What Michael Malone brings to UNC basketball offense, defense with coaching philosophy

CHAPEL HILL — Brendan Malone was a basketball coach for 50 years, getting his start at Power Memorial Academy in New York City.

Malone, who went on to spend a decade in the college game and 30 years in the NBA, died at the age of 88 in October 2023. But he got to see his son, Michael, win an NBA championship as head coach of the Denver Nuggets in June of that year.

“I was the only one of the six kids who wanted to follow in his footsteps, something he tried to talk me out of. He said, ‘You're too smart to be a coach.’ Obviously, I didn't listen to him,” Malone said during his introductory press conference as the new UNC basketball coach.

“He was my mentor. He was my role model. I wanted to emulate my father. He had a profound impact on me, not just as a coach and my philosophy, but just how I try to carry myself.”

Malone, 54, is taking on the challenge of coaching in college basketball for the first time since 2001. After a quarter-century in the NBA and a year away from the sidelines after being fired by the Nuggets, Malone will carry Carolina into a new era beyond the family tree.

After concluding a two-week search that started with the firing of Hubert Davis and ultimately led to Malone, UNC athletics-director-in-waiting Steve Newmark said Malone is the “ideal fit” as a “teacher, innovator, strategist and leader.”

“The best coaches in the world are teachers,” Malone said. “. … I love this game. I have a passion for the game of basketball. I have a passion for teaching the game of basketball, which I learned from my father.”

Michael Malone describes what he wants in UNC basketball players

After being hired by UNC, Michael Malone said he shared a moment with Tyler Hansbrough, whose No. 50 jersey is retired and hanging from the rafters inside the Smith Center.

Hansbrough grabbed Malone by the arm and said, “I know we’re gonna play hard and we’re gonna be tough.” Playing hard and playing with toughness are at the top of Malone’s list of requirements for his team.

“Somebody asked me earlier, when I look at players, what am I looking for? Before you get to percentages and stats, I love guys that have a motor, that play hard, that you wouldn’t have to wind up and motivate,” Malone said.

“I love self-motivated players. Toughness, you can’t put a dollar sign on toughness. IQ, those are the things that jump out. … If you have a motor, you’re tough and you have an IQ, you have a chance to be a hell of a player.”

UNC basketball offense under Michael Malone

A lot of folks in the basketball world used a similar phrase when discussing Michael Malone as a coach. Danny Green, a 2009 national champion at UNC and a member of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers when Malone was an assistant coach under Mike Brown, summed it up best.

“He was a great X's and O's offensive juggernaut to me,” Green said.

Across 10 seasons in Denver, Malone consistently had some of the most efficient offenses in the NBA. Whether it was a two-man game with Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray or leaning into a read-and-react offense with players who were conditioned to make plays instead of run plays like robots, the Nuggets had constant cutting and movement to create scoring opportunities.

Denver had a top-10 offense in nine of Malone’s 10 seasons, including seven top-five finishes. The Nuggets had an average finish of fourth in assists per game during Malone’s 10 seasons, including nine straight seasons as a top-five team in sharing the rock.

“I think the one thing that stood out from our teams in Denver is how unselfish we were,” Malone said, noting that a lot of teams “play with each other” but great teams “play for each other.”

UNC basketball defense under Michael Malone

Even with consistently high offensive efficiency numbers in Denver, Malone’s coaching philosophy is built on defense. His father was an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons during the “Bad Boys” era that included back-to-back championships and the set of “Jordan Rules” that temporarily held off Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan.

Malone was the “defensive coordinator” for Brown in Cleveland, Monty Williams in New Orleans and Mark Jackson in Golden State.

“I am a defensive-minded coach,” Malone said. “I believe defense wins championships. I think everything starts from the defensive end of the floor.”

Expect Malone to drill defensive fundamentals into the minds of players during the offseason and preseason to make those traits second nature during the season. Trust, communication and effort will be paramount as UNC tries to bounce back from a season in which it finished 233rd in 3-point percentage defense.

Overall, Denver had an average finish of 18th in defensive field-goal percentage under Malone, but the Nuggets were among the best teams in the league at limiting 3-point shooting success. After logging an average finish of 28th in that category in Malone’s first three seasons, Denver improved that average to 10th over his final seven seasons, including four top-10 finishes.

Rebounding is another area in which UNC has to make improvements. The Tar Heels were 49th in rebounding rate last season. Denver had an average finish of fifth in rebounding rate under Malone, including six top-five finishes among the league leaders.

“We didn’t rebound well enough this year. I said, ‘We,’ like I was here, but I’m here now. So, if you can defend, you can rebound, what does that allow you to do? That allows you to get out and run,” Malone said.

“And I want to be a team that defends, rebounds at a high level, and gets out and runs and plays fast-paced, uptempo basketball and attacks before (defenses) get set. I don’t want to play half-court basketball. We’ll be able to do it when you have to, but my goal is through defense and rebounding we can get out and run and attack.”

Rodd Baxley covers North Carolina Tar Heels athletics for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding UNC? Send them to rbaxley@usatodayco.com.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: UNC basketball coach Michael Malone philosophy, keys for Tar Heels