you’re ready to be accountable for it. And that really helped a lot as far as making decisions now.”

Weather watcher

Carlisle wasn’t exactly thrilled that the inclement weather forced him to canceled Monday’s practice. With Amar’e Stoudemire just two games into his tenure with the Mavs, practice time is Carlisle’s best friend.

“We spent three or four days doing stuff on the court with him,” Carlisle said. “Once you get into that competitive mode, some of the things that you run through with [head video coordinator and scout] Mike Shedd as your power forward you don’t recall quiet as quickly.

“So we’ve just got to keep working with him. That’s why it’s hard when you get a practice canceled.”

This story was originally published February 24, 2015 at 9:43 PM with the headline "Carlisle, Casey have mutual respect for each other."