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{{Short description|American former basketball player and coach (born 1938)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name         = Doug Moe
| image        = Doug Moe (cropped).jpeg
| width        =
| caption      = Moe during his [[American Basketball Association|ABA]] career
| height_ft    = 6
| height_in    = 5
| weight_lb    = 215
| birth_date   = {{birth date and age|1938|09|21}}
| birth_place  = [[Brooklyn, New York]], U.S.
| high_school  = [[Bullis School|The Bullis School]]<br />([[Potomac, Maryland]])
| college      = [[North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball|North Carolina]] (1958–1961)
| draft_round  = 2
| draft_pick   = 22
| draft_year   = 1961
| draft_team   = [[Chicago Packers]]
| career_start = 1965
| career_end   = 1972
| career_number = 34, 15
| career_position = [[Small forward]]
| coach_start = 1972
| coach_end   = 2008
| years1          = 1965–1967
| team1           = [[Pallacanestro Petrarca Padova]]
| years2          = 1967–1968
| team2           = [[New Orleans Buccaneers]]
| years3          = 1968–1969
| team3           = [[Oakland Oaks (ABA)|Oakland Oaks]]
| years4          = 1969–1970
| team4           = [[Carolina Cougars]]
| years5          = 1970–1972
| team5           = [[Virginia Squires]]
| cyears1         = 1972–1974
| cteam1          = [[Carolina Cougars]] (assistant)
| cyears2         = 1974–1976
| cteam2          = [[Denver Nuggets]] (assistant)
| cyears3         = {{nbay|1976|start}}–{{nbay|1979|end}}
| cteam3          = [[San Antonio Spurs]]
| cyears4         = {{nbay|1980|start}}–{{nbay|1989|end}}
| cteam4          = Denver Nuggets
| cyears5         = {{nbay|1992|full=y}}
| cteam5          = [[Philadelphia 76ers]]
| cyears6         = {{nbay|2003|start}}–{{nbay|2007|end}}
| cteam6          = Denver Nuggets (assistant)
| highlights   =
'''As player:'''
* [[ABA champion]] ([[1969 ABA Playoffs|1969]])
* 3× ABA All-Star ([[1968 ABA All-Star Game|1968]]–[[1970 ABA All-Star Game|1970]])
* [[All-ABA First Team]] ([[1967–68 ABA season|1968]])
* [[All-ABA Second Team]] ([[1968–69 ABA season|1969]])
* [[Lega Basket Serie A statistical leaders|Lega Basket Serie A Top Scorer]] (1966)
* First-team [[NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans|All-American]] – [[United States Basketball Writers Association|USBWA]] ([[1961 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans|1961]])
* Second-team All-American – [[Associated Press|AP]], [[Sporting News|SN]] (1961)
* Third-team All-American – [[National Association of Basketball Coaches|NABC]], [[Newspaper Enterprise Association|NEA]] (1961)
* 2× First-team [[List of All-Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball teams|All-ACC]] (1959, 1961)
'''As coach:'''
* [[NBA Coach of the Year Award|NBA Coach of the Year]] ([[1987–88 NBA season|1988]])
* [[Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award]] (2018)
* No. 432 [[Denver Nuggets#Retired numbers|honored by Denver Nuggets]]
| stats_league  = ABA
| stat1label    = [[Point (basketball)|Points]]
| stat1value    = 6,161 (16.3 ppg)
| stat2label    = [[Rebound (basketball)|Rebounds]]
| stat2value    = 2,560 (6.8 rpg)
| stat3label    = [[Assist (basketball)|Assists]]
| stat3value    = 1,197 (3.2 apg)
| cstats_league1  = NBA
| cwin1           = 628
| closs1          = 529
}}
'''Douglas Edwin Moe''' (born September 21, 1938) is an American former professional [[basketball]] player and coach. 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.
==Early life==
Douglas Edwin Moe was born on September 21, 1938, in [[Brooklyn, New York]].
==College career==
Moe was a star player at the [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|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 [[1961 NCAA University Division men's basketball gambling scandal|a point shaving scandal]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,958008,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101022045434/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,958008,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 22, 2010 |title= Essay: Did Pete Rose Do It? What Are the Odds? spread|date= June 26, 1989|publisher= [[Time (magazine)|Time]] | first=Tom | last=Callahan}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.espn.com/classic/s/basketball_scandals_molinas.html|title= Explosion II: The Molinas period spread|date= November 19, 2003|publisher= [[ESPN Classic]] | first=Joe | last=Goldstein}}</ref>
==Professional career==
===Pallacanestro Petrarca Padova (1965–1967)===
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]].<ref>Olsen, Jack. (February 13, 1967) [https://www.si.com/vault/1967/02/13/543728/pallacanestro-is-the-rage Pallacanestro Is The Rage, Sports Illustrated, February 13th 1967]. Si.com. Retrieved on 2016-07-08.</ref>
===New Orleans Buccaneers (1967–1968)===
Moe played in the [[American Basketball Association]] with the [[New Orleans Buccaneers]] from 1967 to 1968.
