Losing Is Bad, But Numbers Never Lie. Denver Nuggets Need To Grow Up

Portland came to Denver without their number one scoring option, but they did have their new number one player, Damian Lillard.  Lillard ended with 31 pts., and his Trailblazer team shot lights out for a couple of quarters.  Does the fact that we played crappy defense those same quarters have anything to do with their shooting?  The world may never know.  What we do know is that shooting, covered or uncovered, is very cyclical.  Sometimes they fall even when you are well covered.


This Nugget team, especially without Ty Lawson, is a front runner or bust basketball team.  Even with Lawson they don't have a real closer, but do have the penetration power to get free throws and paint points for a reasonable chance at victory.

Shaw has shown the impressive ability to win a fair amount of games with a basketball team that is clearly Ty Lawson away from being hard to watch. He has also revealed an inability to get the most out of guys who don't always bring their best dance moves to the party.

Shaw, with a full complement of capable professional players and not a bunch of immature studs playing for something other than wins, will rectify his coaching failures while unveiling his true coaching ability. Whether or not he is allowed to do it in Denver is the million dollar question.

Coach Shaw reached such a level of frustration with his team that he aired out  guys for not maintaining a neat locker room for one another.  When you are concerned about the way a player forces their game to one side of the court too often you are coaching.  If you make a national declaration about locker room maintenance you are rearing. (see: Parenting)

Those of us who are parents appreciate him for his willingness to invest more than basketball into the lives of his players.  Those of us who are fans of the Nuggets and Shaw ask the same question that I started this article with.  Is Brian Shaw out of his Mother Lovin' Mind?

Of course he is.  And one day all of his players will talk about how he helped them to mature as a person before he made them a better player when they're telling stories to their children.  Bobby Knights players certainly do that for him, and he was certifiably crazy.  Shaw is just starting to show signs.

The loss to Portland is all the example you need. The Nuggets went to the losers locker room with some glaring discoveries.  After being benched in favor of an always hardworking Timofey Mosgov, JJ Hickson came off of the bench to set a  team record 15 offensive rebounds (the previous mark was 13 by Dikembe Mutombo) of the Nuggets 27 total offensive rebounds.  Denver's dominance on the glass generated 64 shots in the paint against Portland. Only 27 of them fell.  

In the 4th quarter, when the Nuggets finally played real defense, they stopped Portland without fouling.  Unfortunately, they had already given the Trailblazers an enormous amount of free throws as Portland finished the game shooting 36-39 from the line.  

There's more.  The Nuggets got 26 free throws of their own, but they missed 9 of them in a game that they lost by 5 pts.

I can hear the parents now.  "Opportunities are not endless.  You must take advantage of the chances you get in life".


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Denver Nugget Coach Brian Shaw Has Stopped Coaching, Started Parenting

Denver Nugget Coach Brian Shaw Has Stopped Coaching, Started Parenting

Back in the day you didn't have to coach effort.  (Listen to the interview)

What the hell is Brian Shaw doing?  What I mean to ask is, why is he doing what he is doing?  Let me get more specific. Is Brian Shaw out of his mother lovin' mind?

I fully realize that my inability to clarify my question comes across as confusion about my concern, but I am actually perfectly lucid with both my question and my concern.  Coach Shaw is behaving in a way that says he actually gives a damn about the careers of his players and not just the performance.

Dare I say that he is almost behaving as a parent.

What makes Shaw's behavior most peculiar is the excessive vulnerability that he displays in how he castrates his players for a lack of effort.  Shaw isn't only so revealing of his teams shortcomings, he is just as quick to place his own failures as a coach, displaying a twisted marriage of humility with intense clarity of what must be done to rectify the challenge before him.  Whenever you are willing to lay down on the knife yourself, it is not hard to share this pain with your team. Those who lay it down like this realize the value.

In the old days, coaches would elude to the very things Shaw is fully exposing.  Let Denver sports radio legend Sandy Clough tell it, we've never seen such a degree of honesty from a professional coach.

http://www.1043thefan.com/Channels/DrewScott/story.aspx?ID=2135986 (radio interview link)

In honor of the last days of Black History Month, I beg to differ.

The history of the black coach is full of such honest dialogue.  They may have all used their own method of personal expression, but black coaches have often been introspectively revealing of themselves and their players, probably to the detriment of their careers.  Shaw says that we don't know who is a championship caliber player on this roster because he hasn't provided them a championship environment yet.

Whether it was Herman Edwards, Dennis Green, Mike Singletary, Avery Johnson or Brian Shaw, we have seen something of this sort. Typically such revelation comes at the end of the road for a coach who figures they have nothing else to lose in being so honest.  What we can't quite decipher in this case is whether the end of the road this time is for the coach or for the uninspired players that he has called out? Shaw has shown signs of being the right guy even if not the best guy for a depleted group of young players with no floor leadership and questionable maturity.

