Brian Shaw fired.

[Mecca]

Him gone.....

The Denver Nuggets have relieved Brian Shaw of his head coaching duties, General Manager and Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly announced today. Additionally, Melvin Hunt has been named interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

Marc Stein: Coaching sources say Nuggets will take a long-term view on finding replacement for B-Shaw, but there are a couple key names to watch already. Former Nuggets coach Mike D'Antoni and former Nuggets guard Avery Johnson likely to be contenders for post. Alvin Gentry another strong name.

 

[Black Adam]

heard about this around lunchtime. that didn't last long...

 

[Mecca]

heard about this around lunchtime. that didn't last long...

Did you ever think Trigger Mike would be in the running for a NBA job so soon after the Lakers?

I mean, how bad must Shaw have been for Mike ' No D ' Antoni to be a better option?

 

[trojanfan12]

Did you ever think Trigger Mike would be in the running for a NBA job so soon after the Lakers?

I mean, how bad must Shaw have been for Mike ' No D ' Antoni to be a better option?

Not sure what caused it, but his team quit on him and it's easier to replace 1 coach than several players.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

They are still retarded for firing George Karl after how well he did with that team. Sure, they were never contenders, but they did win a lot of games and at least made the playoffs.

 

[Mecca]

They are still retarded for firing George Karl after how well he did with that team. Sure, they were never contenders, but they did win a lot of games and at least made the playoffs.

Agreed.

Didn't he win like Coach of the year before he got canned?

 

[trojanfan12]

They are still retarded for firing George Karl after how well he did with that team. Sure, they were never contenders, but they did win a lot of games and at least made the playoffs.

Yes and no. If you look at his regular season record, yes, they were retarded for firing him. But when you consider that he took them to the playoffs 8 times and had 7 first round exits. It becomes less retarded.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

Yes and no. If you look at his regular season record, yes, they were retarded for firing him. But when you consider that he took them to the playoffs 8 times and had 7 first round exits. It becomes less retarded.

Ehhh, I mean it's not like winning in the playoffs is exactly an easy thing to do. I would never fire a coach that exceeds expectations every year in the reg season and at least gets my team there.

If they had a stacked roster that was SUPPOSED to win in the playoffs then that would be different, but he did a tremendous job there. I still can't believe they canned him.

 

[wildturkey]

Karl got axed because Denver is run by morons. A good chunk of their front office left and when the new crew took over, they fired him despite Karl winning coach of the year, finishing like 3rd in the West, and looking like a team that could have a deep run in the playoffs up until their best player (Gallinari) tore his ACL like right around the start of the playoffs. They claimed they wanted to start fresh but starting fresh usually also involves shaking up the roster but they didn't even bother to do that. Instead, hey they hired a coach with an opposite style and tried to make it work.

That said, a good chunk of the failings is still on Brian Shaw. Offensively the pieces might not have fit the style he wanted but he never made any adjustments to find a balance. And they were an outright disaster on defense. For a guy that supposedly preaches defense, in his 2 years, they looked like a team that had no idea what it wanted to run. That wasn't the players fault. That was the coach failing to pick a strategy and effectively communicate it. Speaking of communication, Shaw was supposedly good at that, grooming younger guys like Paul George but in Denver, he was basically the old man on his lawn yelling at teenagers. When things went south, he'd just throw out meaningless buzzwords like "I'm old school. Kids needs to be tougher" as opposing PGs get lay ups because his guys don't know if they're suppose to hedge or not.

I'm surprised he wasn't fired sooner. They quit like 3 months ago, back when the season was somewhat salvageable. But hey, there's that Nuggets FO again

 

[logic]

I would never fire a coach that exceeds expectations every year in the reg season and at least gets my team there.

Suns fan.

 

[trojanfan12]

Ehhh, I mean it's not like winning in the playoffs is exactly an easy thing to do. I would never fire a coach that exceeds expectations every year in the reg season and at least gets my team there.

If they had a stacked roster that was SUPPOSED to win in the playoffs then that would be different, but he did a tremendous job there. I still can't believe they canned him.

