Rick Carlisle ‘Loves’ and ‘Welcomes’ the Pressure

Carlisle knows that he’ll be on the hot seat if things don’t go well in Dallas next season, and it’s something that he says he welcomes. From the Dallas Morning News: “With training camp for a new season starting in a little more than two weeks, there’s still only one ultimate goal. Going into Carlisle’s third season, neither expectations nor attitudes have changed. ‘Nothing different,’ Cuban said. ‘I want to win. The pressures are always the same because the goal is always the same. We’re going to put it out there and see what we can do.’ … Carlisle is entering the third season of his four-year contract. He’s been highly respected for his game strategies and adjustments, in spite of the playing-time controversy for Roddy Beaubois in Game 6 of the playoffs last season. Pressure? ‘Yeah, but that’s good,’ Carlisle said. ‘You want to be in a situation of high expectations. That means your team is good. I love it and our team loves it. That’s one of the reasons we’re one of the best teams in the league in close games.’ It goes back to the fact that the Mavericks have not been happy with the results of the first two seasons under Carlisle, who agrees with that assessment. ‘They’re both failures,’ he said. ‘One we got to the second round so maybe it’s viewed as more successful. But we were a better team this past year. We just got beat in the first round. Our mission is to stay the course and keep working on the things we have to work on defense and getting better at home. That’s the difference between ultimate success and perceived shades of success.'”