Denver Nuggets Management Need Hunt To Stave Off Circling Sharks

The writing might have been on the wall from way back when mild mannered Andre Miller fell out of love with Brian Shaw so quickly. Kenneth Faried was soon to follow.

What Brian Shaw clearly brought to the Nuggets was a wealth of knowledge of how to play any style that you need to play to win in the NBA.  What he didn't bring was Melvin Hunt who was a key carry over from the George Karl era.  My keen eyes noticed back then how vocal Hunt was, writing that the team would not recognize its new leader with a more vocal leader stuck in the fold. The fact that Hunt remains intact after two coaches speaks to an impeccable reputation and/or an organization that made his presence a non-negotiable for Brian Shaw.

Failed coach or bad fit?

Was Melvin ready when George left or
did Brian add the missing piece?

 Shaw brought a lot of knowledge to the city of Denver. What he did not bring was the capacity to sell his knowledge to a generation of players that need to be sold on the head coach. Hunt was here before most of the current players so he has witnessed which sales pitch works on which players and has earned credibility from this team. If Melvin Hunt is blessed to be made into the permanent coach of the Denver Nuggets, he will have both George Karl and Brian Shaw to credit (which he already has done).  Karl taught Hunt the Mile High game which the team displays at times, while Shaw brought the Eastern style with a twist of Phil Jackson on the side that seems to be the style that the team continues to employ despite Shaw's exit.  Nonetheless, if X's and O's were enough, we would have kept the last two coaches.  Hunt's real asset seems to be his God-given ability to connect with people and the divine timing that might allow him to unleash his gifts just when they've ripened.

Denver Nugget fans appreciate victories just like the next team, but we are savvy enough to recognize teams with the potential to win it all just as much as we recognize teams that probably are only suited for regular season success.  We've seen much more of the latter lately, but championships are not foreign to the Mile High city and neither are championship teams.  We know one when we see it, and Peyton Manning should kick himself in the butt if he leaves Denver without getting that second ring that  John Elway has tried to spoon feed him.

As for Hunt's prospect of keeping the Nuggets head coach job?  It is hard to tell with Denver management who let go of a GM of the year in Masai Ujiri, coach of the year in George Karl and a rising coach of the future in Brian Shaw who couldn't force unprofessional players to stop it.  Hoping that Nuggets brass will get it right this time is optimistic given the recent track record. Hunt deserves a chance to finish Shaw's transition, and he deserves the commitment from management to reap the benefits if he gets it done- but that is rarely how the story tends to go.  Usually two or three coaches handle the fix of a team and some big name comes along to try and take them over the top.

No player has been more vocal about
his dislike of Shaw than Faried.

That's the way big cities write the story, but the Mile High is just  tall, not necessarily big.  John Elway might have made us famous, but strangers still think Coloradoan's ride horses to go skiing.  Elway brought success to Denver by the luck of shunning the Baltimore Colts for a horse of a different kind.  Small town legends typically have to come through draft or luck, and the Nuggets have yet to ride either path towards the ultimate crown.  Will Kenneth Faried become a piece of that draft puzzle for Denver? Have we stopped waiting for Ty Lawson?  What if Jusuf Nurkic carries this team to the precipice? Does this dismal season position Denver for the draft pick that finally sends them over the top?  Most importantly, will Melvin Hunt be the coach to save the team from blowing up this plan (and staff) and starting all over from scratch?

Jusuf Nurkic is the Nugget to watch.

So far, Hunt appears to be smart enough to call the right plays and wise enough to insert the right guys without pissing off  and losing half of the team as a result. In last nights 30 point victory over the similarly hapless Knicks, Hunt had players begging him to leave other teammates in the game who either needed time or deserved it from their quality of performance. When introducing himself after Shaw's firing, Hunt described his number one trait as giving a professional effort at all times.  He will need to squeeze his fingerprint of professionalism on each of his underachievers who've struggled to keep a professional focus throughout the course of this challenging season.   Fortunately GM Tim Connelly uncovered a couple of lunch bucket guys in Joffrey Lauvergne and Will Barton, players who have a chance to stick simply because they give the non-stop effort that Denver fans appreciate.

Lauvergne is a capable backup with a fire in his belly.

Denver fans expect a lot, but we certainly recognize and appreciate the look of progress. Despite a stellar record, Denver is the city that complained all season long over the play of Peyton Manning and the Broncos because fans recognized star wars numbers that wouldn't translate into playoff success without proper balance.  Denver is also the place that demanded a change from the Nuggets by making them play to an empty stadium, and then ran back to the stadium when the back up coach gave us a glimmer of hope in the players, in the playing method and in the front office overseeing it all.

Hunt's success could salvage the reputation of everybody responsible for this debacle.  Some of them are counting on Hunt to keep the firing limited to Shaw alone because the sharks of the Denver sports scene are circling around the court and the  management offices at Pepsi Center.