The Denver Nuggets recently benched Danilo Gallinari…was it a mistake?
After losing nearly 18 months to injury, forward Danilo Gallinari was expected to be a factor this season in helping the Denver Nuggets make it back to the postseason. After just two games, he’s found himself back on the bench and out of the starting lineup.
Denver head coach Brian Shaw demoted the struggling Gallinari for Monday’s game against the Sacramento Kings, a 110-105 loss.
Gallinari played only 14 minutes and went scoreless, missing all six field goal attempts.
While still early in the season, saying it’s off to a rough start is a vast understatement. “Gallo” is shooting 20 percent from the field (and the same from 3-point range). It’s a far cry from his career averages of 42 percent and 37 percent respectively.
Here’s an excerpt of a report from The Denver Post:
"Shaw said Gallo is “still trying to knock the rust off.” Shaw also liked the matchups with Gallinari coming off the bench to run with the second team against opponents’ second units."
All due respect to Shaw but that sounds like a load of bull. The reality is that Gallinari would be starting – and would remain a starter – if he was healthy and productive. The Nuggets aren’t realistic contenders this season and their expectations are probably lower than they have been in a while but Gallinari isn’t there to sit on the bench. Once upon a time, he was dynamic player; raw, athletic, and exciting to watch. He had potential until that was derailed by a devastating ACL injury in April 2013. He’s had setbacks but was still expected to be a contributor.
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Shaw’s demotion may be the final straw in a once-promising career.
The veteran player was supposed be a steady leader for a young but talented Nuggets squad. The former Laker was an assistant for Phil Jackson and was a hot coaching prospect for years. Since joining Denver, he’s proven to be volatile, inconsistent and has toyed with his lineups and his players in a way that betrays his relative inexperience. (Just look at his juggling of the center position this season, where he has platooned Timofey Mozgov, Jusuf Nurkic and JaVale McGee for short stints).
Part of Shaw’s job is to determine if his players are ready to go and put them in a position to succeed. While Gallinari may claim to be healthy, he’s clearly not at 100 percent. After such a long absence, what’s a few more games at this point? Keeping him off the floor would likely have been a better option at this point. But Shaw may have hurt the player’s confidence – to the point of being irreparable – by putting him in-and-out of the lineup.
There’s still hope that Gallinari can bring the athleticism and enthusiasm he did earlier in his career. But demoting him – and thus humiliating him – isn’t the right call.