Denver Nuggets: Where Did It All Go Wrong?

The Denver Nuggets have gotten off to a horrible start, but where did it go wrong

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In the beginning of the year, many picked the Denver Nuggets to be THE sleeper team in the Western Conference this year. In an AMA on Reddit, Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson said that he expected his team to finish as the third seed in the conference.

But what has happened? The Denver Nuggets are off to a horrific start (1-6), and the team hasn’t showed anything to warrant a playoff spot.

With Oklahoma City losing Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook to injuries, it looked like the perfect time for the Denver Nuggets to runaway with the division, right?

Think again.

With a blossoming point guard in Ty Lawson and a great young forward in Kenneth Faried, the Nuggets should be able to challenge for the division, but they currently stand four games out. We’ve played seven games.

It’s unacceptable considering the talent that the Nuggets have. So, who is to blame?

There are many factors, but let’s start with the coach.

Brian Shaw is a defensive-minded coach with an offensive run-and-gun styled team. You can already see where the problems begin.

Shaw learned under the great Phil Jackson, who is a master at the triangle and half court offense. The Nuggets and half court offense simply cannot work. The offense should be run with an emphasis on running-and-gunning, scoring on the fast break and using the altitude to their advantage.

When you have a team of players that prefer to run fast-paced offenses such as Kenneth Faried, Arron Afllalo, and Danilo Gallinari, running half court offense just doesn’t work.

That isn’t even where the bulk of the problems are with this team, however.

Defense. It’s bad. Denver’s defense is lackadaisical at best. The effort isn’t there, they let their men get around them, they fail to rotate, and the fail to box out.

Portland scored 84 points on the Nuggets yesterday. In the first half. Yeah. When a young team like the Nuggets fail to show consistent effort on both sides of the ball, it’s more than likely because they do not believe in their head coach.

Now let’s get things straight, Shaw is a heck of a coach, endorsed by Kobe Bryant himself. So much so, that Kobe actually wanted Shaw to replace Phil Jackson when Jackson retired in 2011.

Shaw just isn’t the right coach for this team. Does this mean that Denver should try to get George Karl back? Should they go after Mike D’Antoni?

That remains to be seen. But, for now and until something changes, the Denver Nuggets are going to keep dwelling in the ruthless basement that is the Western Conference.

Next: Are the Memphis Grizzlies for real?

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