Coach Malone

[NuggetsWY]

So do you think Malone is a bit embarrassed now, finding all he had to do to get another star was to put Barton on the bench ??

I think several of our posters have said that - too many times. Malone has his own ideas and mostly they work but he isn't very willing to change! I don't understand why.

[TunaFish]

So do you think Malone is a bit embarrassed now, finding all he had to do to get another star was to put Barton on the bench ??

I think several of our posters have said that - too many times. Malone has his own ideas and mostly they work but he isn't very willing to change! I don't understand why.

He likes experience. George Karl didn't play rookies either until Carmelo Anthony. Some rookies force the coach's hand.

[skywalker33]

OT thought, would Popovich come to coach this team ??

[NuggetsWY]

OT thought, would Popovich come to coach this team ??

Even Malone fan's would take Popvich --- but we all KNOW that is NOT going to happen

[Alatan]

Malone does overplay the vets and takes his time incorporating the young guys into the mix but i like how he makes players earn their minutes. That being said he could be a little more generous to the rookies. If he was better offensive coach id have no problem with him but sometimes our stagnant offense just drives me crazy. He is a good defensive coach to props to him for that.

[skywalker33]

OT thought, would Popovich come to coach this team ??

Even Malone fan's would take Popvich --- but we all KNOW that is NOT going to happen

Well, he continues to gush over Jokic, his run in SA seems to be coming to and end, if Malone doesn't get us to the WCF's this year....just sayin'

[NuggetsWY]

Interesting article about coaching in the bubble.
https://www.nba.com/nuggets/news/coaching-in-bubble-20200809a

[TunaFish]

So Malone has increasingly won more games each season except in this season shortened stretch and has the Nuggets in the playoffs as probably the 3rd seed.

Looking into the future, Malone has an all-star center in Jokic (age 25), an improving point guard that can shoot and run the offense in Murray (age 23) and a lights out shooting small forward in MPJ (age 22). All will probably be averaging near 20 points a game or more (MPJ).

I would say that with that much talent, that young, plus a group of solid veterans throughout the lineup, Malone is going to be Denver's coach for a long time.

[NuggetsWY]

So Malone has increasingly won more games each season except in this season shorten stretch and has the Nuggets in the playoffs as probably the 3rd seed.

Looking into the future, Malone has an all-star center in Jokic (age 25), an improving point guard that can shoot and run the offense in Murray (age 23) and a lights out shooting small forward in MPJ (age 22). All will probably be averaging near 20 points a game or more (MPJ).

I would say that with that much talent, that young, plus a group of solid veterans throughout the lineup, Malone is going to be Denver's coach for a long time.

George Karl was fired the year he won Coach of the Year - coaches probably never feel secure (except Popovich). Karl was evidently fired because as good as he was during the year, he wasn't considered a winner in the playoffs.

[TunaFish]

So Malone has increasingly won more games each season except in this season shorten stretch and has the Nuggets in the playoffs as probably the 3rd seed.

Looking into the future, Malone has an all-star center in Jokic (age 25), an improving point guard that can shoot and run the offense in Murray (age 23) and a lights out shooting small forward in MPJ (age 22). All will probably be averaging near 20 points a game or more (MPJ).

I would say that with that much talent, that young, plus a group of solid veterans throughout the lineup, Malone is going to be Denver's coach for a long time.

George Karl was fired the year he won Coach of the Year - coaches probably never feel secure (except Popovich). Karl was evidently fired because as good as he was during the year, he wasn't considered a winner in the playoffs.

If I remember correctly there was a contract dispute with Karl that led to his firing.

[NuggetsWY]

So Malone has increasingly won more games each season except in this season shorten stretch and has the Nuggets in the playoffs as probably the 3rd seed.

Looking into the future, Malone has an all-star center in Jokic (age 25), an improving point guard that can shoot and run the offense in Murray (age 23) and a lights out shooting small forward in MPJ (age 22). All will probably be averaging near 20 points a game or more (MPJ).

I would say that with that much talent, that young, plus a group of solid veterans throughout the lineup, Malone is going to be Denver's coach for a long time.

George Karl was fired the year he won Coach of the Year - coaches probably never feel secure (except Popovich). Karl was evidently fired because as good as he was during the year, he wasn't considered a winner in the playoffs.

If I remember correctly there was a contract dispute with Karl that led to his firing.

That's what was said, but still, low-balling a coach the same year he gets Coach of the Year, that's the same as firing.

[The Rebel]

George Karl was fired the year he won Coach of the Year - coaches probably never feel secure (except Popovich). Karl was evidently fired because as good as he was during the year, he wasn't considered a winner in the playoffs.

If I remember correctly there was a contract dispute with Karl that led to his firing.

That's what was said, but still, low-balling a coach the same year he gets Coach of the Year, that's the same as firing.

Karl was never offered an extension that summer, he himself has said that he went in and aggressively demanded a raise and extension for him and his entire staff from Josh Kroenke. Admitting that he got in Kroenke's face. Not many people can get in to the President of the company's face and demand anything and still have a job the next day.

I do think Karl should have gotten the extension, but with Ujiri having just left and Josh being still pretty new at being in charge and reportedly having issues with Karl for years it was only a matter of time before Karl was gone. Josh had to learn the hard way that Karl was a much better coach than he has ever gotten credit for.

[skywalker33]

Looks like Malone's day just got numbered. Whose our Steve Kerr ??

[U hova]

Kenny Atkinson needs a job... we don't have any Kyrie Irving kind of headcases here do we?

