Yesterday Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle spoke with Steve Dennis and Tim Cowlishaw on DAC on 103.3 FM ESPN regarding the latest timetable for the return of Dirk Nowitzki, as well as his most recent discussions with proprietor Mark Cuban and the team’s strategy both now and going forward.
Click to listen to the full audio below, with some transcribed highlights to follow.
https://audioboom.com/posts/5352373-dac-dennis-cowlishaw-rick-carlisle-120216
On his team’s health: “In our case, we’re just a little thin with manpower, so we’ve got to conserve. Right now we’re working through getting some guys back, and it’s been a gradual thing, but I think we’re getting closer to being at full strength with a couple of guys.”
On Dirk Nowitzki’s status moving forward: “Dirk’s situation is improving, but he really is out indefinitely. I think that’s a more accurate way of saying this. Could he play Monday? Is there an outside chance? Yeah there is, but I think it’s more on the less likely side, but we’ll see. This is an injury — even though it’s an acute injury, it can’t be messed with. We don’t view it as chronic. It hasn’t been in there for a long time, which is a good thing, a long time meaning months. He’s been dealing with it since training camp. And there is gradual progress being made.”
On his talks with Mark Cuban: “We’ve got to have a strategy right now and a strategy going forward and everything else, and we pretty much agree that right now we are playing to win. It’s an unusual year in the NBA. So many teams have gotten better. We’ve been bitten by the injury bug and some other things. We’ve been in a tough situation, but we believe philosophically that the way to approach this is to continue to work to play at a high level, develop our guys that are available, and go from there. And as we get healthier, slug away at trying to get some wins.”
Carlisle appears on ESPN Radio every Friday at 4:43.
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