Doug Moe
Encyclopedia
Douglas Edwin Moe is an American professional basketball
coach. He is most closely associated with the Denver Nuggets
franchise.
Moe was a star player at the University of North Carolina
. However, his collegiate career ended in disgrace when he admitted to being involved in a point shaving scandal. He did not enter the NBA as a player, instead playing for the American Basketball Association
for the New Orleans Buccaneers
, Oakland Oaks
, Washington Caps
, Carolina Cougars
and Virginia Squires
.
Moe became a head coach in 1976-77
, after serving as an assistant coach for the Carolina Cougars. Moe worked behind the bench for 15 years, ten of them with the Denver Nuggets. He also had stops in San Antonio
and Philadelphia
.
. His Denver teams were immediately characterized by a run-and-gun style that emphasized offense rather than defense. He was often criticized for his style, but the fans loved it. While he never won an NBA
title, his overall coaching record was a successful 628-529, and he won the 1987-88
NBA Coach of the Year Award
.
He held pieces to Denver's offensive explosion of the decade, such as Alex English
, Kiki Vandeweghe, and Fat Lever.
He also spent some time as an assistant coach with the Nuggets.
While he is considered the most successful coach in Nuggets history, many consider his stint with the Sixers as disastrous. He did not last through his first season and was replaced by assistant Fred Carter
.
became commissioner, that the NBA figured out what the hell they were doing, and what they did was a lot of stuff we had in the ABA - from the 3-point shot to All-Star weekend to the show biz stuff. Now the NBA is like the old ABA. Guys play hard, they show their enthusiasm and there is a closeness in the league. Hell, the ABA might have lost the battle, but we won the war. The NBA now plays our kind of basketball."
| align="left" |SAS
| align="left" |
|64||44||38||.537|| align="center" |3rd in Central||2||0||2||.000
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
|-
| align="left" |SAS
| align="left" |
|82||52||30||.634|| align="center" |1st in Central||6||2||4||.333
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals
|-
| align="left" |SAS
| align="left" |
|82||48||34||.585|| align="center" |1st in Central||14||7||7||.500
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Finals
|-
| align="left" |SAS
| align="left" |
|66||33||33||.500|| align="center" |(fired)||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |—
|-
| align="left" |DEN
| align="left" |
|51||26||25||.510|| align="center" |4th in Midwest||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |DEN
| align="left" |
|82||46||36||.561|| align="center" |2nd in Midwest||3||1||2||.333
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
|-
| align="left" |DEN
| align="left" |
|82||45||37||.549|| align="center" |2nd in Midwest||8||3||5||.375
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals
|-
| align="left" |DEN
| align="left" |
|82||38||44||.463|| align="center" |3rd in Midwest||5||2||3||.400
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
|-
| align="left" |DEN
| align="left" |
|82||52||30||.634|| align="center" |1st in Midwest||15||8||7||.533
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Finals
|-
| align="left" |DEN
| align="left" |
|82||47||35||.573|| align="center" |2nd in Midwest||10||5||5||.500
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals
|-
| align="left" |DEN
| align="left" |
|82||37||45||.451|| align="center" |4th in Midwest||3||0||3||.000
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
|-
| align="left" |DEN
| align="left" |
|82||54||28||.659|| align="center" |1st in Midwest||11||5||6||.455
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals
|-
| align="left" |DEN
| align="left" |
|82||44||38||.537|| align="center" |3rd in Midwest||3||0||3||.000
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
|-
| align="left" |DEN
| align="left" |
|82||43||39||.524|| align="center" |4th in Midwest||3||0||3||.000
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
|-
| align="left" |PHI
| align="left" |
|56||19||37||.339|| align="center" |(fired)||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |—
|-class="sortbottom"
| align="left" |Career
| ||1157||628||529||.543|| ||83||33||50||.398
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
coach. He is most closely associated with the Denver Nuggets
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the National Basketball Association . They were founded as the Denver Rockets in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association, and became one of that league's more successful teams...
franchise.
Moe was a star player at the University of North Carolina
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
. However, his collegiate career ended in disgrace when he admitted to being involved in a point shaving scandal. He did not enter the NBA as a player, instead playing for the American Basketball Association
American Basketball Association
The American Basketball Association was a professional basketball league founded in 1967. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976.-League history:...
for the New Orleans Buccaneers
New Orleans Buccaneers
New Orleans Buccaneers was a charter member of the American Basketball Association. After three seasons in New Orleans, Louisiana the franchise moved to Memphis, Tennessee where it became the Pros, Tams and Sounds for four years before an abortive move to Baltimore in 1975.-Origins:With the...
