The Indiana Pacers are one of seven teams that currently have a coaching vacancy in the league. While the list was initially not as crowded as before, the Dallas Mavericks spawned fireworks recently upon news of longtime head coach Rick Carlisle not coming back to the franchise. This came after a string of events for the team which involved the firing of seasoned general manager Donnie Nelson and the alleged uncertainty around Luka Doncic‘s long-term commitment.
Front office unrest has not been extraordinary this season. In fact, the Pacers signaled what seems to be the genesis of a defining offseason by firing first-year head coach Nate Bjorkgren after a campaign mired by off-court tumult, locker room disconnect and failed on-court experiments which cultivated in a lottery finish.
The Indiana Pacers should be an interesting destination for available coaches
Aside from Indiana, other teams slated to pluck in the coaching hunt as of writing include Boston, Dallas, New Orleans, Orlando, Portland and Washington. While the list is flocked with teams boasting superstar talents, which the Pacers currently don’t have, or at least, not yet, the Blue and Gold should be an appealing destination for available coaches.
Unlike their big market counterparts, the pressure to make a lofty jump isn’t as high in Indiana, especially with the franchise thriving in the recent past by jumping past teams with solid team culture. However, mediocrity will never be a discussion in Indy, a basketball city, as the franchise is clearly invested on winning in the present.
One coach that the Pacers brass should pursue is Rick Carlisle. One of the league’s most respected tacticians with a wonderful career spearheaded by an NBA title in 2011, he should be pretty high on all teams’ radars. While Indiana will not be the definitive favorites to land the veteran coach, what are his strengths and weaknesses that may benefit or affect the team if he lands the coaching gig?
Why the Indiana Pacers should hire Rick Carlisle
History and Familiarity
No one can question Rick Carlisle’s winning pedigree. Boasting a 836-689 coaching record, good for a .548 percent winning percentage while having the third-most wins among active coaches (well, before he got fired), there is no doubt that he can build a winning culture. Alas, he has a championship on his belt—which is more than what the Indiana Pacers have as a franchise.
The franchise and the Indy faithful should also be amicable to Carlisle. After all, he has already served as the coach of the team from 2003 to 2007, even leading the Pacers to a franchise-best 61 wins in his first season with team before moving on to Dallas after three subsequent mediocre seasons.
However, the on-court product of Rick Carlisle is more intriguing. Perennially known as one of the league’s best with in-game adjustments, his penchant for surprising opposing teams with off-putting tactics has put the Mavericks in winning position despite being underdogs.
Why the Indiana Pacers should hire Rick Carlisle
King of Adjustments?
In 2011, he led Dallas to a title with a perimeter-focused offense that revolved around Dirk Nowitzki to upend heavy favorites Miami Heat, riding a core filled with seasoned veterans who are past their primes. In 2014, his eighth-seeded squad turned out to be the biggest threat to eventual champions San Antonio Spurs. Despite a glaring mismatch, his switching defense perplexed the Spurs’ intricate ball movement and forced a seven-game series.
Most recently, the Luka Doncic-led Dallas teams threatened definitive favorites LA Clippers and came close to a series win. While their opponents feasted by playing small, Carlisle emphasized size without compromising the offense, going as far as playing two behemoths against the Clips’ 5-out lineup to punish their aggressive defense on Doncic.
Despite being an experienced coach, Carlisle is not afraid to cling to new norms to usher in the modern game. With Nowitzki, he was known for his innovative half court sets and play calls on offense and defense. With Doncic, he catered to the phenom’s outstanding court vision by implementing a read-and-react playstyle that empowers the players even without the drawing board. It even cultivated in the league’s most efficient offense in history in 2019-2020.
The Indiana Pacers should hold his strengths in high regard. For a team recently led by a coach who adjusted merely because of principle instead of necessity, and before him, by a coach who was outright allergic to change, someone with a championship pedigree who can shift gears to benefit the team is most ideal for the job, especially with the franchise needing clarity on the ceiling of its current core.
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.
Why the Indiana Pacers should stay clear from Rick Carlisle
Team Culture, or lack thereof
Long tenured coaches are expected to be culture builders. Gregg Popovich in San Antonio has instilled a team-oriented, winning culture that bannered a dynasty. Even Erik Spoelstra in Miami imbued a blue-collared approach to winning even with the franchise being home to many stars. To be frank, Rick Carlisle in Dallas was known more for his on-court brilliance.
For every Rajon Rondo feud and for every passive-aggressive clash with Luka Doncic, someone’s got to be the one lighting up the fire, right? This isn’t so much about saying that Carlisle is a bad coach, which he’s obviously not, but it’s becoming crystal clear that he isn’t a guy who can fix the problems of a franchise aside from the ones that he can brew in the huddles.
Aside from that, his utter avoidance of young players and the overt favor he gives to veterans, with the exception of his recent squads which were not bannered by seasoned players, is not compatible to a franchise aiming to win now and build for the future in concurrence. The Indiana Pacers are just that.
They’re not in the same fiber at all, but Bjorkgren was fired because of his big struggles in piecing the team together in the locker room. Carlisle is already experienced, but the Indiana Pacers may be keen on pursuing a coach who has a more amicable reputation with players off the court.
Should the Indiana Pacers pursue Rick Carlisle
The Indiana Pacers are itching to find ways to get out of their prototypical “playoff pest” branding. Being an honorary postseason participant without a title to boast is a legitimate sign that the franchise needs some boisterous moves to get a similarly boisterous answer.
Rick Carlisle is not the best human manager or the best developmental coach. He’s also suspect to not building a clear line of command in his previous stops, allowing other members of the front office and even the ownership to dip their fingers too much in decisions he should be making at large. Aside from his title run, he hasn’t had much playoffs success in his career. Despite all that, the Pacers should pursue him.
In the NBA, weaknesses are more rooted to context than strengths are. He’s not a culture setter because he inherited a team of veterans before transitioning to an up-and-coming squad. Dallas’ line of command is hazy because their owner is very much at the crux of basketball decisions. he hasn’t had much playoff success because, well, it’s the Western Conference and his recent teams don’t have much around Doncic.
More than the familiarity and whatever residual sentimentality there is, Rick Carlisle easily brings a steady breath of winning and on-court flexibility for the Indiana Pacers. While the team is aiming to develop on the way, the current core is relatively young. The seasoned coach could easily be the outlet which can help the franchise gauge its next series of moves—whether to add more pieces if the group makes big strides or to move on to the future if the group remains flat. But what’s most important is to maximize their current deck—and Carlisle has shown nothing but that in his career.
Ultimately, the Indiana Pacers should do everything they can to snag the prized tactician. They certainly won’t be the favorites, but their confidence in their present roster should be similarly shown in their confidence to advertise the team as an organization that can achieve a whole lot more. Rick Carlisle could be the guy who can lead that vision to fruition.