===Oakland Oaks (1968–1969)===
Moe played for the [[Oakland Oaks (ABA)|Oakland Oaks]] from 1968 to 1969.
===Washington Caps===
Moe played for the [[Washington Caps]].
===Carolina Cougars (1969–1970)===
Moe played for the [[Carolina Cougars]] from 1969 to 1970.
===Virginia Squires (1970–1972)===
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 became a head coach in [[1976–77 NBA season|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]].
==Coaching career==
===Carolina Cougars (1972–1974)===
Moe began his coaching career with the [[Carolina Cougars]] in the ABA as an assistant coach to his [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|UNC]] teammate [[Larry Brown (basketball)|Larry Brown]] from 1972 to 1974.
===Denver Nuggets (1974–1976)===
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). They advanced to the ABA Finals in 1976, but lost to the New York Nets in six games.
===San Antonio Spurs (1976–1980)===
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.
===Denver Nuggets (1980–1990)===
Moe returned to Denver in 1980 to take over the head coaching [[Rein#In popular expression|reins]] from another [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|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 NBA season|1987–88]]. He was named [[NBA Coach of the Year Award|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.
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.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=861&dat=19900907&id=howqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7VgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5277,1236152&hl=en "Moe Toasts Nugget Firing," ''The Associated Press'' (AP), Friday, September 7, 1990.] Retrieved November 26, 2021</ref> Moe is honored by the Nuggets with a banner that reads "432" for his number of wins as a Nuggets' head coach.
===Philadelphia 76ers (1992–1993)===
Moe was the head coach for the Philadelphia 76ers (1992–93), with his son [[David Moe]] as an assistant coach.
===Denver Nuggets (2003–2008)===
Moe returned to the Denver Nuggets as an assistant coach from 2003 to 2008.
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.
==Coaching style==
Moe used a [[run and gun (basketball)|run-and-gun]] offense which had his team shoot before the opponent's defense had set up.<ref>{{cite news |last=Marchall |first=John |title=Doug Moe: Denver's unlikely ambassador |date=February 17, 2005 |newspaper=San Diego Union-Tribune |agency=Associated Press |url=http://www.utsandiego.com/sports/nba/20050217-1334-bkn-nuggets-moe.html |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130205100449/http://www.utsandiego.com/sports/nba/20050217-1334-bkn-nuggets-moe.html |archivedate=February 5, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> He ran almost no plays, instead relying on ball movement, [[screen (basketball)|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."<ref name=newman>{{cite news|last=Newman|first=Bruce|title=This Joker Is Wild|date=November 7, 1988|magazine=Sports Illustrated|url=http://cnnsi.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?expire=&title=The+Nuggets%27+Doug+Moe%2C+the+NBA+Coach+of+the+Year%2C+-+11.07.88+-+SI+Vault&urlID=415797067&action=cpt&partnerID=289881&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsportsillustrated.cnn.com%2Fvault%2Farticle%2Fmagazine%2FMAG1067962%2Findex.htm|access-date=November 30, 2012}}</ref>
Moe's passing strategy was adopted from [[North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball|North Carolina]] head coach [[Dean Smith]].  Smith, normally a conservative coach, thought that the passing game could work with the right players, but he did not believe players would be smart enough to execute it at all times.<ref name=newman />
Though his offensive strategy led to high scores, Moe's Denver teams were never adept at running [[fast break]]s. His teams at times appeared to give up baskets in order to get one. He disputed the fact that his teams did not play defense, attributing the high scores to the pace of the game.<ref name=newman />
==On coming to the NBA after the NBA-ABA merger==
"One of the biggest disappointments in my life was going into the [[National Basketball Association|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 Game]]s 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 Stern]] 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."<ref>[[Terry Pluto|Pluto, Terry]], ''Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association'' (Simon & Schuster, 1990), {{ISBN|978-1-4165-4061-8}}, p.34</ref>
==Head coaching record==
===NBA===
{{NBA coach statistics legend}}
{{NBA coach statistics start}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1976-77 San Antonio Spurs season|SAS]]
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1976}}
|64||44||38||.537|| style="text-align:center;"|3rd in Central||2||0||2||.000
| style="text-align:center;"|Lost in [[1977 NBA Playoffs|First Round]]
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1977-78 San Antonio Spurs season|SAS]]
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1977}}
|82||52||30||.634|| style="text-align:center;"|1st in Central||6||2||4||.333
| style="text-align:center;"|Lost in [[1978 NBA Playoffs|Conf. Semifinals]]
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1978-79 San Antonio Spurs season|SAS]]
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1978}}
|82||48||34||.585|| style="text-align:center;"|1st in Central||14||7||7||.500
| style="text-align:center;"|Lost in [[1979 NBA Playoffs|Conf. Finals]]