, Oakland Oaks
Oakland Oaks (ABA)
The Oakland Oaks were a charter member of the original American Basketball Association. Formed in February 1967 as the Oakland Americans, the team changed its name to the Oaks prior to play that fall. Playing in the ABA during the 1967-68 and 1968-69 seasons, the team colors were green and gold.The...
, Washington Caps
Washington Caps
The Washington Caps were an American Basketball Association team from 1969 through 1970. The franchise had previously been the Oakland Oaks. From 1970 through 1976 the team played as the Virginia Squires.-Origins:...
, Carolina Cougars
Carolina Cougars
Carolina Cougars was a basketball franchise in the former American Basketball Association that existed from late 1969 through 1974. The Cougars were originally a charter member of the ABA as the Houston Mavericks in 1967. The Mavericks moved to North Carolina in late 1969 after two unsuccessful...
and Virginia Squires
Virginia Squires
The Virginia Squires were a basketball franchise in the former American Basketball Association from 1970 until just before the ABA-NBA merger in 1976.-In Oakland :...
.
Moe became a head coach in 1976-77
1976-77 NBA season
The 1976–77 NBA season was the 31st season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Portland Trail Blazers winning the NBA Championship, beating the Philadelphia 76ers 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals.-Notable occurrences:...
, after serving as an assistant coach for the Carolina Cougars. Moe worked behind the bench for 15 years, ten of them with the Denver Nuggets. He also had stops in San Antonio
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....
and Philadelphia
Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA...
.
In Denver
Moe arrived in Denver in 1980, taking over for Donnie WalshDonnie Walsh
Joseph Donald Walsh Jr., better known as Donnie Walsh is a former professional basketball coach, and former president of basketball operations for the New York Knicks.-Biography:...
. His Denver teams were immediately characterized by a run-and-gun style that emphasized offense rather than defense. He was often criticized for his style, but the fans loved it. While he never won an NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
title, his overall coaching record was a successful 628-529, and he won the 1987-88
1987-88 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-NBA awards:*Most Valuable Player: Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls*Rookie of the Year: Mark Jackson, New York Knicks*Defensive Player of the Year: Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls...
NBA Coach of the Year Award
NBA Coach of the Year Award
The National Basketball Association's Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1962–63 NBA season. The winner receives the Red Auerbach Trophy, which is named in honor of the head coach who led the Boston Celtics to nine NBA Championships from 1956 to 1966...
.
He held pieces to Denver's offensive explosion of the decade, such as Alex English
Alex English
Alexander English is a retired American basketball player and former assistant coach of the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association who played at the forward position...
, Kiki Vandeweghe, and Fat Lever.
He also spent some time as an assistant coach with the Nuggets.
While he is considered the most successful coach in Nuggets history, many consider his stint with the Sixers as disastrous. He did not last through his first season and was replaced by assistant Fred Carter
Fred Carter
Fredrick James Carter is a former professional basketball player and head coach.A 6' 3" guard from Mount St. Mary's University, Carter was selected by the Baltimore Bullets in the third round of the 1969 NBA Draft...
.
On coming to the NBA after the NBA-ABA merger
"One of the biggest disappointments in my life was going into the NBA after the merger. The NBA was a rinky-dink league - listen, I'm very serious about this. The league was run like garbage. There was no camaraderie; a lot of the NBA guys were aloof and thought they were too good to practice or play hard. The NBA All-Star Games were nothing - guys didn't even want to play in them and the fans could [sic] care less about the games. It wasn't until the 1980s, when David SternDavid Stern
David Joel Stern is the commissioner of the National Basketball Association. He started with the Association in 1966 as an outside counsel, joined the NBA in 1978 as General Counsel, and became the league's Executive Vice President in 1980. He became Commissioner in 1984 succeeding Larry O'Brien...
became commissioner, that the NBA figured out what the hell they were doing, and what they did was a lot of stuff we had in the ABA - from the 3-point shot to All-Star weekend to the show biz stuff. Now the NBA is like the old ABA. Guys play hard, they show their enthusiasm and there is a closeness in the league. Hell, the ABA might have lost the battle, but we won the war. The NBA now plays our kind of basketball."
