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DALLAS -- Rick Carlisle is off to a great start as coach of the Dallas Mavericks. He's already won over Dirk Nowitzki and he's saying exactly what Jason Kidd wants to hear.
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At his formal introduction as Avery Johnson's replacement, Carlisle repeatedly stressed Wednesday he intends to let Kidd run, run and run some more, going so far as to emphasize that players better spend all summer getting into shape to handle all the running they'll be doing next season.
Then came the disclaimer.
"Having said all that about the offensive end, we've got to be passionate and vigilant about preserving what Avery did here in establishing the defensive end," Carlisle said. "This team didn't get to the championship round until they really made a commitment defensively."
Sitting near the back of the room, Nowitzki loved what he was hearing.
"That's cool," he whispered.
Truth is, Carlisle and Nowitzki hit it off the first time they met, a few days into the coaching search. Carlisle was the first and only candidate interviewed and within days he was going through a second round of meetings with team owner Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson, the team's president of basketball operations. After getting together in Indianapolis, they met in Dallas and invited Nowitzki to join them at Cuban's house.
Nowitzki figured he'd be there an hour. He stayed more than four, starving because he'd skipped lunch, but thrilled with everything he heard.
"He was great, just a great guy. Somebody you can talk to that's easygoing," Nowitzki said. "What I liked about it the most was he asked me, `What do I like? What do I want to improve on going forward?"'
Carlisle even gave Nowitzki some pointers, tips he'd gleaned from his days playing and coaching with Larry Bird.
"We got up in the living room and he already started teaching me some stuff that Larry used to do to get easier looks and get himself going if there where nights when his jumper wasn't going," Nowitzki said.
Nowitzki seemed surprised when he was told Carlisle didn't exactly have a reputation for being a player's coach. He noted that Carlisle sent him several text messages during the week lawyers spent wrangling over the contract and called him the night it was done. Carlisle also is planning on going to Germany for a few days this summer to continue bonding with his best player.
"So I'm looking forward to communicating a lot," Nowitzki said. "I think that's what Avery was missing a little bit, the communication with the players individually. I think that's the way to go -- not only find your way as a coach, but find out what the players like, where they like to catch the ball, what sets they like. Because it's still a player's league, it's not a league of coaches. You've got to find the way to get the best out of players."
