The Denver Nuggets have fired Brian Shaw, and to be honest, is anyone really surprised? The Nuggets organization has been in disarray since firing George Karl and allowing Masai Ujiri to leave two off seasons ago. Now the Denver Nuggets had one of the youngest rosters in the league, and tried to combine it with a head coach who’s ideals were based around half-court basketball and pounding the paint.
As a supporter of the Nuggets, it’s painful to see the Nuggets try to play the game with the strong style. From Lawson to Faried, even when they had JaVale, the Nuggets were meant to be a run and gun team, using the advantage of being in Denver. Shaw had the Nuggets running a lot of half court sets, trying to pound the paint with fundamental game play from Faried and Hickson.
Throughout the 2013-2014 season, the Nuggets constantly hid behind the injuries on the team. Injuries to Gallinari, McGee, and Hickson as well as the release of Andre Miller gave the Nuggets an excuse to be a poor team. As a result, the Nuggets didn’t make the playoffs (first time in 10 years) and the team focused on developing their young stars over the off-season.
When the 2014-2015 started, there were whispers that the Nuggets could contend for a playoff spot. These whispers were far from true, as the Nuggets continued to landslide after going 20-39 after the first 59 games. Shaw’s development of young players has not gone exactly how head office had imagined.
The main issue is that the pieces just didn’t fit together. Shaw had been raved about across the league, but was never given the opportunity to be a head coach. He was named an Assistant Coach to the Lakers in 2004-2005 and then moved to the Indiana Pacers in 2011 where he was promoted to Associate Head Coach until 2013 when he moved to Denver. However, the main issue is that Shaw has worked with teams that have a strong veteran presence and good post-play.
The Shaw project was doomed from the beginning. From his background playing with the dominant players (Shaq and Kobe), coaching strong players (Kobe and Pau), and traditional bigs (David West and Roy Hibbert), Shaw was given a certain type of player and system. Throwing him into a young team like Denver was only going to end in destruction.
Now the Nuggets are facing an interesting situation. Do they pull a Philadelphia and go straight into a tank mode, or do they rebuild this summer around the current roster? Decisions will need to be made soon while Melvin Hunt tries to develop a young core with talent like Nurkic, Lauvergne, Barton, and Harris.
