Forward to the past

 So the reviews are in as the Indiana Pacers announce they're going forward into the past, dusting off Rick Carlisle and naming him their new/old head coach.

In no particular order, here they are:

1. "Finally, an established coach!"

2. "Finally, a coach who's, like, 100 years old!"

And last but not least ...

3. "Rick Carlisle? Didn't he coach the Pacers when Freddie Lewis was playing for them?"

Please. Let's not exaggerate.

Carlisle's not 100 years old. He's only 61.

And he didn't coach Freddie Lewis, who's 77 now. He coached Reggie Miller and Dale Davis, who are only 55 and 52, respectively.

He went on from the Pacers to coach the Dallas Mavericks, who won the NBA title in 2011 with Carlisle on the bench. He coached the Mavs for 13 years, leaving at the end of this season amid reports that he and the Mavs' 22-year-old star Luka Doncic didn't see eye-to-eye.

This is not unusual for Carlisle, it seems. He's an old-school Oscar the Grouch type, and while he's an excellent coach -- in addition to the 2011 title, he coached the Pacers to 61 wins and the conference finals in 2003-04 -- he also has a history of wearing out his welcome. The knock on Carlisle is he's not a players coach nor a great communicator, which is why his returns tend to diminish over time.

That happened with the Pacers. It apparently happened in Dallas. And now he comes to a team whose players have basically run off the last two coaches because they couldn't get along with them.

The Pacers' solution: "Let's bring back a guy who's even harder to get along with than the last two guys!"

Which suggests the franchise is about to embark on a major roster turnover to accommodate its new coach, or the current roster is going to be tasked with a major attitude adjustment.

I'm leaning toward the latter, because, frankly, this is a roster that seems to need an attitude adjustment. They grumbled Nate Bjorken out of town; he was gone after one injury-plagued and underwhelming season. This was after they'd grumbled Nate McMillan out of town, too.

All he's done is go to Atlanta and coach the Hawks to the Eastern Conference finals. A big part of that, reportedly, is the bond he's formed with the team's young star, Trae Young.

Which indicates Nate McMillan wasn't the problem in Indianapolis.

It also indicates if there's a problem in Indianapolis again, it won't just be Rick Carlisle's famous inability to relate to his players. It'll be the players' famous inability to relate to their coaches.

Strap in, boys and girls. Gonna be a hell of a ride.