(Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports)
Brian Shaw had an interesting year as a first-year Nuggets coach. That’s always the case for any first-year coach of any sport. Shaw figured he had a playoff-caliber team when he took the Nuggets head coaching job. Nothing came according to plan.
Danilo Gallinari, Nate Robinson and JaVale McGee missed the entire season and Ty Lawson missed a good portion of the season. The Nuggets head coach knew this was not going to be an easy transition from assistant coach to head coach when the injuries crept up during the season.
The Nuggets have their season finale tonight against the Warriors at the Pepsi Center. It’s safe to say Shaw will not forget his first season as a NBA head coach. No first-time head coaches do.
Shaw should feel good about what he accomplished as coach this season. His players did not quit on him, and the Nuggets won games when the season was a lost cause. It’s the little things that we see in a coach in a dire situation.
The jury is still out about whether the rookie head coach can be a good NBA coach. All he showed was potential this season.
No one can blame Shaw for this losing season when his best players were on the injured list for most of the season. It’s hard to win games when there is nothing to work with.
Truth be told, we may have expected way too much of Shaw this season. He was adapting to his new role as a head coach. He had to figure out how to use his roster. He had to install his halfcourt offense that his guys struggled to be familiar with. It was a tough transition to say the least.
It did not become easy for Shaw when Andre Miller screamed at him after he received a DNP-CD decision on New Year’s Day. It was ugly to the point Miller did not want to play for his coach anymore after being used sparingly in the first two months of the season.
Shaw had no use for Miller. He felt the point guard was becoming a bad influence in the locker room, and he felt the veteran Nugget wanted to campaign for him to be fired. That was why he did not want Miller back on the Nuggets.
It would have been nice if both can work it out, but Shaw insisted on not having his player back. That was risky because he could have lost his players altogether. To Shaw’s credit, this did not turn out to hurt his credibility with the players. Players started playing better for him, and the Nuggets were able to finish the season strong. That’s one reason why he made his case to stay on at the job rather than avoid being fired. Once he lost his players, it was going to be hard to come back.
Not only did that helped Shaw’s case, but it also helped some of the guys developed under him. Keeneth Faried, Timofey Mozgov, Jan Vesley, Randy Foye, Evan Fournier improved late in the season. That is important since their play could help the Nuggets next season when they complement the guys that the Nuggets missed this season.
When Shaw was hired as head coach, he was hired for his ability to develop players. He has had a hand in the success of Paul George and Lance Stephenson when he was the Pacers associate coach. The fact the Nuggets had players improved under Shaw helps his credibility as a head coach. Plus, the players’ improvement helped made the Nuggets’ season at least worth watching.
None of this is a guarantee that Shaw will be a successful head coach. What he needs is better players. What he really needs is the Nuggets to get at least one of the top three picks in the NBA Draft. That pick could be a player that is a franchise changer, and that type of player makes a decent coach into a great coach.
In the NBA, it’s always about the players. Coaches play a role in developing players and working on the players’ ego, but players wins games most of the time. If the Nuggets can get a franchise player in the draft, then we can judge Shaw’s ability as a coach.
We can judge Shaw all we want, but his success hinges on how good Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly is at his job. He has to draft well and make moves to change the roster. He has to give better players for the Nuggets head coach to with.
Shaw’s first year was not a failure, but it wasn’t a success. He gets an incomplete when it comes to grading his work.
No one knows how good Shaw can be unless he has better players.
This offseason could give a good barometer of what Shaw can do next year.
Contact or follow Leslie Monteiro at @LightRodWriter
Leslie Monteiro
Leslie is a contributor for Lightning Rod Sports. He covered high school sports in Bergen County out in North Jersey, and has written op-ed columns on sports such as Bleacher Report and NY Sports Digest.
