I don’t think Carlisle dislikes Mathurin or Jarace. He’s just a hard-ass coach and this is how he fixes rookie lapses. He has high expectations for the two young lottery picks.
Bennedict Mathurin not playing to the team’s defensive rules and Rick Carlisle is not happy about it, so he called timeout. pic.twitter.com/XklCvhagfR
— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) November 28, 2023
by Super_Intention_9743
5 Comments
Mathurin lives for that shit though and it seems like Jarace probably doesn’t thrive under this coaching style
Rick is a good coach man, if anyone doesn’t want a coach that holds players accountable idk what to tell you.
rick is equal parts hard ass and player empowerment. he’s not like thibs or nurse playing a guy 44 mins a night, he rarely calls set plays, he constantly praises guys in interviews, he lets guys run up and down the court, and doesn’t inhibit the style of his players so long as it’s effective.
but when you’re not showing effort or attention to detail, you’re in trouble with rick. i think that’s fair considering it’s the nba after all. what benefit is there to coddling players who aren’t giving effort? as a young player, you should be hungry to prove yourself in all scenarios, and mathurin typically was.
we saw rick put oshae in the doghouse before for similar reasons, and he’s another end of bench guy. fact is, 11-15 on the bench are replaceable and if you can’t find the motivation to refuse to take that for granted, they’ll find someone hungrier. this isn’t college where the coaches are basically forced to bend over backwards to accommodate you. maybe if you reach lebron status you can make that happen.
I’m not a long time Pacer fan but I don’t think he is a hard ass at all.
That response was merited, and this instruction, should he listen and make corrections, benefits Mathurin more than Carlisle or anyone else on the team. Mathurin is an impressive young scorer who is good at drawing fouls, but he has the raw hardware to become an elite 2-way player. There have been a lot of dunk contest and combine warriors who left the league with no defensive awards or were known for anything but a scorer or having a few good dunks in a contest.
Mathurin could be way more than that. I’ve maintained this since he was drafted. I’ve drawn some ire with lots of “He’s just 19!…20!…ect. He’s only a rookie!!! It’s only his second year!” replies. I am aware he is young. The problem in this video clip wasn’t a lack of knowledge. He has has demonstrated he has strong drive and motivation in many ways, but it was no where to be seen here. You can’t be a good defender if you take a bunch of plays off. He is capable of better than that. We know he’s athletic and strong from the effort he puts into drawing contact and finishing when clobbered by bigger guys.
If an athletic freak like Ja Morant jumps over or blows past TJ McConnell, I’m not going to be too irate about it if he’s doing his best, which he almost always is. He’ll get some steals and disruptions to the best of his ability when opportunities are there. Physically gifted guys just taking plays off is an entirely different situation, and I really don’t give a damn if he’s still young because he’s capable of way better than that.