Denver Nuggets Can Wound Any Team. Need To Develop Killer Instinct

Until George Karl proves that the Karl system is something that can win a title, then I don't want to hear any more conversation about Mr. 57 wins that can't get another job.

As for the merits of Brian Shaw?

Watching my Denver Nuggets compete and lose against the best and worst of the NBA has made me more convinced than ever that Brian Shaw is the right man for this team.  George Karl was clearly a little better at pushing the button called Ty Lawson, but even Karl depended upon a positive Lawson versus timid Ty and needed the maturity of Andre Miller or Chauncey Billups to offset the immaturity that inevitably becomes Ty Lawson from time to time. Avoiding firing Karl made the Denver Nuggets also avoid the youth movement that had to take place to pave way for our future after Carmelo Anthony. An argument could be made that Karl should have been fired a year earlier so that the transition could have started sooner. With or without Karl, this team would not be competitive if not for the positive impact of coaching.


SquareBiz! Karl could have maneuvered a couple of extra wins by virtue of a faster style and years of end game coaching experience.   Karl would have certainly added a few additional games to his legendary win total, but would he also buy into the front office marketing plan of winning with numbers?  Even Shaw, who tried the plan, has had to virtually abandon it given injuries and sporadic ticket sales- but would Karl be better at finding minutes for rookies and mediocre players returning from injury all at the same time?

Nobody in the world believes Karl could coach kids or cared to risk his career on their ability, especially Karl.  Kenneth Faried needed fan frenzy to force his way into more playing time, and only then did  Karl finally consider the merits of a youth movement- weeks before he was eventually fired. Had George been retained, stupidity and missed freethrows in the next season would have cured Karl of Kenneth quickly.

It has been miserably frustrating to watch my Denver Nuggets compete and lose against good and bad teams alike. But good coaches realize that you have to build upon the positives that you experience and learn from the negatives regardless of the final score.  Every time that I look at the Nuggets from a coaching perspective, I do not see a team with no opportunity to win games or a team that is competing strictly on the talent of the players.  These Nuggets defend, block out, run the floor and get fast breaks points(#7 in the league).  They run plays to absolute perfection and pummel all teams while getting shots EXACTLY where they expect those shots to come from.

And then suddenly they forget their own identity.

Sometimes the Denver Nugget identity shift is caused by tasting that bitter wine we call Galo (Danilo Galinari); who could be good if his legs were good, but they're not, so he's not- other times the shift happens from player/s that fail to step up on defense when teams make their run at the Nuggets.  Bench scoring is suppose to come from Galo (or Chandler when Galo gets right), but JJ Hickson, Dorrell Arthur and now Jameer Nelson have had to carry the back ups while waiting for the wine to ripen.

The real trick on every night is compiling a combination plate of back ups and starters that can actually secure the win down the stretch.  As it stands, the coach has rolled craps more often than not, but it has little to do with his coaching ability or his worthiness of remaining with this team. Nuggets fans send their message via attendance just like most smart fan bases.  Legitimate critics of Shaw have a legitimate concern about the ability of this coach to develop as fast or faster than the team he's tasked with developing himself. Shaw's growth must continue to outpace his team to remain the leader that we hoped could replace Karl.

Fans of Karl need to start a "hire my coach" campaign to keep the end of his era from being now. Moreover, they should stop using Karl as the primary reason why Shaw was a mistake.

My personal team building efforts could benefit if the Nuggets would suck a little bit more because getting a group rate on bulk tickets has not been as easy as I would hope for a team with the Nuggets record.  For whatever reason, Colorado basketball fans have not abandoned their desire to see if Shaw's team can win games, even if it means they might experience bitter defeats. The trained eye may not always appreciate the outcome, but they recognize the show.  This team can play, and it can play in SEVERAL different ways utilizing several different play options and several different styles of play.  They have not perfected Shaw's style of play, but they have shown glimpses of brilliant basketball that has the front office still maneuvering for wins (see; Jameer Nelson) both this season and in seasons to come. Every other team in a similar position would have scrapped this season while the Denver Nuggets are working to salvage the season- and the coach.

One and a half years into Brian Shaw,
have we seen enough?

If this team had one capable closer it could be in playoff contention.  Without that credible closer the Nuggets will be mostly a nuisance to the entire league throughout the entire season mostly because they have a coach who was that same kind of pest of a player himself.  Brian Shaw is reflecting his nature upon his team with every passing day, and for those who watched Shaw play, that is the most hopeful thing for all Nugget fans.  One serious aspect of the Shaw personality is the quiet ability to get you down and mysteriously slice your jugular vein until you bleed out.  He has taught his team how to wound its victims, but making your victim bleed out with minimal effort takes ninja like precision to perform.

