Rick Carlisle has a unique perspective on Coach Jason Kidd. In 2002, he was an assistant In Indiana under new coach Larry Bird when the Pacers started slowly ... and he was the head coach in Dallas when Kidd was the point guard of a championship team.
Mark Stein uses Carlisle to make an argument that Kidd will be just fine as a head coach. He goes even further than Adrian Wojanowski did this morning.
"Maybe I’m not the world’s most objective Kidd observer, given my longstanding admiration for the pass-first winner/leader he was as a player, but even the more detached can surely see how November must still feel like the preseason for this group, especially given how much training camp time Deron Williams missed."
In Carlisle, Stein has a great witness for the defense. He points out, "Most people forget that, with [Larry] Bird, we got off to a 2-5 start and had many of the same challenges with an older team and a challenging early schedule."
But where Carlisle really vouches for Kidd is in his experience as a head coach working with Kidd.
"Hell, I've said this many times, but I learned more about NBA coaching working with Kidd during his four years in Dallas than any other period in my career."