[The Rebel]

As much as I hate to say it, they only way I see Malone getting fired is if Connelly gets fired. They will give Malone a pass due to the injuries to Harris and Barton as well as the trade which I am sure will be blamed on AK. Even with how terrible the team looked I doubt his job is in jeopardy.

[skywalker33]

Rebel, I really think you have some great instincts but after the way the last two games were played, something is really amiss. Can't say I saw the Karl firing coming and this team has a lot of talent, more than the 2013 team IMO. I know I am embarrassed how this team has played, but even missing Harris and Barton we have shown better than that in the restart games, the biggest outlier seems that Malone is being out-coached by Snyder. Now I believe Snyder is a very good coach but Malone is supposed to be a defensive-minded coach .....where is that vaunted defensive now ??

I'd say there's a 50/50 chance he stays but the next 2+ (?) games are really going to show how well he can coach. I think Malone is a very good development coach and he seems to have good relationships with his players but he's leading a team that doesn't seem to have a clue defensively.

[NuggetsWY]

I have made it clear, I am not a Malone fan. I do not believe he is actually a defensive guru of any sort. However, I do believe he has done rather well with the Nuggets and deserves some credit.

We lost in the playoffs last year - in the second round. We beat San Antonio first - never an easy thing to do and Malone did make an adjustment in that series that seemed to make a big difference - changed Barton's role. Losing to a playoff experienced Portland team in a hard fought series was no shame.

This year, the loss of Barton & Harris has had a greater impact than I expected and I think, like The Rebel has said, Malone is going to get a pass on this year.

Would I like a new coach? Yes, but I'm just not sure who that would be. I'd rather keep Malone than gamble on an inexperienced coach. Win or lose this series, I suspect Malone remains here for at least next year - playoff time will always be that significant.

[psimanic1]

He shouldnt get a pass for Harris and Barton, he knew they wouldnt play and he had 8 games to prepare someone for that position, even if its KBD who we gave Beasley for(we could use Beasley now, right?), but no, lets play 3 C and 2 PF lineups until we get our PG back because we have 3 PGs, and no SG, so playing all frontcourt players should help us with that. If he didnt eant to chase 2nd seed, you give Daniels or KBD 30+ min in every of those 8 games so you can use them for atleast 10-15min from the bench shen they are needed.

[The Rebel]

Don't get me wrong, I think Malone should have been fired long ago. In his time here Malone has had issues with Gallo, Chandler, Faried, Nurkic, and Beasley was thrilled to go to Minnesota. Those are just the ones we know about. For a guy seen as a players coach, that is not a good record.

It never set right with me that we had in that offensive guru for 1 year and the next he was run off to New Orleans. He was the one that designed the Jokic offense, remember that offense? The one where guys were constantly cutting and moving? Since that time we seem to have whittled the offense down to 1 play. Where are the other guys getting dribble hand offs? Where are the guys cutting backdoor? I have said for years that the more Malone tries to control the offense the worse it gets. Why is Malone calling plays every single time down the court? It is pretty damn easy to beat our team when they know what play we are running every single time down the court, the Jokic offense needs chaos, and we used to be able to provide it, and we have the players to do it, so what is happening? Tex Winters was the reason the Triangle offense worked, he designed it, he helped integrate it, and he helped convince everybody to buy in, there were many times he was designing the plays in the huddles. Jackson was a great motivator and head coach, but he made damn sure that he had Tex on his staff where ever he went. Why did we run off the offensive guru who knew exactly how to use Jokic? Why is Malone back to constantly trying to control the offense while the defense has lost total control?

The total collapse of the defense, even missing Harris and Barton, it seems like the only one giving real effort is Jokic half the game.

We got spoiled with George Karl here, and when I say we, I mean the fans and especially ownership. Go back and look at some of those teams that he had. Every year we lost a starter in the 1st few games, for like 5 years straight. With Melo, AI or Billups, and injury prone KMart on the roster the role players were not very good as what little cap was left was eaten up by Camby and Nene who seemed to be out when Kmart wasn't. So many of those guys were terrible elsewhere, but Karl got every ounce of talent he could out of those role players. Many of the years we had no right to expect to be in the playoffs, especially those 1st few years and the post melo drama years, yet we knew we were going. Every year. Those contracts to Nene and KMart killed that team's ceiling, we never could get the cap room for another star, and it killed it. Karl caught a lot of the blame, and he never really should have considering the injuries and problems guys had.


Malone cannot get along or gain the respect needed with certain types of people, that is obvious. He cannot seem to let the offense work as he has to try to control it every play, our defense is terrible, and it seems like our role players are never put into a place to truly succeed. To me there is literally no reason to keep him. Spoelstra and the Heat are known for their control of their players, for years Popovich was known as a very strict and tough coach, Jackson was always an ****, Larry Brown was a total dick, we all know Karl had his big issues, and Moe was just a raving lunatic on the court. I don't care if my coach is friends with his players, I don't care if he is a nice guy, I want to see what this talent can do with a coach that will not put up with losing, no matter who is on the court. Hell I would take Karl back in a heart beat, but I doubt he ever gets back to the NBA due to his book. We need a coach that will stop with the bull, and get everybody on the court to give it their everything every time.

[The Rebel]

Kenny Atkinson needs a job... we don't have any Kyrie Irving kind of headcases here do we?

I think Atkinson is similar to Malone, good at developing guys, but not the type that is ever going to win big.

Supposedly Billups comes along with hiring Ty Lue as a coach, at least they know how to win championships, maybe they can get these guys reaching their ceilings?