Denver ? The hair always seemed to be going in three different directions. The face was contorted, red and usually spewing obscenities.

The clothes were disheveled — collar loose, shirt untucked, tie stuffed into front pocket, plenty of polka dots and mismatched colors.

Yep, Doug Moe sure was one of the characters of the NBA when he roamed Denver’s sideline.

Actually, he still is.

Back with the team that fired him 15 years ago, Moe is again providing the Nuggets with his incomparable perspective. Though he no longer stalks in front of the bench, the “Big Stiff” is a link to the glory days, a rumpled representative of the Nuggets as the NBA All-Star Game returns to the Mile High City for the third time this weekend.

“He is an ambassador, though he still doesn’t bring good dressing,” Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said. “He has a unique style and as far as I can see nobody in the NBA has been able to duplicate it. He really has a unique way at looking at things, which I value.”

That’s for sure. Whether in clothes or coaching, Moe certainly had his own style.

During games, he stormed up and down the sideline, berating officials and players with sarcastic, profanity-laced tirades that were usually punctuated by the coach stomping his feet. But Moe calmed as quickly as he erupted, wondering what had just happened as he drove home with his wife, Jane.

Once, after becoming frustrated with his players for taking quick shots during a game, Moe called a timeout and told them whoever brought the ball over halfcourt had to shoot or they would be taken out. A couple of players passed the ball after crossing the line and were quickly pulled.

Former Denver Nuggets coach Doug Moe pleads with his team during a game against Houston in this 1986 photo. Though he no longer stalks in front of the bench, Moe is an ambassador of sorts as the NBA All-Star game returns to Denver this weekend.

The team got the message — they were being selfish — and went on to win the game.

“Those were fun years,” said Moe, who’ll be an assistant coach in the NBA rookie challenge. “I just can’t believe I ranted and raved like I did. I only did that in games. I was nice to them in practice and the only way I got away with it was because all the guys on the team were basically good friends and they understood me.”

It probably helped that Moe’s methods were successful. Immediately after taking over as coach in 1980, Moe installed a run-and-gun offense that allowed the Nuggets to take advantage of Denver’s Mile High altitude.

It worked.

Shooting before the other team had a chance to set up, Denver set an NBA record for scoring by averaging 126.5 points per game in 1981-82 — Moe’s first full season — and went on to lead the league in scoring six times in his 10-year tenure.

The Nuggets went to the playoffs nine straight years, including a trip to the 1985 conference finals, and won two titles in a division that included the “Showtime” Los Angeles Lakers. Moe, who also coached in San Antonio and Philadelphia, ended his career 17th on the all-time wins list with 628.

“To me, he’s probably the best NBA running coach there ever has been,” said Vandeweghe, who played four seasons under Moe.

Moe was fired by the Nuggets in 1990 — he announced it himself while popping the cork on a bottle of champagne — and returned three years ago when Vandeweghe asked him to be a coaching consultant and assistant coach.