<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>" Rick Carlisle held his introductory press conference Wednesday. One theme came through loud and clear. He doesn't buy the notion that this is a team in decline. He then offered two pretty good reasons: Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd. "This team reminds me a lot of the team that we took over about 11 years ago in Indiana when I went with Larry Bird as an assistant coach," Carlisle said. "It was a 39-win team that a lot of people had written off and thought it had run it's course, needed to be blown up, turned over and everything else. Larry came in there with a different approach, very positive, gave the guys a lot of confidence, we became re-committed defensively and had what at that time was the best year in the history of the franchise in wins. "</div> Source
If Carlisle sticks to what he said, it's going to be comeback season for Jason Kidd and the Mavs. Nowitski will still be top gun for Dallas. But key is still Jason Kidd and Nowitski knows that. The former MVP was front and center in Carlisle's introduction. Quoting Eddie Sefko of the Dallas news, "Dirk Nowitzki knows Kidd was not at his best in Avery Johnson's isolation offense". The biggest misconception in the last few months is that Jason Kidd has declined. Again, you don't compile 12 triple doubles befor the All-Star break and then suddenly become old, slow amd can't compete anymore. What do you think will happen if Avery coached Michael Jordan and let him bring up the ball to the half court, give it up and stand in the corner all game long? Can Michael be the prolific score he really is? Or better yet, do you think MJ in this situation, can lead a team to the finals? Then what? Everybody would say that Jordan has lost more than a step, he can't cut it anymore. Ridiculous right? Study the situation first before quickly judging on a player.
Well said insider, I agree. We have a long summer ahead of us, and I'm sure Carlisle will work out all the perks when it comes to Kidd and the offense. Avery just refused to trust Kidd, and build the offense around him; that's one of the main reasons he got canned. Kidd is getting old, but he can do much more in a Dallas uniform than he displayed in the 20+ games under Avery.
Couldn't agree with you more. Avery just couldn't let go. If Avery could, he would put on a uniform and be on the court. He is that controlling. Knowing that he would coach one of the greatest point guards in the game was too much for his ego. He thinks he's a better point guard than Kidd. And that's what got him fired.
