RealGM

Didn't see that coming.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--michael-malone-reaches-agreement-to-coach-nuggets-174036769.html

...Not at all

I'm pretty fine with it. He was well liked in Sacramento, and his name isn't Mike D'Antoni. D'Antoni would have meant completely uprooting the roster (bye-bye Nurkic), and creating some unnecessary issues considering he's burned some bridges with guys he's coached around the league.

I've also wondered if the Nuggets haven't been pushing on a potential Cousins trade, based on reading way too much into some Kroenke/Connelly interviews. It's no secret they want to trade for a star. If Cousins enjoyed playing for him, and that becomes a legitimate possibility down the road, maybe this helps.

Listening to the Fan right now, Scott Hastings was very surprised, his reaction is coming up next.

I feel like this decision isn't going to sit well with some of the vets, could be a sign that the roster is finally going to be gutted.

I was hoping Melvin would get the job and Malone as an Associate HC. I'm not really excited about this hiring but he will be discipline to the locker room.

Poor Melvin, thought this was his chance.

Hopefully they hire a good offensive associate HC, but at least Malone got every he should have out of the Kings roster.

So much for the reported issues between Pete D and Malone

WOW???

Does JoshBoy have DID? It's like different personalities take over again and again.

Anyway the stories were that neither the Nuggets or Thibs were interested in each other, so what did the Nugz do? They hired a cheaper version of Thibs.

To Mike Malone's credit he did somehow get Cousins to buy into him. Maybe this is a pre-cursor to a Cousins trade.

It's crazy how Malone and the guy who pushed to get him fired Pete D'Alessandro are now reunited.

Strange... Like...

"What was your last job?"
"I was fired as a coach of Sacramento Kings"
"Why's that?"
"They want me to play faster pace and I didn't want it."
"You're the man we're looking for!"

WTF???

Wow, looking at the Kings' board, they sure liked him.

So what is this guy's style? Slower offense? Is he at all defensive-minded?

They want to focus on aggressive defense leading to a fast paced offense i.e. Golden State. The thing with D'Alessandro is that he's basically there to deal with cap issues and budgets. Malone and D'Alessandro don't need to even speak to each other.

This is going to be either a great hire or a major bust and delay our rebuilding. One thing I know for sure though is our roster is about to get a severe makeover.

Here is what I said in another thread:

Oh btw, you guys got a gem of a coach, imo. But from looking at Denver's roster, where are the defensive players? You guys are ranked almost the bottom in all defensive metrics and in turn, you will have to be patient with Malone and his style. The guy's style is a defensive & grind it out one. Malone is a no-nonsense type of person and will tell a player straight up if he does something stupid i.e. holds him accountable. He will work with young guys and they will create good habits and take pride of the game.

Malone was the only coach that reached Cousins and gotten his respect. At first, Cousins & Malone had an early rough patch but as time went on, Cousins was buying into what Malone was selling. The moment Malone gotten through Cousins, Cousins' game went onto the next level -- 25 & 13 legit defensive anchor big that was scoring on ~60% TS

Howard Mass wrote:It's crazy how Malone and the guy who pushed to get him fired Pete D'Alessandro are now reunited.

This rumor was reported by the King's beat writer. Woj has always said it was the ownership that pushed for Malone's firing. And I really have no doubt that Pete would be talked to about Malone.

First off, I really appreciate Melvin Hunt and everything he has done for the franchise, and while I doubt it will happen, I would easily welcome him back as an offensive minded assistant in a second. That being said, if he wanted to go back to a George Karl style game plan, I am very glad that we didn't hire him as head coach. That style only wins regular season games and flounders in the playoffs. We learned that lesson and I think the Kroenke's were smart in not trying to fully return to that style even though Shaw's style didn't work.

Pretty happy to see some change to the organization and it will be very interesting to see what Malone can do for Nurk's development as he is a similar styled player to Cousins.

Malone is an intense & passionate guy. Some of your players will be rubbed the wrong way if they do not respond well to his style. Malone demands defense first and defense second. He will yank players off the court if they are not following the plan.

Here is an early post game interview of Malone in his 1st season stint with the Kings:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYcdov_2vxw[/youtube]

To be fair, he mellowed down a bit after that but one thing for sure, all of the players on the Kings roster respected him. One of the main reasons Rudy Gay signed an extension with the Kings was Malone. Rudy played his best ball under him. Isaiah always supported Malone after the Kings traded him away. Heck, Isaiah was campaigning for Malone through twitter and today he tweets out his congratulations to Denver for picking Malone up. So, the big 3 of Isaiah, Rudy & Cousins held Malone in a high esteem.

Cousins and Malone had a great relationship together:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUXA5AOQCYU&list=LLW_cE1EjTCa3ZR43wSbpQdw&index=1[/youtube]

Cousins felt Malone was going to step beyond the line and get himself ejected in a key part of the game but knowing that he got Malone's back, he went after him and told him to chill down lol

I think some points should be cleared up

- Shaw's offense was not slow. His offensive system looked slow because it was garbage. You don't play a pseudo triangle in this era without any all time greats, or at least a great isolation player.

- The Nuggets roster especially if they trade Lawson are more suited towards a slower offense. Especially if Jokic makes it as an NBA player.

Personally this somewhat excites me because Malone is a type of guy that wouldn't play Hickson.

MHZ wrote:I'm pretty fine with it. He was well liked in Sacramento, and his name isn't Mike D'Antoni. D'Antoni would have meant completely uprooting the roster (bye-bye Nurkic), and creating some unnecessary issues considering he's burned some bridges with guys he's coached around the league.

I've also wondered if the Nuggets haven't been pushing on a potential Cousins trade, based on reading way too much into some Kroenke/Connelly interviews. It's no secret they want to trade for a star. If Cousins enjoyed playing for him, and that becomes a legitimate possibility down the road, maybe this helps.

Without applying my actual opinion about it, word is Karl would like Ty to play for him. So, there's that if we're talking a Cousins trade.

Well, Malone is the choice. His actual head coach record is basically just as good as Shaw. Perhaps the difference is not confiscating phones and reading books on how to deal with millenials as though they are some alien race and don't have human tendencies.

Can we say we are definitely moving on from the Karl era? Or is this us still nudging against the glass ceiling hoping to break new ground? Well, Mr. Malone, welcome to Denver!

KF10 wrote:Malone is an intense & passionate guy. Some of your players will be rubbed the wrong way if they do not respond well to his style. Malone demands defense first and defense second. He will yank players off the court if they are not following the plan.

Here is an early post game interview of Malone in his 1st season stint with the Kings:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYcdov_2vxw[/youtube]

To be fair, he mellowed down a bit after that but one thing for sure, all of the players on the Kings roster respected him. One of the main reasons Rudy Gay signed an extension with the Kings was Malone. Rudy played his best ball under him. Isaiah always supported Malone after the Kings traded him away. Heck, Isaiah was campaigning for Malone through twitter and today he tweets out his congratulations to Denver for picking Malone up. So, the big 3 of Isaiah, Rudy & Cousins held Malone in a high esteem.

Cousins and Malone had a great relationship together:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUXA5AOQCYU&list=LLW_cE1EjTCa3ZR43wSbpQdw&index=1[/youtube]

Cousins felt Malone was going to step beyond the line and get himself ejected in a key part of the game but knowing that he got Malone's back, he went after him and told him to chill down lol

Based on that interview, he's got the job. "Give them 22 extra possessions for 29 extra points, ....." (trying to contain his disgust) "....That's what happens."

I like this guy alot. Seems very competent everytime he speaks.