Aaron Brooks has certainly brought something to the table including immense talent and professionalism.  Unfortunately, Brooks has also helped to bring about the return of doubt in a bunch of players who were  already fighting to believe they belong in the NBA.  Young players define themselves by their place in the pecking order and Brooks doesn't improve that for any of them.

Most young players think they need to score to get more minutes while most coaches are giving the minutes to the hardest workers.  A team that has changed so drastically since last season will see more changes by next year as well.  One might think that players are auditioning for another team if nothing else.

These Nuggets challenge your mind to make sense of their roller coaster play.  The moments of brilliance are as dominant as the ineptitude is bad.  Fan's have begun to criticize Shaw mostly because we've seen things that make it hard to stop watching.  Mostly, the Nuggets, and its fan base, do not survive to see the fourth quarter because the wheels fall off of the wagon before the end of the game arrives.

Last night the Nuggets smelled up the place for two quarters and still had a chance to beat a really good Portland team.
 (read more)

Black History Month Is About Courage. Courage Like Jackie Robinson, Michael Sam, Jason Collins

Jason Collins and Michael Sam and Jackie Robinson and Brooklyn are emblematic of the courage that is the story behind Black History Month.  I could indulge in the morality of homosexuality as a significant aspect of this post.  If so many did not consider this a moral issue, this would not be a story.  Stripping away the morality divide we find an opportunity to see this story through the lens of history's example.

There was a time when black American's found themselves enraged by the notion that my skin color is an equivalent to your sexual inclinations. Now, the debate over our ability to choose our sexuality is also insignificant with the perfect clarity that we gain from hindsight.

In hindsight we know that my nature, whether chosen or not, is no match to your preconceived bigotry.  When Arizona decides to legislate the right of any business in its state to refuse service to gay people, then we return to the day in which restaurants and water fountains have "straight only" signs instead of "white only" signs.

If that doesn't reinforce the importance of legislation against such laws, than I won't try any longer because this post is about the courage of being your authentic self, whatever that may be.  Jackie Robinson is more than just an historic figure for integrating baseball.  Robinson was the best of his era and one of the best of all time.  He could have relegated his talents to the confines of the Negro leagues as other all-time greats had to do. It would have certainly meant less death threats even if less income potential as well. Yet, his risk was a two-fold investment.

The Brooklyn Dodgers and legendary Branch Rickey had to accept the business risk that Robinson represented.  The Brooklyn Nets had to do the same with Collins recently as they signed him to a 10 day contract to see if he can help them through a run of injuries. Reports have surfaced that several teams were interested in bringing Collins in during preseason, but were afraid of the media impact.

What very few people knew is that Collins apparently had similar hesitation and refused to go to any team that did not have a serious interest in giving him a REAL chance.  Brooklyn reprented the first chance for him to work within a clear professional basketball agreement.  Collins made it clear that evern if he never got a job again, he declared, "life has been so good for me since coming out".  Onlookers were watchful to see if  Collins had gained a couple of extra inches in his vertical jump with the reduced weight on his shoulder.

How you feel about homosexuality should not impact your opinion of Jason Collins the basketball player.  If you cheered for his efforts before you knew his truth then keep on cheering.  In the end, his game is all that will keep him employed anyway.  Jason Collins is not in the NBA to be a pioneer of gay rights.  Michael Sam has a similar sentiment.

Like Jackie Robinson, they just need the "You're Not Allowed" signs to be removed.

Michael Sam Announces He's Gay. Why Did Michael Sam Avoid The Easy Way Out?

Michael Sam is a really good linebacker who just graduated from the University of Missouri.

He is gay.

Apparently his team has known for some time now, but the world at large is getting this announcement now because Sam is preparing for the draft and he is likely to get a real shot at the league.  In reality, this is exactly what we have been waiting for in this journey.  A gay man that is both out and elite at his craft.  Jason Collins (the NBA center who came out last year) is an okay player, but not worth the risk of an uncertain locker room.

Michael Sam could be good enough for gay not to matter.  For certain some team will take a chance to find out, but has he hurt himself of helped himself with this revelation?

The obvious answer is both.

Michael Sam has taken advantage of an evolution in the world landscape.  The time is ripe for those who have lived within this lie to find their truth.  Sam would be smothered to pick back up the heavy weight that he dropped when he informed his Missouri Tiger team that he was gay.  He is unafraid to declare his truth because he has seen the dark side already, and it is not in the realm of truth.  With all of the difficulties of living in a world still so intolerant, living a lie is worse.  To this end, Sam has helped himself.

