Coach Carlisle Collects 500th Win

Dallas Mavericks Coach Rick Carlisle hit the 500 win milestone against Portland on February, 6 2013. Confetti didn't fly, Carlisle didn't even acknowledge it, and Mavs fans like me consider it, for the most part, business as usual. However, I'm still going to brag on what "business as usual" means to a guy like Rick Carlisle.

Coach Carlisle has been nothing short of a great addition to the Dallas Mavericks organization. His career coaching record stands at 500-353. Perhaps what is most impressive, is the fact that he generated much of his success in his first six years with the Detroit Pistons (2001-03) and the Indiana Pacers (2003-07) before coming to Dallas in 2008, and being granted the opportunity to coach a true superstar player like Dirk Nowitzki.

As far as Carlisle's coaching philosophy is concerned he focuses 100% on defense, which has proved to be effective all throughout his ten year career. Through ten years as a head coach, his teams have only finished outside of the top twelve in overall defensive rankings one time. Additionally, in seven of his ten years, his teams ranked inside the top ten. Even further, three of those years, his teams finished inside the top five in the overall defensive ranking.

You get the picture don't you? It's all about defense. You've heard the phrase a million times, "offense wins games, defense wins championships." As a Mavs fan, and a Carlisle fan, one can only hope that his defensive mindset leads to one, two, three, or ten more championship rings.

Coach Carlisle with the 2011 Championship Core

Having surpassed the 500 win mark, Carlisle becomes only the 28th NBA coach to reach that milestone. At the ripe age of 53, and with three more years left on his current contract with the Mavericks, it is conceivable that Carlisle will continue to navigate his way toward the top of the coaching charts by the end of his career (which will likely extend beyond his current contract). Doing so will surely put his name in the inevitable discussions revolving around who the best NBA coaches and champions are, or have been, in the history of the game.

Just like Dirk, he's not done yet, but already he's done so much. Mavs fans from Dallas, TX to Wurzburg, Germany will continue to show outstanding support for these winners, and for good reason, too.