I would, it's not enough to just get to the playoffs. The objective is to win championships. A coach needs to show that the team is moving in that direction by showing improvement each season. Making the playoff 8 times and getting bounced in the first round 7 times is pretty much the opposite of that.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

I would, it's not enough to just get to the playoffs. The objective is to win championships. A coach needs to show that the team is moving in that direction by showing improvement each season. Making the playoff 8 times and getting bounced in the first round 7 times is pretty much the opposite of that.

True, but I think that reflected more on the players than it did the coach. I would've tried to mix things up with the roster or improve the team more before looking for a new coach.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

Suns fan.

The Suns at least made the WCF and were considered contenders every year under The Pringle Man. They didn't exceed expectations, they just fell short when it counted the most…. several times. And got screwed over with injuries, suspensions and the Tim Donahue scandal. It's whatever though.

 

[trojanfan12]

True, but I think that reflected more on the players than it did the coach. I would've tried to mix things up with the roster or improve the team more before looking for a new coach.

Maybe, I'm not sure how much of that they did while he was there, but 8 playoff appearances is seems like plenty of time to show what he can do.

I think some guys are just better regular season coaches. Del Harris was the same way. The guy was an excellent regular season coach, but could only get teams so far in the playoffs.

 

[podsox]

thibs?

 

[True Lakers Fan]

They are still retarded for firing George Karl after how well he did with that team. Sure, they were never contenders, but they did win a lot of games and at least made the playoffs.

I agree and the problem is that no coach will ever achieve what Karl accomplished because he knew how to use the altitude in his favor with teams visiting Denver. I am not surprised Shaw ended up being fired. Perhaps Byron Scott will offer him an assistant coaching job in Los Angeles. He would be an excellent addition as an assistant

 

[Mecca]

Maybe, I'm not sure how much of that they did while he was there, but 8 playoff appearances is seems like plenty of time to show what he can do.

I think some guys are just better regular season coaches. Del Harris was the same way. The guy was an excellent regular season coach, but could only get teams so far in the playoffs.

You are probably right.

I think I'm looking at Coach Karl Historically.

He was a hell of a Coach in Seattle too.

Might have won a title had it not been for Jordan.

*refuses to acknowledge him being on the wrong side of History with Dikembe, LaPhonso Ellis and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf's Nuggets *

 

[Mecca]

I agree and the problem is that no coach will ever achieve what Karl accomplished because he knew how to use the altitude in his favor with teams visiting Denver. I am not surprised Shaw ended up being fired. Perhaps Byron Scott will offer him an assistant coaching job in Los Angeles. He would be an excellent addition as an assistant

I think he will land in New York with Phil or maybe go back to Indy.

I guess there was a reason he kept getting passed over for Head Coaching jobs.

 

[trojanfan12]

You are probably right.

I think I'm looking at Coach Karl Historically.

He was a hell of a Coach in Seattle too.

Might have won a title had it not been for Jordan.

*refuses to acknowledge him being on the wrong side of History with Dikembe, LaPhonso Ellis and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf's Nuggets *

If I had a team with a young core that I planned on keeping together and needed them to be taught how to play at the NBA level, George Karl would be among my very first phone calls for a coach. I'd just have to understand that I was probably going to be firing him in a few years.

He definitely had more playoff success in Seattle, which shows that there was a time when he could get a team past the first round consistently.

 

[WiggyRuss]

Nuggets are not in great shape....their roster is nothing special- and they dont have much cap flexibility this summer at all.

Lawson, Gallo and Faried each make about 11/12 million and are all signed (all though Lawson the only one that is signed for an additional year)- they have team options on Foye (3M) and Chandler (7M)....so they can get some cap room if they waive those two guys.

Nurkic has obviously been a very solid option in the front court- and he makes barely anything- and GaryHarris is going to be there a long time yet and makes little salary.....


If I am the GM i dont know where i go with this team. Is it time to blowit up?

can they win with Lawson/Gallo/Faried making about 33 million and as their core?- They COULD add a max guy....and if they added a really good player - i think Lawson/Gallo/Faried could be a very solid 2/3/4 - but they have to get the guy to come in.......

A real coach would help. Defensively though- Gallo and Faried are both 4's and neither can play against big physical front court players. Getting rid of McGee was huge.

A real coach that gives them legitimacy and a real direction would help out a ton.