Nuggets extend Malone

[NuggetsWY]

With the start of the season we're having, the team appears to be buying into Malone's defensive schemes....do you feel the same way ???

Although I can't say I was against the signing, seeing Malone getting a bit better as a coach make me feel a bit more confident about keeping him. I still am not sure he can take us to the Championship, I do feel like he's reached the team and shown them they're a better team than they've shown so far. His X's and O's still bother me but when we built a strong enough lead and let the 2nd unit bring it home, that is something that showed some growth in Malone, building trust in his team.

Don't quote me; but maybe, just maybe --- dare I say it? Malone just might be learning? He's a smart man, maybe too smart. He's always seemed too rigid and unwilling to adapt.

Yes, maybe just maybe the team is buying into this.

[TunaFish]

With the start of the season we're having, the team appears to be buying into Malone's defensive schemes....do you feel the same way ???

Although I can't say I was against the signing, seeing Malone getting a bit better as a coach make me feel a bit more confident about keeping him. I still am not sure he can take us to the Championship, I do feel like he's reached the team and shown them they're a better team than they've shown so far. His X's and O's still bother me but when we built a strong enough lead and let the 2nd unit bring it home, that is something that showed some growth in Malone, building trust in his team.

I have seen ten games and it appears that the Nuggets have bought into Malone's systems "hook, line and sinker." Defense has been outstanding at times. Beasley is impressing and Hernangomez is over his illness and also impressing. Even Plumlee seems improved. It's Jokic that has made the biggest leap. Defense is no longer a weakness.

They still run a well conceived motion offense with Jokic at the core. It's mostly based on guard penetration and center screening. Their offense has seemed out of sink to start the season probably due to low shooting percentages from the guards (except the Boston game). Harris will come around.

Jokic seems to me to be in some type of transition where he is not focused on scoring. The results are impressive in terms of wins but we expected him to be north of 20 ppg. Jokic's ppg numbers may be dropping but the Nugget's are on a historic pace.

The 1976 Nuggets, a team that the present Nuggets' team is being compared with, had two Hall of Fame players in David Thompson and Dan Issel. That is a lofty comparison. If that is what is happening in Denver, then Malone desires all of the accolades that will likely follow.

[TunaFish]

We are now 30 games into the season. I stand by my remarks above that Malone earned his extension. Anyone else have a change of heart?

[NuggetsWY]

We are now 30 games into the season. I stand by my remarks above that Malone earned his extension. Anyone else have a change of heart?

I've softened my stance but not a change of heart. Our last good coach was Karl and he was fired because he couldn't win in the playoffs. There's the bench mark for Malone. Does he have to win the first round this year? Maybe, but he must at least stretch the first round to 6 or 7 games. If he doesn't win the first round next year? I don't know. For now, I'm content and I do believe he is learning and I've seen some changes in his coaching style and play calling.

[kinggnik87]

I used to dislike Malone, but data doesn't lie. He has been steadily improving each year in terms of win-lose ratio.

So I'm content for him to be our coach for at least 3 more years. I think he is the best coach in the league when it comes to motivating and unlocking players true potential. He is the brother-like figure for our players and he has a way of encouraging the growth in players.

[THE J0KER]

We are now 30 games into the season. I stand by my remarks above that Malone earned his extension. Anyone else have a change of heart?

Malone should be fired last season for the way he misses the playoff. So, Denver gives him for some reason a second chance which he didn't deserve at all.

But somehow, he improved as a coach a lot this season, and 2018-19 Mike Malone is not the same person we talked about before the start of this season. To be fair, he reduced significantly the number of big mistakes already last season after ASG break.

And to remind you how bad was Malone last season, which we should finish as the West 3rd seed, not as a lottery team, here is some basic notes:
- Almost the same team, with one of the best defense this season, last season is among worst in NBA
- Almost the same team, with one of the best records on the road now, last season is among worst (even some tankers was better)
- Common problems with a cold start or weak finish of the game (bottom-10 last season for 1st and 4th quarters, both TOP-5 now)
- Wrong interpersonal handling cases which damaged the trade value of Nurkic, Faried, Mudiay, Juancho (ok, Juancho recovered)
- Wrong use of Jokic during 1st half of the season (and the same happens in 2016-17 where Denver is also 1 win shy from playoff)
- Wrong use of Jokic and Harris in 4th quarters, where they underperformed badly due to too many called plays
...

Also, 2017-18 bench underperformed badly because of the lack of decent backup-PG and backup-SF option (and SF starter was awful). But already during Summer League and preseason, we realize how talented is Juancho-Beasley-Morris trio. So why we wasted so much playing time on Chandler as an SF starter, on outdated veterans like Devin Harris and Jefferson as PG/SF backups, and on Barton playing many minutes as backup-PG? Juancho has notable flashes during the rookie season, and we know his *season-long* disease was a fake story (I'm not sure would he get some chance even this season without Barton injury), Beasley didn't get a chance last season even during Harris injury, while Morris played only 3 games overall, despite all great reports from G-League.

But now, I don't see the point to talk about Malone job not only because of the current record but because team don't repeat the same mistakes from the past, there is not available big coaching names, and don't forget how young our team is, so most of Denver players never before worked with any other NBA coach, so if we going to change coach it must be during summer, in preseason. Add to that fact that Denver system around point-center Jokic is very specific, so not only young players but the new coach also will need some time to adjust and adapt it. Also, to be very honest, I'm less furious on Malone because of last season playoff disaster already after the 2018 draft. Indirectly thanks to Malone mistakes, Nuggets are somehow in a position to take Porter from #14. No way MPJ would be available at #18+ spot (Western #8 seed was #18 pick this draft), #14 is enough miraculous.

So for me this subject is off-topic, at least before June.

[TunaFish]

Time to bump this>

"The Nuggets improved their win total by eight games and unexpectedly captured the No.2 seed in the Western Conference, so it’s no surprise head coach Michael Malone is a finalist for the NBA’s 2019 Coach of the Year award." https://www.nba.com/nuggets/news/malone-nominated-for-coy-20190517