He has not helped his marketability much at all.  This guy plays like a ferocious beast and when the highlights of his exploits on the field started to accompany his announcement to the world, I thought about my Broncos and their upcoming need to improve the defensive front 7. Michael Sam is not Tim Tebow, but he might draw a similar interest soon.   Probably one that John Elway would rather do without.

If other GM's and owners look at the tape and say yes, but think about their immature locker room and say no, that will cost Sam in the pocketbook.  Some marketing executive could look at the way he performs on the field and think he would be a great spokesperson......if he weren't gay.  The truth is that Michael Sam made a decision that he knows, more than anyone, will cost him some loot.

That is what makes this declaration more impressive.  This young man had the opportunity to take the easy road and get his money first.  He had a chance to make a name for himself and then be the face of the big named gay athlete later.  He could have chosen the easy way out.

Just as long as he carried that thousand pound weight around along the way.
Yeah.  The easy way out.

Angry White Men: Did America Breed White Men To Believe They Deserve Power?

On the morning of September 4, 1957, fifteen-year-old
Dorothy Counts set out on a harrowing path toward Harding High,
where-as the first African American to attend the all-white school
she was greeted by a jeering swarm of boys who spat,
threw trash, and yelled epithets at her as she entered the building. 
#BlackHerstory Via For Harriet.

When Michael Kimmel, a professor of sociology and gender studies at Stony Brook University in New York, released his new book, "Angry White Men" I had a serious Mitch McConnell image flash into my head.

Actually, I have had repeated Mitch McConnell moments every since he declared that the number one agenda of the GOP would be to make Barack Obama a one term president.  Over the years since he first declared this comment, it has been rationalized as a foregone conclusion of any opposition party, except no opposition party ever declared it in such an honest way.

McConnell was not simply doing his rightful duty as the Senate Minority leader, he was venting a frustration that had boiled itself into anger and his lid came off.  What McConnell was also expressing was a sense of loss that the electing of Obama

Click here to order 

represents to way too many white men who never expected the America that they've discovered in the last two elections.

Kimmel has done a timely release even if he does it a bit narrowly.  In his attempt to achieve a work that reflects the voice of the subject at hand, the angry white man, Kimmel interviews several of them and includes their stories as the framework of the book.  By the end, you would have wished he captured more Mitch McConnell and less white supremacy.

Despite the extreme examples depicted in the book, the topic speaks to the challenge of change within any nation experiencing a shift of power.  Up until now, there has always been a prototype depiction of the white man's  polar opposite's.  Oddly, black men, black women and women have made up the group seen as opposing to white male power.  Statistics would declare that women are the only opposing power base that all men encounter.  If this is a problem for you as a man, you might find yourself angry towards the growing power of women.  For a growing number of white men, this problem becomes displaced anger.  Anger towards blacks, and Jews and women and everything that seems to be challenging the heretofore unchallenged face of American power.

Just look at the history books.  If you spend too long on the page of presidents, you would think that white men are the only one's qualified for the job.  In some ways that may be true, because the process of perfecting one's leadership skills comes from on the job training.  The changing face of power means America has decided that we need to train all of our citizens for the opportunity to lead.

But is it more than that?  Have we gone down the road of white male leadership for so long that we have only one face to blame for our failures?  When congress had  approval ratings as low as 9% it was reflective of both their do-nothing decision and an American belief that congress no longer has our best interest in mind.  When you fall to 9%, it means that even loyal voters have lost confidence in your motives.

Motives.  To begin to speak on any man's motives is a slippery slope because it assumes a seat of judgement. My hesitation in producing this post was the danger of declaring the motives of another.  It took a dear friend to post the photo above of the young lady with the angry white mob behind her before I found  the words to share this post.

When I came across this picture, I noticed for a few seconds the powerful black woman that is the focal point of the lens, but I quickly found my eyes looking into the souls of all of the young men around her who felt justified to behave as they did.  Where did they gain this justification?  I would imagine it came from the angry white man that is leading this pack of terrorist.  In all of their expressions (even those smiling) I sense the spirit of fear. Usually anger is fear in disguise.

Kimmel does a great job in pointing out the generational impact of white male privilege upon white male anger.  The world that white men indirectly promised to their white son's is going away.  More and more the changing economy and the face of leadership is forcing everyone to accept the process of societal evolution, white men are simply the people most displaced by this change.  When you have a seat at the front of the crowd for so long, it becomes emotionally challenging to involuntarily share your seat with others.  It can get infuriating to take a seat in that pack or near the back like the rest.

Yet, the beauty of change is change itself.  This is the process that we ask for when demanding a more diverse world.  Power does not shut itself off or redistribute itself with better discretion.  This has to be done by an intentional, outside force.  Anyone approaching a source of power with the intention of taking it away or redirecting it had best proceed with caution.  