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1979-80 San Antonio Spurs season|SAS]]
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1979}}
|66||33||33||.500|| style="text-align:center;"|(fired)||—||—||—||—
| style="text-align:center;"|—
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1980-81 Denver Nuggets season|DEN]]
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1980}}
|51||26||25||.510|| style="text-align:center;"|4th in Midwest||—||—||—||—
| style="text-align:center;"|Missed Playoffs
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1981-82 Denver Nuggets season|DEN]]
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1981}}
|82||46||36||.561|| style="text-align:center;"|2nd in Midwest||3||1||2||.333
| style="text-align:center;"|Lost in [[1982 NBA Playoffs|First Round]]
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1982-83 Denver Nuggets season|DEN]]
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1982}}
|82||45||37||.549|| style="text-align:center;"|2nd in Midwest||8||3||5||.375
| style="text-align:center;"|Lost in [[1983 NBA Playoffs|Conf. Semifinals]]
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1983-84 Denver Nuggets season|DEN]]
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1983}}
|82||38||44||.463|| style="text-align:center;"|3rd in Midwest||5||2||3||.400
| style="text-align:center;"|Lost in [[1984 NBA Playoffs|First Round]]
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1984-85 Denver Nuggets season|DEN]]
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1984}}
|82||52||30||.634|| style="text-align:center;"|1st in Midwest||15||8||7||.533
| style="text-align:center;"|Lost in [[1985 NBA Playoffs|Conf. Finals]]
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1985-86 Denver Nuggets season|DEN]]
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1985}}
|82||47||35||.573|| style="text-align:center;"|2nd in Midwest||10||5||5||.500
| style="text-align:center;"|Lost in [[1986 NBA Playoffs|Conf. Semifinals]]
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1986-87 Denver Nuggets season|DEN]]
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1986}}
|82||37||45||.451|| style="text-align:center;"|4th in Midwest||3||0||3||.000
| style="text-align:center;"|Lost in [[1987 NBA Playoffs|First Round]]
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1987-88 Denver Nuggets season|DEN]]
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1987}}
|82||54||28||.659|| style="text-align:center;"|1st in Midwest||11||5||6||.455
| style="text-align:center;"|Lost in [[1988 NBA Playoffs|Conf. Semifinals]]
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1988-89 Denver Nuggets season|DEN]]
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1988}}
|82||44||38||.537|| style="text-align:center;"|3rd in Midwest||3||0||3||.000
| style="text-align:center;"|Lost in [[1989 NBA Playoffs|First Round]]
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1989-90 Denver Nuggets season|DEN]]
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1989}}
|82||43||39||.524|| style="text-align:center;"|4th in Midwest||3||0||3||.000
| style="text-align:center;"|Lost in [[1990 NBA Playoffs|First Round]]
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1992-93 Philadelphia 76ers season|PHI]]
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1992}}
|56||19||37||.339|| style="text-align:center;"|(fired)||—||—||—||—
| style="text-align:center;"|—
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:left;"|'''Career'''
| ||1157||628||529||.543|| ||83||33||50||.398
{{s-end}}
==See also==
{{Portal-inline|Sports}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Doug Moe}}
* [https://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/moedo01c.html Basketball-Reference.com: Doug Moe (as coach)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110208074634/http://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/moedo01c.html |date=February 8, 2011 }}
* [https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/moedo01.html Basketball-Reference.com: Doug Moe (as player)]
{{navboxes|list=
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{{Oakland Oaks 1968–69 ABA champions}}
{{Lega Basket Serie A scoring leader}}
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{{NBA Coaches of the Year}}
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{{Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award}}
{{Denver Nuggets}}
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moe, Doug}}
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:All-American college men's basketball players]]
[[Category:American expatriate basketball people in Italy]]
[[Category:American men's basketball players]]
[[Category:Banned NBA players]]
[[Category:Basketball coaches from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Carolina Cougars coaches]]
[[Category:Carolina Cougars players]]
[[Category:Chicago Packers draft picks]]
[[Category:Denver Nuggets assistant coaches]]
[[Category:Denver Nuggets head coaches]]
[[Category:Detroit Pistons draft picks]]
[[Category:New Orleans Buccaneers players]]
[[Category:North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players]]
[[Category:Oakland Oaks players]]
[[Category:Pallacanestro Petrarca Padova players]]
[[Category:Philadelphia 76ers head coaches]]
[[Category:San Antonio Spurs head coaches]]
[[Category:Small forwards]]
[[Category:Basketball players from Brooklyn]]
[[Category:Virginia Squires players]]
[[Category:Washington Caps players]]
[[Category:Bullis School alumni]]