Malone was terrible his first year -- or at least in line with Keith Smart.
In 2014-2015 they had a "legendary" 9-5 start and everyone went crazy. They ended up losing 8 of their next 10 for a supremely impressive 11-13 record before he was fired.
They had injuries but it was never nothing more than a simple hot streak, driven by unsustainably high free throw counts.