Underrated or overrated? NBA coaches know Carlisle is the real deal and to never underestimate
Both
In one breath he'll get praised in retrospect for seeing Darren Collison as a scrub before it was cool in the next someone will conveniently forget how he threw Roddy B in the bushes when his team needed that backcourt spark most. He'll get props for outcoaching Spoelstra and a hilariously overconfident but extremely talented Miami team but people will forget all the games he threw away two years prior to that. Then there was him progressively losing those Indiana teams year in and year out.
If there's such a thing as a streaky coach, Rick Carlisle is it. He's still better than most coaches though. I wish that was saying something more but dudes like Mike Brown get re-hired, Woodson gets thrown under every bus in New York, SVG is told to 'miss his family', and Casey gets a contract extension after drawing up a play for the wrong side of the court.