Our top choice

Fresh from the AP wire... "Mavericks say Carlisle was 'top choice'". Which leads me to the following three questions...

1) Has any team ever admitted that their coaching choice wasn't their top choice? It's like having a team say that they weren't thrilled that the guy they picked was available when they drafted. For once, I'd like to see a team admit that they'd rather have Gregg Popovich or Phil Jackson or a live Red Auerbach, but that they just weren't available. I'm not asking for much here, but a single moment of veracity would do wonders.

2) Given that the Mavs only interviewed Carlisle, doesn't the fact that he was their top choice kind of, well, not terribly newsworthy?

3) Since all of Carlisle's experience has been with the grind-it-out Pistons and Pacers, um... why on earth was he your top choice?

(My take? He's a reasonable defensive guy and has been through the wars; he makes them a little better, if only because Avery Johnson was a liability for the past two years. But unless he's got some way to take 10 years off Jason Kidd's legs, it won't matter that much, really. The Mavs are a low seed and an easy out.)