Looks like Malone was an assistant to Gillen at Providence for 95-98, followed Gillen to Virginia and was DOBO for the 98-99 season then went with Bobby Gonzalez to Manhattan before going to the Knicks in 2001 to work for Jeff Van Gundy who resigned like a month into the season.
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NBA Championship level coach that will be well resourced and honestly has put together really good rosters including development of Jokic and Nurkic. Especially at a brand like UNC that doesnāt have the same ārestrictionsā as a BYU but built similarly on ran like a pro team.
Could be a huge hit or a financial whiff but also seems like a short term solution. If Malone hits, Iād like to see what protections they have in their contract that doesnāt stop him from being the next coach of an NBA franchise in 3 years from now.
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Strange hire. Not saying it wonāt work, but strange.
I think I wouldāve waited out Donovan and just been a bit behind in the portal.
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I think the comparisons between Malone and Belichick are gonna happen, but I think that:
- Before he got fired, the game had already passed Belichick by, and he was still demanding insane levels of control over NE and how that organization did business/built rosters. It wasnāt just about the results he was getting; it was his megalomania.
- Malone getting the can in Denver wasnāt so much about results as it was about personality conflict, if I recall, between him, Calvin Booth, ownership, and some of the players. Heās still a really solid Xās-and-Oās coach. TBD how he adapts to college ball, but could be somewhat like Hurley in terms of acumen and personality. Not like Denver has done a whole lot better with him gone.
- UNC is gonna have to shell out A TON on assistants with deep connections, considering Malone doesnāt have any with college or HS hoops (I assume). But with the right guys around him and his talent as a coach, I think he can do pretty well. Itās just a high-risk, high-reward hire compared to Lloyd or May, and I think there was major downside risk with Donavan anyway.
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Iām going to reserve judgment on Malone til I see what the staff and organization looks like.
If it turns into an UNC family reunion on the staff and they continue having 3 GMs, Iām probably out, but if he goes and hires some killer assistants, Iām intrigued.
Malone is also famously a guy who fights with his front office a lot lol. Hope NASCAR Newmark is ready for it. Head basketball coach at UNC has a lot more power relative to first year AD than NBA HCs did. Malone might have a little more luck in the power struggles this go around.
I also remember him being very high on the Spurs list to take over for Pop. If Mitch Johnson struggles a bit over the next year or two with Wemby, Malone could be off to San Antone. I donāt care if youāre in the family, would you rather coach 19 year old multi-millionaires or Victor Wembanyama?
I think it could potentially work. UNCās getting a top notch Xs&Os coach so gameday decisions, substitution patterns, game prep, practice routines, things like thatāll be great. Itās everything else related to being a college coach that he has no experience with and could be his downfall. But maybe heās good at it or maybe this is just his 3 year plan until the NBA calls again.
If he has a good GM and good assistants and they get good players, Iād bet on him to be able to coach them into a good team.
McCollum turned down a chance to interview
https://x.com/mattnorlander/status/2041220361149153408?s=46
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That canāt be far off from Dukeās strategy, since they have Ngongba, Evans, and Foster as 2nd/3rd yr guys, also Malik Brown. And little Boozer, Sarr, and Khamenia will be multi-year guys. The only one-and-done is big Boozer and anyone would take him on their team. Last yearās team featured Flagg and Knueppel but everyone wanted them too.
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I think the comparisons that you could make areā¦
- No experience at the college game. It is different than the NBA both in how itās played and how rosters are managed.
- Both coaches have strong personality and need for control. Thatās a lot of coaches. But it got particularly toxic in Denver. Toxicity eventually impacted players.
- Transcendent player at the helm maybe buoyed the record. Not saying this is true but hard to ignore, Wont have Jokic at UNC.
I like that hire better than Donovan. Thought Donovan hype was just driven by legacy. And it may have been the best hire left on the board.
Came here to see if that was actually real.
Yeah, itās far from a sure thing, with huge downside risk if he canāt handle the pressure and the environment turns toxic, like in Denver. But I agree itās probably a better hire than Donovan, since, though Donovan won two Natties, that was back when Dubya was president. Give me blind resumes, especially taking age into account, and Carolina not wanting to have to do this again in five years, and Iād probably take Malone over Donovan, too.
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Was speaking with a few about this yesterday, Ben knows his next move and it does not involve moving east.
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Michigan State when Izzo retires? Chicago Bulls?
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Or Kansas whenever Self retires
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Ah, good call. I was gonna guess some dumb Iowa nonsense like build a baseball stadium out of corn or whatever.
I feel like I should @jasponti on thisā¦ 
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Be a midwestern legend: invent the walking taco
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REEEEALLY interesting hire for UNC. Came into Golden State as a defensive guru under lamebrain coach Mark Jackson, reshaped the team D and basically flipped their W-L record in one seasonās time. Left the Dubs as the highest-paid assistant in the NBA and took over the woebegone Kings.
Plus, as noted above, he was briefly a Virginia guy. Which is one reason Iāve followed his subsequent career, in a cursory way.
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HEās already an Iowa and upper Midwest legend. But he may be on the move again when the time is right.
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The problem is with 15 kids who arenāt on any sort of contract ā you can develop players in the NBA for a scheme. Much harder to do so in college now.
So I thought this meant Scheyer to the Nuggets, but I guess itās too late for that.
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