The Mavericks want a looser hand on the sideline, a coach who will let them run and do what they do best.

That's fine, Rick Carlisle said Wednesday.

But they better be ready to pay the price.

At his introductory news conference, the Mavericks' new coach said his team is in for a meat-grinding training camp full of sprints and sweat when they convene in October. While making it clear that some of the players who finished the season won't be here then, the ones who are will get a punishing month of workouts.

"They're going to find out that playing faster and with momentum isn't just a matter of going out there and having a little more fun," Carlisle said. "It is a lot of work. This will probably be one of the tougher training camps these guys have ever had.

"The physical commitment to being an uptempo team is something that very few guys have experienced. We made a commitment to run my last year in Indiana, and the players were shocked how difficult training camp was.

"The thing that Jason Kidd does better than any point guard probably in history is push that thing ahead. If you're going to play at a faster tempo, there's unbelievable physical commitment to doing that."

The point can be argued whether a team with the 35-year-old Kidd and several other key players over 30 can handle a training camp that forces players to run, run, run.

But if Kidd's talents are to be emphasized, it's essential. Dirk Nowitzki knows Kidd was not at his best in Avery Johnson's isolation offense.

"We just had to get a change here," said Nowitzki, who sat in on Carlisle's news conference at American Airlines Center. "We need somebody now who can get the best out of this team, the best out of everybody.

"We need to find a way to make Kidd more efficient for us. By just dropping the ball in the post and being a weakside shooter, I don't think that suited his game. In the half-court offense, besides posting him a little bit, we've got to find other ways to have him put a stamp on the game. That's the coach's job."

Carlisle took questions on a variety of topics, including:

•His passion for defense: "Having said all that about the offensive end, we've got to be vigilant about preserving what Avery did here in establishing the defensive end. This team didn't get to the championship round until they really made a commitment defensively.

"One of the real challenges of coaching is to be able to have a flow mentality offensively and maintain a possession-type disposition defensively. It takes a special group of players to do it. But that's our mission."

•The ceiling for this team if Nowitzki, Kidd and [Josh] Howard remain its core: "I'm not sure if Avery said this or not. But [a radio host] said, 'Yeah, Avery came out and said this team is not a playoff team next year, in his opinion.'

"I don't know if he said that or not. But I'm just sure that this is a veteran team with a lot of pride, and that will provide a lot of motivation for these guys over the summer to get in great shape and come into training camp in the best possible condition to really go at this hard. Because this is going to be work. No question. It's a lot of work, a lot of sweat."

•On why the Mavericks' window isn't closed: "In Dirk and Jason Kidd, we have two great, great players. I just feel like we're going to find a way to do better than people think we're going to do. I don't underestimate the ability of great players to lift the guys that play around them a little bit beyond their means. The other thing is these two guys [Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson] have a history of being able to do some really terrific things. We're going to find a way. I can't tell you exactly what it's going to be right now."

•On the perception that he lacks people skills: "I don't believe you can stand at a podium and beat a drum and say: 'You guys are all wrong.' You go to a new situation and you got to assume that people are going to give you the benefit of the doubt, and they're going to make their judgments based on their experience with you. I don't have any preconceived judgments about you guys."

•On whether the Mavericks' coaching job is a daunting task: "I don't know of any easy jobs in this league. Every owner has made a monetary commitment, and everybody wants to win. I don't think this is any more daunting than any others. It's a high-profile situation, for sure. And we got some challenges ahead of us. But I'd rather be in this position than be with a lottery team that nobody cares about trying to win a few more games. That doesn't appeal to me."