Is Michael Malone the right coach for this team?

[Mickey8]

Because he's afraid to "offend" his veteran players. It should have been Faried in the starting line up long time ago, whenever he's healthy , also I prefer Chandler over Gallinari at sf, at least he can defend better . Denver have just too many similar players that are in need of playing time and Malone can't manage any of them, combine that with bad in game coaching and you have a failure.

[NuggetsWY]

Before the Hornets game, Malone said that practice the day before was full of intensity and emotion and effort. After the game he is now saying Chandler & Plumlee aren't giving enough effort.
http://bsndenver.com/nuggets-coach-michael-malone-thinks-some-of-his-players-arent-competing/
Seems to me, Shaw was accused of "losing the lockerroom" (but the players were, more or less, held blameless) and then Hunt had the same Nuggets playing well as a team, and now Malone is blaming the same players that have been through all of that.

Beginning to think Malone doesn't know what he said even a few hours earlier.

To me? The Malone before that game was wearing rose-colored glasses. The Malone after the game was depressed but closer to the truth. I'm still not convinced the players aren't giving effort (OK, maybe not their best, but enough). I am still convinced however that the Nuggets' veterans are all, at best, mid-level NBA players that would make good 4th or 5th starters or good bench players but they can not compete any higher than that. I guess that means the front office is just as much to blame as the coach - oh wait, I've said that before too. Unfortunately, I doubt the front office or coach is going to change - I do hope they prove me wrong though.

[eathb_au]

Before the Hornets game, Malone said that practice the day before was full of intensity and emotion and effort. After the game he is now saying Chandler & Plumlee aren't giving enough effort.
http://bsndenver.com/nuggets-coach-michael-malone-thinks-some-of-his-players-arent-competing/
Seems to me, Shaw was accused of "losing the lockerroom" (but the players were, more or less, held blameless) and then Hunt had the same Nuggets playing well as a team, and now Malone is blaming the same players that have been through all of that.

Beginning to think Malone doesn't know what he said even a few hours earlier.

To me? The Malone before that game was wearing rose-colored glasses. The Malone after the game was depressed but closer to the truth. I'm still not convinced the players aren't giving effort (OK, maybe not their best, but enough). I am still convinced however that the Nuggets' veterans are all, at best, mid-level NBA players that would make good 4th or 5th starters or good bench players but they can not compete any higher than that. I guess that means the front office is just as much to blame as the coach - oh wait, I've said that before too. Unfortunately, I doubt the front office or coach is going to change - I do hope they prove me wrong though.

At least it's the first time this season that he has singled out vets.

[NuggetsWY]

Before the Hornets game, Malone said that practice the day before was full of intensity and emotion and effort. After the game he is now saying Chandler & Plumlee aren't giving enough effort.
http://bsndenver.com/nuggets-coach-michael-malone-thinks-some-of-his-players-arent-competing/
Seems to me, Shaw was accused of "losing the lockerroom" (but the players were, more or less, held blameless) and then Hunt had the same Nuggets playing well as a team, and now Malone is blaming the same players that have been through all of that.

Beginning to think Malone doesn't know what he said even a few hours earlier.

To me? The Malone before that game was wearing rose-colored glasses. The Malone after the game was depressed but closer to the truth. I'm still not convinced the players aren't giving effort (OK, maybe not their best, but enough). I am still convinced however that the Nuggets' veterans are all, at best, mid-level NBA players that would make good 4th or 5th starters or good bench players but they can not compete any higher than that. I guess that means the front office is just as much to blame as the coach - oh wait, I've said that before too. Unfortunately, I doubt the front office or coach is going to change - I do hope they prove me wrong though.

At least it's the first time this season that he has singled out vets.

Did you forget the time when he said there was no veteran leadership?

[eathb_au]

Before the Hornets game, Malone said that practice the day before was full of intensity and emotion and effort. After the game he is now saying Chandler & Plumlee aren't giving enough effort.
http://bsndenver.com/nuggets-coach-michael-malone-thinks-some-of-his-players-arent-competing/
Seems to me, Shaw was accused of "losing the lockerroom" (but the players were, more or less, held blameless) and then Hunt had the same Nuggets playing well as a team, and now Malone is blaming the same players that have been through all of that.

Beginning to think Malone doesn't know what he said even a few hours earlier.

To me? The Malone before that game was wearing rose-colored glasses. The Malone after the game was depressed but closer to the truth. I'm still not convinced the players aren't giving effort (OK, maybe not their best, but enough). I am still convinced however that the Nuggets' veterans are all, at best, mid-level NBA players that would make good 4th or 5th starters or good bench players but they can not compete any higher than that. I guess that means the front office is just as much to blame as the coach - oh wait, I've said that before too. Unfortunately, I doubt the front office or coach is going to change - I do hope they prove me wrong though.

