UNC Basketball Possible coaches - UNC hires ex-Nuggets HC Michael Malone

CFordUNC said:
So we hire a guy who:

-is out of work
-has roughly a .400 career win percentage without Jokic
-hasn't coached in college since 2001, as an assistant
-has never navigated the transfer portal and NIL
-was known for not getting along with younger/non-star players
-doesn't have a staff

Terrence Ross Wow GIF
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other than that, mrs. lincoln, how was the play?
 
CFordUNC said:
So we hire a guy who:

-is out of work
-has roughly a .400 career win percentage without Jokic
-hasn't coached in college since 2001, as an assistant
-has never navigated the transfer portal and NIL
-was known for not getting along with younger/non-star players
-doesn't have a staff

Terrence Ross Wow GIF
Click to expand...
The .400 career winning percentage without Jokic doesn't bother me. Most great NBA coaches never win anything without stars.

The rest I worry about.
 
WaynetheDrain said:
You can go ahead and take my temperature right now. I’ll be the first to admit my fickle nature. I nearly always come around to the “glass half full” side of things with regards to UNC basketball. I remember hating the Hubert hire, but a week later had talked myself into how good it might be and became generally excited after hearing his plans to modernize the offense.

A week from now, I’ll have talked myself into what a great hire this was and how excited I am for our new coach.

Two years from now I’m sure I’ll be screaming for his ouster.
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the lion king disney GIF
 
This is not a sexy pick. This is not a win the press conference pick. This is a good basketball coach, though.
He is widely regarded in pro circles as being a good coach. He was fired because his relationship with the GM turned toxic (both were fired).

The big minus is the lack of college experience obviously. That affects in two areas, recruiting and building rapport with players (though being a former pro coach will give him latitude on that). High school recruiting is not as vital as it was pre-NIL and there are ways to offset that. I'm of the belief that pro coaches are better equipped in this NIL era where you constantly need to understand the value of your roster.

Not having to pay a big buyout is money you can put into the roster.

I wouldn't be surprised if a few of the current guys on staff stay on this year.
 
rodoheel said:
Yes, he's way different than Donovan. Donovan spent two decades coaching at this level and was massively successful doing so. Mike Malone hasn't "recruited" anyone in 25 years, and it may well have been 50 years for how different the landscape is now.

I don't doubt Malone's in-game coaching chops. But that is a very small part of running a college program. And the thing that got him fired from his last NBA job - like a week before the playoffs started - was not being able to see eye-to-eye with the GM. I think he was probably more in the right on that argument, but the fact that ownership fired both of them days before the playoffs, in the middle of Jokic's prime, tells you that everyone was absolutely fed up with the leadership team not being able to get along.
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I don't know anything about the situation with his GM, but I don't think recruiting is an issue in today's college basketball landscape given it's mostly about money. Donovan succeeded in a totally different era of college basketball, so I don't see that as some kind of huge advantage today. I want someone who can coach up the players we should be able to land with a top ten NIL budget. Is Malone that guy? Not sure, but his background appears to show he has coaching ability, at least as much as Donovan has. In any case we'll see soon enough.
 
Oof. I actually somehow like this a little better than Donovan, who I’ve always thought was sketchy.

But still, oof. He is a big gruff personality and my guess is he won’t do more than pay lip service to the “family” culture.
 
Touchstones

Graduated with a degree in history from Loyola Maryland where he was a point guard.

An assistant to Pete Gillen at Providence.

Was once the director of men's basketball administration at UVA.

"On April 8, 2025, after four consecutive losses, the Nuggets fired Malone and announced that they would not extend general manager Calvin Booth's contract. Malone's dismissal, 79 games into the season, tied the latest in-season change by any team in NBA history, and became the latest for a playoff team." ["“While the timing of this decision is unfortunate, as Coach Malone helped build the foundation of our now championship level program, it is a necessary step to allow us to compete at the highest level right now. Championship level standards and expectations remain in place for the current season, and as we look to the future, we look forward to building on the foundations laid by Coach Malone over his record-breaking 10-year career in Denver,” Kroenke said. https://www.nba.com/news/nuggets-part-w ... ael-malone ]

ESPN analyst at present.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_M ... te_note-35
 
CRHeel94 said:
This is not a sexy pick. This is not a win the press conference pick.
He is widely regarded in pro circles as being a good coach. He was fired because his relationship with the GM turned toxic (both were fired).

The big minus is the lack of college experience obviously. That affects in two areas, recruiting and building rapport with players (though being a former pro coach will give him latitude on that. I'm of the belief that pro coaches are better equipped in this NIL era where you constantly need to understand the value of your roster.

Not having to pay a big buyout is money you can put into the roster.

I wouldn't be surprised if a few of the current guys on staff stay on this year.
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Would love for Marcus Paige to get a spot.
 
I read somewhere that Malone had spent some time at UNC basketball practices etc since he was around town for his daughter’s volleyball. Wonder if Hubert feels used by that now? Or if that is where Malone made his UNC former basketball player connections that seem to have helped here?
 
SnoopRob said:
I’d be shocked if he backed out on Wes in Charlotte.

Plus I’m guessing he’s closer to the top of the bench than he would be here.
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Ohhhh shoot, I totally forgot that news last week that Paige was joining Wes. You're exactly right.
 
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