It's not a skill that any team can master overnight.

Has Jusuf Njurkic Already Made Timofey Mosgov The Backup Center?

At the close of last night's drubbing of Memphis at the hands of Denver's desperate Nuggets- who needed a win like air and water,  the lead Grizzly bear Marc Gasol, gave hugs and sincere respect to the new Nugget big man he had ferociously battled just minutes before.

I believe that Nurkic is our future.  Teach him well! 

During a pivotal moment of the game, Jusuf Nurkic finished a back-to-back block brigade, including one against Gasol, with a Dikembe Mutombo-esque bit of crap talking as the icing on his patty cake. According to coach Brian Shaw (in the post game press conference), Nurkic was promised more minutes with less fouling.  Nurkic, who loves to reach and has the wing span to justify the bad habit, finally had a game with no fouls despite a VERY physical battle against one of the leagues best centers.


Along the way he compiled a double double, including 5 blocks, while simultaneously forcing Timofey Mosgov to wonder if he should count his remaining days as the Denver Nugget starting center.  Javale McGhee is working on his ball handling skills as we speak so that he can become a 7 foot power forward/center for his remaining days in Denver.

Nurkic is but one of several young talents that are quickly trying to earn their way into the trust of the city that they play for.  When you become a fan favorite, even your bad play gets overlooked as with Kenneth Faried.  It sometimes even gets you a second opportunity to return to a city that thinks they missed something in your game- as with Aaron Aaflalo who is quickly convincing me that Orlando got his best year/s.  Aaron Augustus Aaflalo is unafraid to shoot in the waning moments of games, but opposing coaches are totally fine trusting AAA  with a slightly contested look to win a close game. The signs say that Wilson Chandler will never be a player who wants that shot, so the hope in  this area remains with two up and coming guards that simply haven't come up quite yet. 

Last night, Nurkic might have been the first Nugget rookie to officially come up.  He certainly got lucky to catch a team that had played the night before, however he was unfortunate for that team to be the 3rd placed team in the vicious NBA Western conference- and a team whose center is probably the best in the league-  unquestionably the center (not named Tim Duncan) with the widest array of skill sets. Denver beat Memphis by 29 points, but Denver fans discovered a reason for hope in the coming days and years.  Denver Nugget point guard and current team leader, Ty Lawson, had another stellar game displaying all of the reasons why you appreciate Ty when he's feeling it.  Even when Ty is not "feeling it", he remains an effective player in the league and would easily lead the league in assist if his current guards weren't such erratic, sporadic, dare I say spastic scorers of the ball.  With a reliable person to deliver the ball to (i.e., someone really close to the rim who can score and/or get to the line consistently), Lawson could unveil a second half to a career that has been positive while far from prosperous.  Whether its Ty Lawson or a reliable backup like Jeremy Lin (who could really use a new home),  Jusuf Njurkic will be the Nugget center catching their passes and calmly creating something for his team.

Nurkic is a natural playmaker who understands the game on a very high level but continues to make the small mistakes that separates rookies from veteran players- mistakes like fouling instead of forcing hard shots then blocking out to eliminate second chances.  Nurkic and the Nuggets could all stand to improve in the realm of defending without fouls and last nights game was the first foray into that realm of improvement.  Since Denver has never successfully defended without fouling, last nights win also has to be considered an anomaly. Whether they were just the beneficiaries of blind whistles will be determined in the games to come.  Denver has long since been the best team in the NBA at getting second chance opportunities.  Unfortunately, the Nug's have also ranked pretty high in giving up second chances and/or giving teams free throws as a result of poor defensive discipline.

The winning potion versus Memphis was one part tired Grizzly and one part new and improved Nugget, a team that MUST keep this going if they hope to keep it going.

Or they could scrap the season like New York or Philly and push the youth movement into overdrive but risk further loss of favor towards coach Shaw who would likely become the sacrificial lamb of such an approach.  The Nuggets are playing for respectability and they are playing for an identity.  They are playing to ensure their fans that they have a plan for the future and that some pieces of it, especially the coach, are clearly in place.  The Nuggets are unlikely to win it all and even hardly capable of turning tide enough to make the playoffs this year, so the current goals have to be set within arms reach or they become a deadly mountain to climb.

Winning just enough to keep the heat off of a worthy and capable coach is an active goal that just took a 7 foot, Jusuf Nurkic leap forward.  As long as he can continue to defend without fouling, Mosgov will move back and the Nuggets will move forward....and that is a good thing.