At least it's the first time this season that he has singled out vets.

Did you forget the time when he said there was no veteran leadership?

I didnt. He apologized on that statement right away so I don't see that really counting.

[The Rebel]

and in tonight's game, Malone just decide to start Faried instead of Chandler? I'm actually OK with that, but he can't figure out what his starting lineup is? That's what's wrong, well, a small part of what's wrong. This guy has no clue how to manage an NBA team or all the big egos of these players IMO.

Hmm, Chandler loses his role and not only is he called out but also Plumlee, Nelson suddenly was too injured to play, and Gallo did not seem to be giving a ton of effort either last night. Barton did not even play. Notice anything? This is the same crap that was happening in Shaw's last year as well.

As I have said I do not love Malone, although I do not blame him near as much as many others are blaming them, but I doubt he gets fired this year. This year will put him on the hot seat, but I would be surprised if he was fired.

Now I do think many of the veterans are gone this summer, especially Gallo and Chandler, but I think at least Barton and possibly Nelson have a decent chance of leaving as well. The 1st coach that has problems it can be blamed on the coach, the 2nd with the exact same issues some of the blame has to go on the players.

[The Rebel]

The fact that Malone's biggest accomplishment before coming to Denver was getting the endorsement of a cancerous player like DeMarcus Cousins should've been obvious sign that Malone just isn't a very good coach.

I'd love to see Jokic in Messina's offense.

The one issue I can see with Messina is that he will struggle with the culture shock between Europe, then going to such a highly organized and strict franchise like the Spurs, to the rest of the NBA. With the Spurs Pop runs the team and is in complete control, a guy screws with him and they are gone, the rest of the NBA the coaches do not have that power and Messina may struggle as Blatt did.

Which brings up the guy I would like to see coaching the Nuggets next year. Blatt already had that learning stint in the NBA dealing with Lebron and his crew, even still he got as much out of them as Lue has, and now he has the experience of what it is like here so should be able to better adjust. I think with Jokic and Hernangomez already having experienced the Euro way and grown up in it, and the other real talent on the team being so young, I think Blatt would be the perfect coach and can get the most out of the team while not having so much of that learning curve on the culture adjustment.

That being said I do not think that the Nuggets will fire Malone, and I really do not see them forking over the money to pay Blatt the money he would require, so Messina may be the best option if the front office shows some balls and fires Malone and get rid of most of the trouble making veterans.

[NuggetsWY]

At least it's the first time this season that he has singled out vets.

Did you forget the time when he said there was no veteran leadership?

I didnt. He apologized on that statement right away so I don't see that really counting.

Oh, doing it and then saying, "Oops, sorry, I was wrong" means it didn't happen?

[NuggetsWY]

and in tonight's game, Malone just decide to start Faried instead of Chandler? I'm actually OK with that, but he can't figure out what his starting lineup is? That's what's wrong, well, a small part of what's wrong. This guy has no clue how to manage an NBA team or all the big egos of these players IMO.

Hmm, Chandler loses his role and not only is he called out but also Plumlee, Nelson suddenly was too injured to play, and Gallo did not seem to be giving a ton of effort either last night. Barton did not even play. Notice anything? This is the same crap that was happening in Shaw's last year as well.

As I have said I do not love Malone, although I do not blame him near as much as many others are blaming them, but I doubt he gets fired this year. This year will put him on the hot seat, but I would be surprised if he was fired.

Now I do think many of the veterans are gone this summer, especially Gallo and Chandler, but I think at least Barton and possibly Nelson have a decent chance of leaving as well. The 1st coach that has problems it can be blamed on the coach, the 2nd with the exact same issues some of the blame has to go on the players.

But do you really think the owner & GM are actually going to get rid of even 2 of Chandler, Gallinari, Faried? They've been here the longest. Add in Arthur, Barton, and Nelson - it seems unlikely they will get rid of even 2 of them. Six of Malone's favorite players and I'd be shocked if more than two of those six. In fact, even two leaving might be a little surprising.

[The Rebel]

and in tonight's game, Malone just decide to start Faried instead of Chandler? I'm actually OK with that, but he can't figure out what his starting lineup is? That's what's wrong, well, a small part of what's wrong. This guy has no clue how to manage an NBA team or all the big egos of these players IMO.

Hmm, Chandler loses his role and not only is he called out but also Plumlee, Nelson suddenly was too injured to play, and Gallo did not seem to be giving a ton of effort either last night. Barton did not even play. Notice anything? This is the same crap that was happening in Shaw's last year as well.

