Rick Carlisle, the new Pacers head coach, says that his goal is to create a team with "strength and numbers" that can be back in playoff contention. (0:56).INDIANAPOLIS -- Rick Carlisle voted for the Indiana Pacers because of many reasons.He enjoyed his two first stints here and had established strong relationships with Herb Simon, the team's president of basketball operations, and thought that the roster was a good match for his coaching style.The Pacers were grateful for Carlisle's championship resume. Carlisle laid out his vision for Pacers on Wednesday, almost a week after Pritchard had hired him."This is the team for me. He said that he has a greater sense of the team's roster and had spoken to many of them. "It's a group I can have fun working with." I like their conversation. We will find a way for us to play better defense, and we have to return to the playoffs to win in the playoffs.It's basically a homecoming for Carlisle, 61.Carlisle had already been to Indiana twice before he spent 13 seasons with Dallas Mavericks. He went 555-478 and won the NBA championship in 2010. First, he served as Larry Bird's assistant during the most successful three year run in franchise history. In 2003, he was hired as the head coach. This tenure is best known for the brawl at Detroit's game and subsequent suspensions that forced the Pacers from title contention.During those seven seasons Carlisle helped the Pacers reach finals of the Eastern Conference four times.His new task is finishing what he started.Pritchard stated that they are in a win-now mindset and trying to win. Pritchard also said that they identified certain traits or characteristics they wanted in a coach. "Those were all first-of-all multiyear experiences. We wanted someone with a championship pedigree, and it can be difficult to find all of them in one person. This year, Rick was available.Pritchard's description contrasts sharply with the search he did after firing Nate McMillan in August. The Pacers were looking for a new-age thinker that valued relationships back then. After one turbulent season, Nate Bjorkgren was hired in October. He was fired in June.Carlisle is the exact opposite. He's a veteran winner who works best with veterans teams.Pritchard reached out to Carlisle's friend when he decided to leave Dallas earlier in the month. Everything changed when Carlisle became interested.Pritchard abandoned his plans for a broad-based search and focused instead on Carlisle. The deal was completed in less than one week.After a brief vacation, Carlisle will sign a contract on Monday. He stated that he had spoken to each player and it sounds like he is already planning for next season.Wednesday's impromptu scouting report by Carlisle included information on nearly every Pacers player. He also explained why he believes this team, which was 34-38 last year and missed the playoffs for six years, will be back in the postseason and compete for the championships.Before addressing the Domantas-Myles Turner combo, he stated that "My goal with the group is to get it to a point when we take great pleasure in getting great shots on the offensive side and take great joy playing good defense." I believe there are ways that we can help each other and their individual skills. Both of them have been open to the idea. Myles is an outstanding rim protector, and that's an essential part of the game if your goal is to improve defensively. Domas can do many things, as I said earlier.Injuries have been the biggest problem for Indiana in recent years. After undergoing surgery on a stress fracture to his left foot, the Pacers lost T.J. Warren (their top scorer in 2019-20), in just four games. Turner won the NBA blocks title despite having missed 24 of the Pacers' 25 previous games.Carlisle is a veteran in managing players' work when they are dealing with physical problems.He said, "If a man has a history of serious injury and you play him for the first 12 minutes, that's difficult." A guy who is tired becomes more vulnerable to injury. One of the things Dirk Nowitzki did the year he won the championship was to play him three stretches per halves. He never gets gassed in that situation, and he also helps his teammates.
