Ricky C To Push the Rock in Big D?

Despite a past history to the contrary, that's the word right now: Next year's new-look Dallas Mavericks will be pushing the basketball up the floor with plenty of abandon.

As reported by ESPN:

At his formal introduction as Avery Johnson's replacement, [Rick] 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.

"One of the things that drew me to this opportunity was the chance to work with a different type of team in terms of personnel," he said. "When you play with Jason Kidd, I think you got to open up the floor and you got to allow him to push it. ... I think the thing is you've got to play to your strengths and you've got to adjust. For me, this isn't about me coming in with my style. This is about me coming in here and figuring out what the roster is going to be and fitting the style to the personnel."

If this truly turns out to be the case, it will be a pleasant surprise, and Carlisle will be more than worthy of commendation.

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Carlisle was known in both of his previous stops for his tediously slow style and his compulsion to throw up the stop sign on the fast break.  He had very successful regular seasons in both Detroit and Indiana with this style, and he has gained a reputation for having that
low-tempo game as his modus operandi.

In a league often dominated by egos and power trips, it's all too rare that we see either players or coaches happily adjust in order to give their teams the best chances to win.  If a man who had begun to gain the rigid taskmaster reputation for himself can do so, it will be very impressive.