NBA
|-| align="left" |SAS
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....
| align="left" |
|64||44||38||.537|| align="center" |3rd in Central||2||0||2||.000
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
1977 NBA Playoffs
The 1977 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1976-1977 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Portland Trail Blazers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 76ers four games to two in the Finals. It was...
|-
| align="left" |SAS
| align="left" |
|82||52||30||.634|| align="center" |1st in Central||6||2||4||.333
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals
1978 NBA Playoffs
The 1978 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1977-1978 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Washington Bullets defeating the Western Conference champion Seattle SuperSonics four games to three in the Finals. Wes...
|-
| align="left" |SAS
| align="left" |
|82||48||34||.585|| align="center" |1st in Central||14||7||7||.500
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Finals
1979 NBA Playoffs
The 1979 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1978-1979 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Seattle SuperSonics defeating the Eastern Conference champion Washington Bullets four games to one in the Finals. The Sonics...
|-
| align="left" |SAS
| align="left" |
|66||33||33||.500|| align="center" |(fired)||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |—
|-
| align="left" |DEN
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the National Basketball Association . They were founded as the Denver Rockets in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association, and became one of that league's more successful teams...
| align="left" |
|51||26||25||.510|| align="center" |4th in Midwest||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |Missed Playoffs
|-
| align="left" |DEN
| align="left" |
|82||46||36||.561|| align="center" |2nd in Midwest||3||1||2||.333
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
1982 NBA Playoffs
The 1982 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1981-1982 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 76ers, four games to two in the NBA Finals...
|-
| align="left" |DEN
| align="left" |
|82||45||37||.549|| align="center" |2nd in Midwest||8||3||5||.375
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals
1983 NBA Playoffs
The 1983 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1982-1983 season. This was the final postseason using the 12-team format, before the NBA expanded the postseason to 16 teams the next season...
|-
| align="left" |DEN
| align="left" |
|82||38||44||.463|| align="center" |3rd in Midwest||5||2||3||.400
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
1984 NBA Playoffs
The 1984 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1983-84 season. This was the first postseason allowing sixteen teams to qualify, a format that is still in use as of 2011...
|-
| align="left" |DEN
| align="left" |
|82||52||30||.634|| align="center" |1st in Midwest||15||8||7||.533
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Finals
1985 NBA Playoffs
The 1985 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1984-85 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics, four games to two, in the NBA Finals...
|-
| align="left" |DEN
| align="left" |
|82||47||35||.573|| align="center" |2nd in Midwest||10||5||5||.500
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals
1986 NBA Playoffs
The 1986 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1985-86 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeating the Western Conference champion Houston Rockets, four games to two, in the NBA Finals. The Celtics won...
|-
| align="left" |DEN
| align="left" |
|82||37||45||.451|| align="center" |4th in Midwest||3||0||3||.000
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
1987 NBA Playoffs
The 1987 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1986-1987 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics four games to two in the Finals...
|-
| align="left" |DEN
| align="left" |
|82||54||28||.659|| align="center" |1st in Midwest||11||5||6||.455
| align="center" |Lost in Conf. Semifinals
1988 NBA Playoffs
The 1988 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1987-1988 season. The tournament concluded with the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers defeating the Eastern Conference champion Detroit Pistons four games to three in the Finals...
|-
| align="left" |DEN
| align="left" |
|82||44||38||.537|| align="center" |3rd in Midwest||3||0||3||.000
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
1989 NBA Playoffs
The 1989 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1988-89 NBA season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Detroit Pistons defeating the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers, who were severely hampered by injuries, four...
|-
| align="left" |DEN
| align="left" |
|82||43||39||.524|| align="center" |4th in Midwest||3||0||3||.000
| align="center" |Lost in First Round
1990 NBA Playoffs
The 1990 NBA Playoffs was the postseason tournament of the National Basketball Association's 1989-1990 season. The tournament concluded with the Eastern Conference champion Detroit Pistons successfully defending their championship by beating the Western Conference champion Portland Trail Blazers...
|-
| align="left" |PHI
Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA...
| align="left" |
|56||19||37||.339|| align="center" |(fired)||—||—||—||—
| align="center" |—
|-class="sortbottom"
| align="left" |Career
| ||1157||628||529||.543|| ||83||33||50||.398
External links
- Basketball-Reference.com: Doug Moe (as coach)
- Basketball-Reference.com: Doug Moe (as player)
- Olsen, Jack. "Pallacanestro Is The Rage," Sports Illustrated, February 13, 1967.
- Newman, Bruce. "This Joker Is Wild," Sports Illustrated, November 7, 1988.
- Wikipedia: NBA-ABA mergerABA-NBA mergerThe ABA–NBA merger was the merger of the American Basketball Association with the National Basketball Association, which after multiple attempts over several years finally occurred in 1976.- Origins of ABA-NBA competition :...