Rick Carlisle The Problem With The Dallas Mavericks?

Rick Carlisle is well-regarded in the basketball world as a fantastic coach, especially coaching out of the time-out.

His accomplishments stand at winning the 2002 Coach of the Year Award, leading the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers to the Eastern Conference Finals, leading the "Malice at the Palace" Pacers to the second round of the playoffs, and leading an overachieving Mavericks team into the second round of the playoffs last year.

However, this year may be different.

The Dallas Mavericks as of today stand atop the Southwest Division and third in the West on pace to win 54 games. They achieved this record with a hot 22-9 start and a 13 game winning streak coming out of the all-star break. Take this away, though, and their remaining record is below .500.

Even in the hot start and winning streak, the Mavericks have had embarrassing losses: losing to the Wizards on opening night, losing to the six man Warriors team, falling at home to the Knicks by over 20, and just yesterday blowing a 16 point lead against a reeling Hornets team.

Many of these losses are directly correlated to Carlisle's decision making.

-The shifting zone defense Rick Carlisle is infatuated with is mainly effective when playing inexperienced teams and by using quick defenders. His strategy of using this zone has worked against some teams, but has absolutely taken his team out of games with the Hornets, Nuggets, and Celtics to name a few. Good perimeter shooters don't mind having to deal with Jason Kidd or the undersized Jason Terry trying to chase down their shot.

-Carlisle giving Caron Butler the green light on his isolation play has also drawn the ire of many Mavs fans. The first words Carlisle told Butler when he arrived in Dallas was that the team would adjust to his strength: the right baseline isolation that ends with a contested jump shot. This isn't to bash Butler playing in his comfort zone, but when the Mavericks fall in love with the jump shot, it should be Butler's job to get to the rim and the foul line.

-Perhaps the decision that is worst of them all though is Carlisle's tendency to bring Eddy Najera to spell starting center Brendan Haywood instead of Erick Dampier. To compare, Najera is a energetic, true small forward at 6-8, 235 lbs while Dampier is a true center at 6-11, 265 lbs .

Najera's blue-collar style of play cannot overcome the hole in the middle when the coach plays him along side Dirk or Shawn Marion, especially when he receives nearly as many minutes as Haywood does at the pivot. Haywood and Dampier, despite both recovering from injury problems, both give the team a shot-blocking, rebounding presence to fill up the paint that Najera simply cannot provide.

Note: This article has just been spent critiquing the coach of the Mavericks, not criticizing him. This isn't to point out any flaws, as the Mavericks win-loss record and great wins over championship contenders this year speak for themselves about his coaching acumen.

This Mavericks team has the ability to reach the NBA Finals and even win the Championship, but only if Rick Carlisle can effectively manage his team and make good decisions throughout games.