The Denver Nuggets’ previous head coach, George Karl, used to strive for 10-win months during the regular season. It’s was his theory that 10-win months would always put the Nuggets on pace for a good seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
The current Nuggets, and their new head coach, Brian Shaw, appear to be aiming for the opposite. After two embarrassing losses in a row — 104-86 vs. Charlotte at home and 99-69 at Memphis — Shaw’s Nuggets just wrapped up their second consecutive 10-loss month.
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Now, the “January to forget” puts the Nuggets in need of a “George Karl month” to get back to .500. The team is sitting 10 games under with a 19-29 record, January erased any hope of the playoffs this season, and now Nuggets fans are going, “Oh, wow, they might be reallllly bad.”
Fair or not, when fans start saying that out loud in the Mile High City, it means the coach is on hot seat — no matter the sport. Brian Shaw’s name has been brought up in the national media more than once (see here, here and here) when it comes to coaches on the chopping block, and the Nuggets failing to show any signs of improvement through January has got the temperature rising.
I’ve strayed from calling for Shaw’s head this season on HoopsHabit. I admit, it hasn’t been fun to watch the Nuggets this season, but I felt that Shaw remained a capable and talented coach. I liked his development and potential with promising rookie center Jusuf Nurkic, and I felt like the roster was never suited to Shaw’s strengths to begin with — or that this losing wasn’t really his fault.
It remains clear this roster isn’t built perfectly for the second-year coach. However, it’s still his job to get his the most out of this current Nuggets team. Shaw’s failing to deliver big time, and trailing by 32 after the first half to a sub-.500 Charlotte Hornets team — at HOME — is proof Shaw’s coaching has the Nuggets regressing.
At least Shaw is aware of the situation he is facing,
“Down 32 in the first half to this team, at home, is not acceptable,” Shaw told reporters after the game. “I have to do a better job, everybody else has to do a better job.”
As of right now, he’s still the head coach, and the good news for him is that he still has some time to do the “better job” he mentioned. To cool his seat, Shaw’s Nuggets need to regain competitiveness against the Western Conference’s best, and show improved defense with better overall chemistry in the second half of this NBA season.
Luckily for Shaw, February gives the former NBA title winner the perfect chance to coach his team to just that. The Nuggets have 10 games in February, and just two of those 10 come against teams over .500, at Milwaukee and at home against Phoenix.
February also gives Shaw a shot at winning Nuggets fans’ hearts back. The Nuggets face division rival Oklahoma City twice this month (one at home and one away), and winning the two-game series will show the improvement we’re all dying to see.
Beating Oklahoma City won’t quell all the rumors though, as Shaw has got to stop the blowouts. Nine of the Nuggets 29 losses have been by 15 points or more. Those games are just disgusting to watch, and they need to stop for the fans to stay somewhat interested in the team.
The remaining games in February are against Philadelphia, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Brooklyn and Utah. The Nuggets should not lose (what have we come to!) by more than 15 in any of their February games with that schedule, and if they do, Shaw’s seat should reach the boiling point.
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