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Brian Shaw Didn’t See Much He Liked in Philly Loss

By S.E. Shepherd

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Feb 3, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Denver Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari (8) falls backwards as Philadelphia 76ers forward Jerami Grant (39) is called for an offensive foul during the first quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Last night’s 105-98 loss to the terrible, no good, very bad Philadelphia 76ers is definitely the low point of this season, and it might be one of the most embarrassing losses in recent franchise history.

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Sure, the 40+ point loss to Golden State still stings, but at least that loss came against one of the best teams in the league. When you lose to the bottom-feeders of the NBA, and trail in the game by 20+ points, it’s hard to imagine a more demoralizing loss. Following the game, head coach Brian Shaw once again trudged through a painful interview with the media, and his comments were pretty much what you would expect following a whooping at the hands of the NBA’s version of a JV squad.

On the effort shown by players off the bench, which was the lone bright spot of the game:

"“I thought that group of Jameer, Gary, Alonzo, Gallo and J.J. played hard. They just fought. They picked it up defensively full court. Once they were able to get some stops, it allowed us to score. We won the third quarter, we won the fourth quarter. But the hole we dug in the second quarter…was too much to overcome.”"

On the biggest reason the Nuggets fell behind by more than 20 points to the worst team in the league:

"“Our defense was non-existent. They either got wide open 3s, layups, or free throws. [At halftime] they had exceeded everything that they normally do in the first half. When that happens, it just shows our defense wasn’t there at all, they got anything they wanted. They play hard every single night. They made the plays, once again we didn’t. Same story.”"

Shaw remarked that the Nuggets shot too many threes in the first half and weren’t able to get to the foul line enough, and the Nuggets left too many shooters open on the defensive end of the court. When it came to pointing to players who didn’t show up tonight, Shaw specifically mentioned Kenneth Faried’s lack of production, and when asked about Ty Lawson’s lack of scoring, said this:

"“He was finding people and facilitating offensively. His assist number was high. But we need him to take more shots. We need him to be more aggressive offensively. Looking for his own shot first and foremost, and then make those other plays beyond that. For whatever reason tonight he wasn’t looking to shoot the ball. I think now it’s probably three games in a row where he hasn’t been aggressive, looking to score. And that hurts our team.”"

Shaw admitted he should have played Jusuf Nurkic more, although he couched that statement by admitting he had to play a smaller lineup because the team was so far behind and looking to score quickly.

The bottom line is this: The Nuggets shouldn’t have lost to Philadelphia. But they did. So, they can either let the loss be yet another indication that the franchise is in a complete tail-spin, or they can finally decided that enough is enough, start playing with some professional pride and refuse to let teams like Philadelphia continue to embarrass them in front of the entire league. I’d sure hope they choose the later, but my gut tells me we haven’t yet seen the worst from this team (and that’s terrifying to think about).

Next: Why Nuggets Fans Should be #TeamShaw Right Now

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