Indiana Pacers: The case for and against reuniting with Rick Carlisle

Why the Indiana Pacers should stay clear from Rick Carlisle

MIA: Playoff Success

The main goal for the Indiana Pacers next season is not to simply make the playoffs, but to make noise in the postseason. And if they’re indeed operating on that primary objective, then Rick Carlisle, despite possessing a title to his name, may not be the catalyst that pushes the Blue and Gold over the top.

Aside from his coaching stint with the team previously, a motif that can be deemed synonymous between Carlisle and the Pacers is both parties, lack of acuity with recent playoff success. For the veteran coach, he has failed to get out of the first-round in six straight postseasons and his last playoff series win was a decade ago in their championship run. For Indiana, the franchise has been eliminated in the first-round for five consecutive years before failing to even get there this season, with the team’s last series win coming in 2014.

On the court, his teams’ late-game struggles are well-documented, but perhaps blown out of proportion. He doesn’t have a glaring hole in his coaching style because he emphasizes the equal importance of both offense and defense and he doesn’t subscribe to a stringent system. However, that his winning pedigree on the floor have not translated off the court is a sizeable asterisk.