Carl certainly has a hand to play. His progress over the years is evident, and he has become increasingly experienced as a head coach.
In the 1999-2000 season, he was a novice, trying one thing after another, eventually realizing that listening to Beelman and giving the ball to Ah Gan solved problems.
As for the 2000-2002 seasons, after Ah Gan left, Carl began to search for a new direction.
In these two seasons, the Trail Blazers made it to the Western Conference finals, but realistically, they did not have a great chance against the Lakers and the Kings, and the team's style was not clear enough.
They still relied more on individual player abilities and what Ah Gan left behind from the previous era, without becoming a new Trail Blazers.
For quite some time, Carl wavered between continuing the former offensive route or switching to a more practical, era-fitting defensive route.
