It’s Official: Brian Shaw Has Lost the Denver Nuggets
By Eric Meyer
Mar 1, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Will Barton (5) reacts during the second half against the New Orleans Pelicans at Pepsi Center. The Nuggets lost 99-92. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
The Denver Nuggets 2014-2015 season has been nothing short of an abject disaster for a lot of reasons. Injuries, disgruntled players, changes in the roster due to trades and signings and a general lack of effort from the team. But now a story has popped up that proves that Head Coach Brian Shaw has completely lost this team. Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post wrote a piece about the Nuggets players ending a huddle in Friday’s 104-82 loss to the Jazz with “1-2-3….Six Weeks!” Which is their way of saying there is only 6 miserable weeks left of the season to put up with. If Shaw is condoning this behavior or is not punishing players for obviously giving up on the season, he should no doubt be fired after the season concludes. This is from Dempsey’s article:
"A fourth-quarter huddle late in the Nuggets’ 104-82 loss to the Utah Jazz on Friday broke with this phrase: “1-2-3 … six weeks!”As in six weeks to go until the end of the season. That’s 24 games, 46 days and 1,152 minutes away.Tax day, April 15, is getaway day: the last day of the Nuggets’ season. Rest assured, there are players who are already counting."
These are PROFESSIONAL Basketball players. They get PAID to play the game, entertain their fans and give 100% effort in a game they have played their entire lives. It sickens me to hear stories like this from a team I have been a fan of for 40 years and have never heard of anything like this happening since the salad days of Nick Van Excel flipping off the crowd while dribbling the ball in a game back in 1998. This is an inexcusable attitude for a team that has underachieved so greatly this season. I know there is a faction of fans and media that want the Nuggets to lose to improve their draft position but this total lack of caring is disturbing on many levels. This team needs a total re-tooling and in my opinion, this has to begin with getting rid of a coach who has no control over his team. The next step is finding out in the last 24 games, which players show maximum effort and expunge the roster of players who have thrown in the towel on this season. Losing is one thing, but not caring about losing is disturbing!
It will be interesting to see what comes of the final 24 games but changes loom on the horizon for our local NBA team and heads are going to roll!
Update: Monday, March 2, 2015 @ 1:40 P.M. MST: 9News is reporting on their Twitter Feed that Shaw is saying that the “Six Weeks” comment was misreported. He claims it was in response to the Nuggets not having won a Home Game in 6 weeks. We will keep our eyes and ears open and follow this story as it continues to develop here at NuggLove.
Update 2: Monday, March 2, 2015 @4:43 P.M.: I listened to an interview with new Nuggets Guard Will Barton conducted by Nate Kreckman on “The Locker Room” on 105.5 ESPN Radio in Denver a few minutes ago and he confirmed that the team had talked about having not won a home game in 6 weeks. They then gathered in the tunnel as they do before each home game and decided it was time to win a home game and that is where the “Six Weeks” comment came from. Obviously, the huddle that was observed by Dempsey was the one in the tunnel and he misrepresented what the term “Six Weeks” was intended for. Barton was adamant in the interview with Kreckman that none of the Nuggets players have given up on the season and the players that have been here all season are embarrassed by their play, especially at home.
Next: Five Ways the Nuggets Can Salvage Their Season
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