 |
 |
 |
|
May 14--Rick Carlisle will be formally introduced today as the Mavericks coach, and his first order of business will be to build his staff , as well as build relationships with the players.
The Mavericks scheduled a news conference for 3 p.m. today.
Carlisle, 48, said Tuesday that hiring his staff "may not happen right away" but that he expects to talk to most of the assistants who were on Avery Johnson's staff.
"Setting the staff is always a priority," said Carlisle, who signed a four-year contract on Saturday. "But the next thing, equal to that, is getting in touch with the players and building rapport with them."
That process has already begun. Carlisle has met briefly with Dirk Nowitzki and has dinner planned with Josh Howard later this week. He hopes to meet face-to-face with all the players as soon as possible. The Mavericks have eight players under contract for next season, but probably will keep at least some of their free agents.
Carlisle, who coached two years at Detroit and four at Indiana, will be charged with balancing uptempo and half-court, offense and defense, more than he was able to do with the Pacers and Pistons, who were mostly post-up, half-court defensive-minded teams.
-----
To see more of The Dallas Morning News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dallasnews.com.
Copyright (c) 2008, The Dallas Morning News
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
yunkdog 
