Doug Moe

Douglas Edwin Moe (born September 21, 1938) is an American former professional basketball player and coach.

Douglas Edwin Moe was born on September 21, 1938, in Brooklyn, New York.

Moe was a star player at the University of North Carolina, where he was a two-time All-American.

However, his collegiate career ended in controversy when he admitted to being associated with a point shaving scandal.

Moe received $75 from fix conspirator Aaron Wagman to fly to a meeting in New Jersey, arranged by Moe's friend, conspirator Lou Brown, but Moe reportedly turned down an offer to throw games.

There is no evidence that Moe was ever involved in a fix conspiracy, but his ties to the scandal blemished his reputation.

Moe was selected in the NBA draft in 1960, by the Detroit Pistons, and again in 1961, this time by the Chicago Packers, but began his professional career in Italy's Lega Basket Serie A with the Pallacanestro Petrarca Padova.

Moe's overall NBA head coaching ledger stands at 628–529 (.543) and his wins are the 19th-most in NBA history, though he is not in the Hall of Fame.

Moe used a run-and-gun offense which had his team shoot before the opponent's defense had set up.

He ran almost no plays, instead relying on ball movement, screens and constant cuts to the basket.

Players were not to hold onto the ball for longer than two seconds.

The movement of the ball was predicated on what the defense allowed.

"You can't diagram it, you can't put a pencil and paper to it. If you do, you're doing an injustice to the system", said former Nuggets assistant Allan Bristow.

Moe simply said, "The passing game is basically doing whatever the hell you want."

Moe played in the American Basketball Association with the New Orleans Buccaneers from 1967 to 1968.

Moe played for the Oakland Oaks from 1968 to 1969.

Moe played for the Washington Caps.

Moe played for the Carolina Cougars from 1969 to 1970.

Moe played for the Virginia Squires from 1970 to 1972.

He garnered ABA All-Star honors three times in an injury-shortened five-year professional playing career.

Moe began his coaching career with the Carolina Cougars in the ABA as an assistant coach to his UNC teammate Larry Brown from 1972 to 1974.

Moe then followed Brown to Denver, where they coached the Nuggets from 1974 to 1976.

During those two seasons, the Nuggets were 125–43 (.744).

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 with the San Antonio Spurs and Philadelphia 76ers.

They advanced to the ABA Finals in 1976, but lost to the New York Nets in six games.

After the ABA–NBA merger in 1976, Moe served as a head coach for the San Antonio Spurs for four seasons (1976–80), leading them to a conference finals appearance in 1979.

Moe returned to Denver in 1980 to take over the head coaching reins from another UNC alum, Donnie Walsh.

From 1980 to 1990, Moe compiled a 432–357 (.548) record and led the Nuggets to the postseason nine-straight years—advancing as far as the Western Conference Finals in 1985.

He guided the Nuggets to two Midwest Division titles (1984–85 and '87–88) and a franchise-record 54 wins in 1987–88.

He was named NBA Coach of the Year that same year.

Under Moe's direction, the Nuggets high-octane offense led the league in scoring in six of his 10 seasons in Denver.

As a head coach with the Denver Nuggets in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he was named the NBA Coach of the Year in 1988.

Moe announced his dismissal from the Nuggets on September 6, 1990, at a press conference where he and his wife Jane had a Champagne toast.

He had three years remaining on his contract but was caught in the middle of a front-office restructure initiated by Comsat Video Enterprises, Inc. which had purchased the franchise eleven months earlier.

Comsat Chief Executive Officer Robert Wussler was most critical of his coaching.

Moe is honored by the Nuggets with a banner that reads "432" for his number of wins as a Nuggets' head coach.

Moe was the head coach for the Philadelphia 76ers (1992–93), with his son David Moe as an assistant coach.

Moe returned to the Denver Nuggets as an assistant coach from 2003 to 2008.