Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle went with what he trusted over what had worked for key stretches of game six against the Spurs, and for the series. Rodrigue Beaubois sat for five games, and when he did get meaningful minutes in game six — and played well — he still sat in the fourth quarter. It didn’t work. Dallas is fishing, or golfing, or whatever summer analogy you wish to go with.
When things go wrong, the coach gets second guessed. But let’s give the man some credit — Carlisle went on ESPN Radio in Dallas, took the criticism and defended his decisions.
Look, when you lose, there are no right decisions and that’s something that I accept with this position and being the head coach of this team. The decision to go with Jason Terry to me was the right decision because here is a guy that has been a fourth quarter producer in a big way for this franchise for a long time. I believe he earned the right to be out there. In game four, he scored 13 points in the fourth quarter which kept us in the game and got us to within two. He got in there, we played fairly well, and stayed right there. Then when it slipped away a little bit it was late in the quarter and that’s when I went with Roddy. Look, looking back, when you lose, it’s not gonna be the right decision and I accept that…
“He was our third point guard on the depth chart behind (Jason) Kidd and (J.J.) Barea. Barea had been by far the most effective point guard. Don’t forget in games three and four, Barea played at a high level. Scored 14 points in game three and was an impact player and by the way was a guy that probably won the series for us last year against those guys. Roddy is the third two guard behind Butler and (Jason) Terry. You had to find the right situation to play him and I had told him ‘hey, be ready.’ If we need a spark, if we need some energy, dah dah dah dah dah dah, that’s exactly what happened. It’s an easy argument to make, but you have some veteran guys who have carried the weight for your team and have proven they can do it in the playoffs through the years. That’s kinda where it’s at. There are finite number of minutes and only a certain number of players. Now, his performance last night may well change the thinking of the club going forward, but at present the dynamics of the team and the roster are such that I’m telling you what my thinking was and making a point that it’s easier said than done. I’m agreeing that the second guess can easily be made.
Check out the whole interview. Carlisle defends the play of Kidd, the play of Nowitzki (who doesn’t really need defending, he was the least of Dallas’ problems).
You get the feeling next year, the allotted minutes among Dallas guards will be different.
