Are the Nuggets buying what Brian Shaw is selling?
“There’s no question that the current Nuggets responded better to George Karl. Andre Miller did, that’s for damn sure. Miller undermined the new coach to the extent that Shaw refuses to play him even though the Nuggets desperately need him.”
At this time last season your Denver Nuggets were coming off a nine-game winning streak and were looking impressive with a 33-19 record. Today they are in the midst of what will soon be a four loss road trip (there’s no way they will beat the Timberwolves tomorrow) and sitting below .500 at 24-26. They appear to be neither a playoff team nor a lottery team. In other words, they’re stuck in NBA Siberia.
Injuries have crippled the Nuggets. The latest, Ty Lawson’s broken rib, has left them looking positively hopeless. They’ve been decimated by the Knicks, Pistons and Pacers in the past week, losing by 27, 17 and 39. Meanwhile, the team is paying Andre Miller a cool 5M to chillax. Coach Brian Shaw is sending a message to his club through Miller knowing that allowing Denver’s only healthy point guard to play would undermine Shaw’s shiny new authority as Denver’s skipper. But is Shaw’s steadfastness working?
As poorly as the Nuggets are playing it is fair to wonder whether or not Brian Shaw has already “lost” them and we have not yet gotten to the All-Star break. The Nuggets are listless and lazy, they’re being out-rebounded by a margin of about a zillion to one and their passing is sloppy at best. Shaw’s desire is to coach his club toward resembling his beloved Indiana Pacers, a team that dominates without a superstar player but he is failing so far. So far it looks like the Nuggets would have been far better off granting George Karl that contract extension he wanted.
Of course, the Nuggets ejected Karl in the hopes that they could be better situated in the post-season later on – knowing that they might take a temporary hit as Shaw got his sea legs. No coach could have come in and made a serious run with the existing Denver roster. The organization probably realized that the team would not make the playoffs in Shaw’s first year – especially since Gallinari wasn’t expected back until later in the season. Now the Nuggets face an entire season without him and without JaVale McGee and Nate Robinson. It’s tough to blame the coach for that. But how well is he coaching the players he does have?
There’s no question that the current Nuggets responded better to George Karl. Andre Miller did, that’s for damn sure. Miller undermined the new coach to the extent that Shaw refuses to play him even though the Nuggets desperately need him. How many of the other current players feel the same way about Shaw that Miller does? Are the Nuggets going to need to rebuild the entire squad in order to find players that will fall in line?
It’s tough not the get the sense that the Nuggets aren’t buying what Shaw is selling. Aside from Ty Lawson and Wilson Chandler every single player is falling well short of expectations. The Nuggets lack fire and so far Shaw has done a poor job of lighting them up. Worse, the coach’s own body language has been lousy lately, indicating that his frustration is reaching unmanageable levels. If there’s one thing Shaw is good at it’s looking hopeless. I guess that makes him a perfect match for the Nuggets because they look hopeless, too.
