Rick Carlisle, who passed Nelson as the winningest coach in Mavericks history, expressed how Nelson was an innovator in basketball with his "Nellie Ball" style that led to three NBA Coach of the Year awards. "Terms like 'small ball, stretch-big, point-forward, positionless, cross-matching' are all common terms today.' Nellie invented this stuff," Carlisle said. "And it wasn't until a few years ago when everyone else figured out this is the way the game should go. He was decades ahead of them. And in the history of human innovation, oftentimes the savant thinkers come up with something very simple and take it to levels none of us could have dreamed." ESPN
This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Rick Carlisle, who passed Nelson as the winningest …