A drained Carlisle didn't rush back into coaching, spending a year as a basketball analyst for ESPN. Now, he'll return to Indianapolis as coach of the Dallas Mavericks for a preseason game on Wednesday.

He has no hard feelings about his time with the Pacers and is excited about visiting Conseco Fieldhouse.

"I'm looking forward to it," a rejuvenated Carlisle told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "It's been a while since I've been in the building for a game. I worked with the Pacers for a stretch of seven out of 10 years. There's a lot of history there, a lot of good friends and a lot of success."

Carlisle had a 181-147 record during his four seasons with Indiana. In 2003-04, the Pacers' first season under Carlisle, the team went 61-21 for the best record in the NBA.

But his success was overshadowed by his struggle to manage talented but volatile players.

Artest and Stephen Jackson were the two most prominent players in the 2004 brawl between Pacers players and Detroit Pistons fans that started the unraveling of a team that had the potential to make several title runs. Artest requested a trade early in the 2005-06 season. The Pacers continued to have off-the-court problems, most notably involving Jackson and Jamaal Tinsley.

After all that, it was easy for Carlisle to take time off.

"It was great," he said. "It gave me a chance to recharge the coaching batteries, spend time with the family and have a great experience at ESPN."

Carlisle hasn't completely stepped away from controversy. The Mavericks sent Eddie Jones to Indiana last week for Shawne Williams. Carlisle coached Williams when he was a rookie, and always thought highly of the young talent.

But Williams was among the Pacers players who had a way of finding trouble. He was arrested last September after a traffic stop when an officer found marijuana in the SUV he was driving. He pleaded guilty to driving without ever having received a license, while a drug charge was filed against a passenger. The Pacers suspended Williams for three games.

Months later, he left a game early after learning a murder suspect in Tennessee had been arrested shortly after leaving Williams' Indianapolis home.

Though his friends did much of the damage, Williams' reputation, and that of the Pacers, was compromised in each situation.

Carlisle believes a change of scenery will be good for Williams.

"I had a very good experience coaching Shawne his rookie year," he said. "My feeling is that he's a good kid and a very hard worker and a guy that has a terrific skill set and ability level to continue to get better as a player in this league."

A bigger challenge for Carlisle will be getting the Mavericks to win a championship. The Mavericks reached the NBA finals in 2006, but they've lost in the first round of the playoffs the past two years. The 2006-07 team had the league's best record and the league MVP in Dirk Nowitzki, yet lost to Golden State.

"We have a group that's had a couple of rough years, and I know that they're motivated and want a chance to do better than a lot of people think we're going to do," Carlisle said.

As excited as Carlisle is about moving forward, he'll have no choice but to look back on Wednesday.

It won't be the same. The stars of his Pacers era are all gone. Jermaine O'Neal is in Toronto, Stephen Jackson is playing for Golden State, Artest is with the Houston Rockets and Reggie Miller is retired.

The only player remaining on the roster who was a star for Carlisle is Tinsley - and the Pacers told him not to show up for camp after numerous off-the-court issues. Now, Indiana's stars are Danny Granger and Mike Dunleavy, and the Pacers have traded for point guards T.J. Ford and Jarrett Jack.

Carlisle said he expected Pacers president Larry Bird, his former boss and longtime friend, to move the team back to respectability.

"Larry Bird has a plan that's going to lead to a lot of success," he said. "He's getting the right kind of players in there. I just think that they're going to continue to get better every year."