In other words, let us all pray for our angry white men and ease them through this change.

Black History Month Is Dying......But That's A Good Thing

My wife spent about 2 hours online this morning clicking on the Google link below before it dawned on her that it was in commemoration of Black History month. For me it took 30 minutes to figure it out.

Celebrating Harriet Tubman

When I was a young man growing up through the evolution of this historical time of the year, it was a major bone of contention that blacks were not getting the proper historical treatment that they deserved.  Black history month was an acceptance and an admission of the failed representation of America's full history.  It was the opportunity to include what the history books had left out.

The history books told part of the story, but they did not paint black people in the most positive light.  During the lifetime of Martin Luther King, he himself was treated like a rebel of America and had more negative pockets of opinion towards him than positive.  Today, republicans and democrats are arguing over which party gets to claim the great leader.

Dr. Justina Ford attended the birth of my mother and many others in Denver.Census records for 1910, 1920, and 1930, show that she was Denver’s only female doctor. 

Today, little white kids get to put on black history month reenactments dressed as whatever historical black figure has been chosen for the new year.  Today, the history books have been revised to at least mention blacks, and Google search does the rest. Black people and black history is fully within the mainstream of America.

By the time we finish marching in January for MLK, and watching special programs on television to honor blacks in February, I find myself happy for blacks but totally oblivious to the reason we fought so hard.  Not that blacks have arrived to the promise land we sought to attain, but our history has. Knowing our history will certainly direct our future.

In the minds of blacks like me who fought to bring this month to higher importance in America, black history month is dying.  But that's a good thing.

Where Would America Be Without Black People?

In case you didn't know it, 
I'm black and I'm proud
 (say it loud).

Black Americans are as proud a people as the African ancestors we come from.  Yet, there is a growing trend from blacks who do not have enough knowledge one way or the other of their lineage, to discount being born of slaves as though being the offspring of slaves is a shameful condition.

I never knew a slave that sold himself into bondage even if other African's did.  Indentured servants had an expectation of freedom and were not beaten to improve job performance.  Africans with the tenacity to survive the slave ships and the slave institution are heroes of a special kind.

In fact, I shutter to think about where America would be without black people?  Let's explore.

If we differ on anything more than religion I don't know what it is.  Christianity alone has evolved into well over 2500 different denominations.  At least the Jews and the Muslims only have a reasonable handful of denominational offspring.  Though we disagree about Christ (more with the Jew than the Muslim), we do not disagree about Abraham.

So lets lock arms around Abraham who is the father of the Muslim the Christian and the Jew. The God of Abraham, in his infinite wisdom, gave his commandments  to the father  who begat Abraham.  He realized if they all agreed on Abraham then they would root their ideologies in the same soil.  What Abraham knew of God, he shared with all of his offspring.  While we may differ in practice, we do not in essence.


The road map that Christ outlined is nothing more and nothing less than the same one given to Moses.  Christ left the earth washing the feet of man to reflect the message of humility that brought him here.  Humility of this sort endured murderous rage so Christ is not angered by our controversial debates over his validity. If mankind could have followed the original plan for life, than Christ would have never been needed.  The problem is very few people recognize the two instructions within the Ten Commandments.

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind"  and. Love thy neighbor (mankind) as thyself. All other commandments are achieved in these Great  Commandments outlined by Christ.

The power for living contained in these commandments is called forgiveness, one of the commandments which carries a  promise.  If I had to stack rank sin, which I hate to do, I would put unforgiveness at the top because it distorts our view on the gift of grace.

Grace saw it fit for some of us to leave the cursed soil of our homeland and teach white people how to dance.  I've heard Stevie Wonder sing in Swahili, but was there a divine plan for the black American we call Stevie?  DuBois. Obama. Thurgood. Oprah.  We were needed here for reason's only a God could explain, but needed nonetheless.

The fight against Obama has been ugly at times, but mostly childish.  This civil war of conservatism helps me to understand the Word when it says that the last shall be first and the first shall be last.  Growing up as a boy, my mother used to have this plaque in our home that basically says "People in power will risk there entire existence before relinquishing one ounce of power".  I never knew I would live to see a graphic example of such thinking.

Instead of being a little upset over Obama, they have become desperate. Conservatives are treating Obama like the beginning of Armageddon and waging kamikaze warfare in response.  With every over reach (Benghazi) and repeated attacks (you lied, you lied, you lied), they erode their own credibility and ability to win key elections....like the white house.

Despite all of that, the message of  example of Christ is timely for Black History month and for +Barack Obama.  Black people can strengthen  themselves and Obama by upholding the spirit of grace and forgiveness. He is a necessary part of America's history as are all black Americans.

Once we silence all of the political noise, the gospel of grace is the only message that will matter in the end.