As I have said I do not love Malone, although I do not blame him near as much as many others are blaming them, but I doubt he gets fired this year. This year will put him on the hot seat, but I would be surprised if he was fired.

Now I do think many of the veterans are gone this summer, especially Gallo and Chandler, but I think at least Barton and possibly Nelson have a decent chance of leaving as well. The 1st coach that has problems it can be blamed on the coach, the 2nd with the exact same issues some of the blame has to go on the players.

But do you really think the owner & GM are actually going to get rid of even 2 of Chandler, Gallinari, Faried? They've been here the longest. Add in Arthur, Barton, and Nelson - it seems unlikely they will get rid of even 2 of them. Six of Malone's favorite players and I'd be shocked if more than two of those six. In fact, even two leaving might be a little surprising.

I think they have to do something, right now there is some buzz around the Nuggets, bringing back close to the same team with the same coach will kill that buzz and will hurt them with the hard core base. Winning 2 or 3 more games than last year is not going to help the franchise sell more tickets or grow their fan base, especially since it will be the 4th year in a row winning between 30-38 games.

The hard core fans are starting to get irritated with the stagnant roster and calling for Malone's head, while watching a team that is more talented than their record struggle to win games.

Add to that the running theme I seem to be seeing from the national guys saying that the Nuggets roster has too much clutter, too many guys who do the same thing and play the same position, and I would say that there are 2 big reasons that the Nuggets move some of the veterans this summer.

Even if the Nuggets miss out on a big name free agent they cannot stay stagnant. Stan Kroenke is not going to be happy if the ratings and ticket sales are still in the toilet next year, Josh will be in trouble with his dad and shareholders, and Connelly is hurting his reputation around the league as someone who can gather assets but is struggling to actually build the team. I expect this is finally the offseason to see some fireworks with the Nuggets.

I fully expect 4 or 5 of Gallo, Chandler, Barton, Nelson, Arthur, Faried, and Plumlee to be gone this summer, with 2 or 3 of them replaced with different starting quality veterans and a couple of rookies at a minimum. I also think that Malone is put on notice to play the young guys and coach them up.

[Voldemort]

The fact that Malone's biggest accomplishment before coming to Denver was getting the endorsement of a cancerous player like DeMarcus Cousins should've been obvious sign that Malone just isn't a very good coach.

I'd love to see Jokic in Messina's offense.

The one issue I can see with Messina is that he will struggle with the culture shock between Europe, then going to such a highly organized and strict franchise like the Spurs, to the rest of the NBA. With the Spurs Pop runs the team and is in complete control, a guy screws with him and they are gone, the rest of the NBA the coaches do not have that power and Messina may struggle as Blatt did.

Which brings up the guy I would like to see coaching the Nuggets next year. Blatt already had that learning stint in the NBA dealing with Lebron and his crew, even still he got as much out of them as Lue has, and now he has the experience of what it is like here so should be able to better adjust. I think with Jokic and Hernangomez already having experienced the Euro way and grown up in it, and the other real talent on the team being so young, I think Blatt would be the perfect coach and can get the most out of the team while not having so much of that learning curve on the culture adjustment.

That being said I do not think that the Nuggets will fire Malone, and I really do not see them forking over the money to pay Blatt the money he would require, so Messina may be the best option if the front office shows some balls and fires Malone and get rid of most of the trouble making veterans.

Blatt wouldn't be a bad option but I don't think you have it completely accurate on Messina. He didn't come straight from Europe to a highly strict and organized franchise like the Spurs. He first spent a season or two on Mike Brown's coaching staff with the Lakers which was quite a chaotic situation there so he has some experience seeing turmoil in the league.

[NuggetsWY]

<snip>
I think they have to do something, right now there is some buzz around the Nuggets, bringing back close to the same team with the same coach will kill that buzz and will hurt them with the hard core base. Winning 2 or 3 more games than last year is not going to help the franchise sell more tickets or grow their fan base, especially since it will be the 4th year in a row winning between 30-38 games.

The hard core fans are starting to get irritated with the stagnant roster and calling for Malone's head, while watching a team that is more talented than their record struggle to win games.

Add to that the running theme I seem to be seeing from the national guys saying that the Nuggets roster has too much clutter, too many guys who do the same thing and play the same position, and I would say that there are 2 big reasons that the Nuggets move some of the veterans this summer.
<snip>

Heard one of the national guys say Malone is on his list for COY - amazing!
As far as "they have to do something ... hard core fans are starting to get irritated" - I'm just not a believer in our owner and GM; not any more. If they don't make major changes to the roster and the direction of the team, ... I don't know what to say ... I want to say something about that but unfortunately, I truly expect them to not make major changes anywhere.

There just aren't enough negative smilies to express my feelings regarding our owner/GM/coach - not for me.