Coaching and Carlisle - Mavs X and O

[SportPsychMav]

I can't remember who it was but a few years ago there was a player that mentioned something about Carlisle jerking the players around like rag dolls...referring to the lineups and tinkering.  All I know for sure is that I don't like the lineups...or the jerking around. The team forgot to ask me though.  It also sometimes looks like Carlisle can be a bit petty.  Too bad we are not in the inner circle...

That was Shawn Marion, who subsequently expressed regret about making the remark.

Considering the circumstances, I think it's okay that the team doesn't have a fixed rotation at this point. Agree that tinkering is in Carlisle's DNA, and that it would indeed be fun to be a fly on the wall!

Ah yes...I remember now.  Well...Carlisle is the coach.  The mavs are my team.  I go where they go.  I hope that is to the playoffs...and all the way up.

In this context it doesn't really matter if Marion regrets masking that remark. Still gives evidence that this tinkering messes with the players. 
It's a young team, they need stabilty.

I think that the Mavs would agree that a fixed rotation would be easier on the players. I also think, from their perspective, it doesn't especially matter. 

I will elaborate on what I think their primary objectives are, and how the tinkering works in. I am not attempting to serve as an apologist for their position, just saying what I think it is. 

As fans, we tend to focus on one game at a time, or even one season at a time, as if that were an end unto itself. So, doing something that makes a team that is trying to win less likely to win in the short term is confounding to us. 

The Mavericks, at the front office level, are a very forward-thinking organization. They are planning for several years out, and are fairly ruthless about not getting overly attached to individual players from a business standpoint. There is a very good chance that they don't plan for most of these players to even be in the squad in one to three seasons. Hence, whether the role players are comfortable with the rotation isn't a high priority item on their list. They are focused on making the Luka-KP duo work, seeing what kind of players they need around them, what kind of players they play well with, where they most need to upgrade, etc. 

They are also trying to make a playoff push, so matters like consistency of rotation may become more important as the season wears on, if RC thinks it will improve their likelihood of getting into the postseason. But having a fixed rotation isn't a goal in and of itself. They are aware that the players would be more comfortable in that situation, and they think they are making the right choice long term by experimenting in a year in which they aren't contending for a deep playoff run in any case.

I realize that you probably don't agree that they should take this view, and that's fine. I am not taking a position on it. I am just trying to lay out why decisions that don't seem to make any sense to us fans can seem to make all kinds of sense to someone who is making choices based on a longer term perspective.

We will never know, there are an infinite number of possible perspectives to be taken. 

In sports, as with everything in life it is always a competition between what is best now and what is possibly best in the future.

It is quite sure they are not fixed on this group of players, all have easily tradeable contracts and they have value.

From past experiences we know the MBT loves to have options. 


When pointing to the instability of the roles being a problem for younger players, it is simply an explanation, most of the players are insecure.

Multiple competing goals. Individuals (Coach, Owner, Fans, Players)

It's all delicate.