https://x.com/petethamel/status/2041212222462910658?s=46
That isā¦..not who I thought theyād hire lol.
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https://x.com/PeteThamel/status/2041212222462910658?s=20
Iā¦uhhā¦whaā¦meā¦what the hell lol
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This is legitimately shocking, but I love it as an experiment in how does a NBA coach adapt to college without past college HC experience (he was a college assistant for a couple seasons like 25 years ago).
Edit: Apparently he was a college assistant for Pete Gillen?? And a DOBO at UVa for a year?
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That strategy worked so well for them with the football hire!
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Michael Malone? Wowza! Thatās out of left field. I like it, he was great with the Nuggets. Will be wild to see how he operates in college.
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Holy random
I recall there being mentions of Mike Malone like very early on when talking about who are great coaches out there. Honestly thatās a great hire IMO if Dusty May and Tommy Lloyd canāt be your coach.
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Wasnāt the rub with Mike Malone at Denver that he didnāt like playing young talent?
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I mean we are totally going to hear he was the top choice all a long 
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Guy on Reddit brought him up a few days ago. A good amount of responses that said theyād prefer him to Billy Donovan.
For some reason I also thought Malone was much older than mid 50s.
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Not a fan of that hire if Iām a UNC fan
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I guess UNC likes to go the āhire the pro coaches who have won championships but got firedā route.
Malone may be a better choice than Donovan. A little younger, more NBA success than Donovan. I actually thought Donovan may not be the best hire since he has been out of the college game so long. It isnt nearly the same as he left it.
I have no opinion on this hire. Certianly not a homerun, that would have been Lloyd, May, Hurley. I personally would have liked Byington/McCastland/McCollum more than this since they know the college game and have had success.
I dont think it is a dud per se on paper, but certainly not a sure thing.
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I mean itās about as close to the Bellicheck hire as they could get for basketball. Incredible.
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I heard Hansbrough bring his name up and thought it was pretty random. Maybe he knew what was gonna happen all along.
I think itās a pretty good/intriguing hire. I seem to recall him being thought of as a pretty good Xs and Os coach (although I could be mistaken) and he had a great run in the NBA. If he makes the right assistant hires that could be pretty exciting. Sure they didnāt steal one of the top two coaches in the sport but I wouldnāt be mad about it.
Edit: Reddit says his daughter is a volleyball player at UNC and heās been around campus a good amount recently. So thatās not unhelpful.
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Shout out Brendan Malone who was a Nets assistant lifer (correction - Knicks)
I think he is regarded as a pretty high level in-game coach. Donāt remember what happened between him and the Nuggets but itās not like theyāve been much better without him.
Key I think will be who he hires as his assistants and his GM. Having such little college experience means heāll probably need help getting inroads to places for recruiting.
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Malone also has a bat shit crazy 20 year old girlfriend?
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Hurley has spoken a little about how their recruiting philosophy is to target ā2-year guysā and it seems to be working for him. A guy that isnāt quite good enough to be a surefire NBA guy after 1 year but has real potential to be better than that guy (as a college player) by their second year seems like a really great strategy. Basically recruits in the 25-75 rangeā Bennett also had his best success operating near the top to middle of that range.
Thereās retention risk obviously, but you also get a massive scouting advantage on them to decide if theyāre worth it for their second year vs. a comparably priced transfer.
That would be my dream strategy for us if we could swing it.
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