Michael Malone: 'If They Want To Run They Better Be In Shape'

DENVER (CBS4) - It should be a pretty lazy summer for Michael Malone.

"You know I don't have a lot going on," Malone said the day after he was hired as the new Denver Nuggets head coach. "I just have to sign a staff, move my family, get settled, get ready for the draft, summer league and free agency ... so there is not too much going on."

Yeah nothing big -- just try and make the Nuggets respectable again.

Two years ago Malone was hired to fix a Sacramento Kings team that hadn't been to the playoffs in seven years, but he was only on the job for 106 games -- and just 39 wins. Still, Malone doesn't view his first head coaching job as a failure.

"Just look at the progress that we made when we took over," Malone said. "There were lots of question marks and I think in a short time we were able to change the culture and get guys to buy in to who we were of being a tough defensive-minded team that executed on the offensive end, and we were showing all the signs of progress in year two."

But while Malone saw progress, Kings management wanted something more, and Malone was fired just 24 games into the 2014-2015 season.

Malone says given more time he feels he could have been successful in Sacramento.

"There is no doubt in my mind," Malone said. "That is the most frustrating thing about it, the direction we were heading, and I look back at what became a lost season for them because when I got fired the wheels fell off. The players believed in me and we had great trust with everyone in that locker room, and when you have everyone buy in it is scary to think about what could have been."

It's no secret the wheels fell off in Denver last season, leading the Nuggets to fire Brian Shaw midway through his second season as head coach.

Malone says he can see similarities in the situations.

"A little bit, the only difference, this team, (the Nuggets) were in the playoffs 10 years in a row only two years ago," Malone said. "In Sacramento they had not in a long time. (The Nuggets) and the core players have that playoff experience."

But while Malone praises the good things the Nuggets have done in the past, he is unsure how quickly they can do them again.

"This roster is going to change," Malone said. "We have different avenues: we have the draft, we have free agency and there are always trade scenarios. We have to wait and see what kind of a team we will be -- are we a playoff caliber team or are we a younger team? All that will be decided in the coming weeks and months."

When asked if he would prefer the Nuggets try and make some quick fixes with the current roster, or blow things up and start over, Malone says that's not really his call.

"I am a coach that whoever you give me, I will coach them up and make us the best team possible," Malone said. "And my goal is to make sure we are playing up to and exceeding our potential. If we are not maximizing the potential that is my fault as a coach, but I would like to get to the playoffs sooner rather than later."

Malone says he wants players who are willing to commit on the defensive end, be efficient on both ends of the floor, and if they want to run they better be in shape. He says he wants players that hate to lose more than they like to win.

"When we lose a game I am not expecting it to be the end of the world," Malone said. "It is a long season so I don't want guys to overreact but I want it to matter. I want them to care and I want them to come in the next day with the mindset how can we get better, how can I get better so we don't repeat those same mistakes of the night before."

And so hopefully the Nuggets don't have too many more repeats of the last two seasons.

"Everybody talks about winning, 'Oh we want to win,' but the proof is in, are you willing to put the work in and sacrifice every single day?" Malone said. "Everybody talks about being a playoff team, but are you willing to create the habits that are necessary to be a playoff team? I don't know this team well enough yet, but we want players like that."

Mark Haas is CBS4's weekend sports anchor and sports reporter. Read his bio or follow him on Twitter @markhaastv or on Facebook.