DENVER ? Last week, when Mike Evans became the 10th head coach of the Denver Nuggets since 1990 ? counting Dan Issel twice ? his immediate goal had to be making sure that coach No. 11 doesn't come along too soon.

But if anyone knows that the odds are stacked against him, it's Evans, who only has to look so far as his own experience since first joining the Nuggets' coaching staff 11? years ago.

In that time, which directly followed Doug Moe's 9?-season reign on the Denver bench, the Nuggets have gone through head coaches like gum, chewing up Paul Westhead, Issel (twice), Gene Littles, Bernie Bickerstaff, Dick Motta, Bill Hanzlik and Mike D'Antoni.

For those of you keeping track, that translates into an average tenure for the eight head coaches in the post-Moe era ? not counting Evans ? of 1.4 years. Littles, who succeeded Issel on an interim basis in 1995, lasted only 16 games before being demoted. The longest stretch by a head coach