Rick Carlisle's Top 5 Musical Influences

   Carlisle’s ability as piano player is well-documented – as is the news that he initially learned to play in order to impress girls.

   But there are other influences besides wanting to get dates in college that have made the coach a relatively accomplished tickler of the keys. He told me about the favorite musicians who have impressed him, influenced him and touched him:

Rick Carlisle's Five Favorite Musical Influences:

   1 The Keith Jarrett Trio – “Keith Jarrett is a classic,’’ Carlisle says. “Jarrett and (bassist Gary) Peacock and (drummer Jack) DeJohnette. … That’s hard-core jazz. That’s how I like it.’’

   2 The Grateful Dead – “I’ve probably been to 18 or 20 of their concerts, most of those with Bill (Walton),’’ says Carlisle who lists “New Minglewood Blues’’ and Jack Straw’’ among his all-time favorite songs.

   3 Billy Joel and. …

   4 Elton John – “Those great piano players,’’ Carlisle says, “were the guys I listened to who were straight piano players, and great ones.’’

   5 Bruce Hornsby – “I’m amazed at the way he composes music, I’m a big fan of that,’’ Carlisle says. “Plus, he’s a good friend of mine.’’

   Worth noting in this six-degrees-of-separation world: Hornsby used the play with The Dead and has worked with Elton John. Jarrett’s trio members have worked with the Bruce Hornsby Trio, and Hornsby’s second son is named “Jarrett.’’ Oh, and one of these days, performing the National Anthem at a Mavs game will be. … Bruce Hornsby.

   Carlisle can be something less than self-effacing when it comes to his belief in himself as a coach, especially in media dealings. Remember at Media Day in the fall, when he was asked about how he would “handle’’ certain players?

   “I don’t ‘handle’ people,’’ Carlisle answered archly. “If I worked in a zoo, helping with the giraffes and the lions and the horses, I’d ‘handle.’ Here, you work with men.’’

   Those sort of comments fit with some of what Carlisle’s detractors have said about him in past NBA stops: That he is “inflexible’’ and “rigid.’’ Oh, not to mention “rude’’ and “aloof.’’

   Carlisle does let his guard down when talking about his playing career, as evidenced by one of his favorite tales, from his rookie year in Boston:

   “I hadn't got in a game in about two and half weeks. (Coach) K.C. Jones comes down the end of the bench and (puts me in the game). K.C. takes out his dry-erase board and starts designing a play. He says, ‘Dennis, you've got the ball right here." He makes a D and a circle. "Kevin, you're here. Robert, you're here. Larry, you're here." And he looks at me and he goes, "Uh. ... right here’ and he puts a scribble mark. For everyone else, he had put an initial.

   “So we stand up after the timeout and, Larry goes, ‘K.C., I want you to meet Rick. He's been with us for six months. Rick, this is K.C.’ I laughed and everybody laughed. … But that was typical: The coach didn't know my name.’’

   But as a coach, Carlisle is aware of his hard-ass reputation. “Donnie (Walsh, former Indy exec) wanted me to go to charm school and Larry (Bird) wanted me to go to a Dale Carnegie course," Carlisle once joked. “I told him I'd gone to a Dale Carnegie course in 10th grade. He didn't believe me.’’

   I don’t believe it, either. But, hey, he likes music! And that's pretty humanizing, right?

746am mar 27 2009