The Denver Nuggets have been one of the worst teams in the league that was not actively tanking for the entire season. Coach Brian Shaw was trying to change the identity of a team once known for its fast-pace attack into a more traditional, inside-out offense, but he didn't have the right players to implement his vision and slowly lost control of the locker room. The Nuggets cashed in on Arron Afflalo at the trade deadline, giving up any misguided hopes of making the playoffs, and fired Shaw six games ago.
The Nuggets look like a completely different team since firing Brian Shaw
The Nuggets were the NBA’s most depressing team before firing Brian Shaw. They’ve been one of its most fun teams under interim coach Melvin Hunt.
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Some improvement in the attitude of the players was inevitable once Shaw was let go, but with no playoff hopes and the roster as unbalanced as ever, not much was expected from the Nuggets during the final stretch. Instead of rushing to sign another head coach, interim Melvin Hunt took control of the team, further proving that the front office was punting the rest of the season.
Yet, unexpectedly, the Nuggets have looked really good lately. They've won four of their last six, including Wednesday's blowout victory over the Atlanta Hawks, and lost the other two games in respectable fashion against the Spurs and Rockets.
So what has changed to prompt such improved play?
The players really didn’t like Brian Shaw
No Nugget has come out and said it, but it’s clear no one in that locker room cared for Shaw, and the feeling might have been mutual. Several times during his tenure, Shaw had to go to the media to say he didn’t hate his roster, which is something only embattled coaches have to do. In reality, the front office didn’t put him in a position to succeed from a personnel perspective and Shaw never adjusted, creating a no-win situation. The players obviously weren’t happy with Shaw either, if the amount of times he had to call them out for lack of effort is any indication. It was a terrible fit.
With Shaw gone, the Nuggets are visibly showing more effort and have improved greatly in hustle stats like rebounds and steals. “I’m excited about the group that’s in there,” Hunt told Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post, “because when I look in their eyes, I see pros. I see guys that are willing to give what they have.”
That’s a huge departure from Shaw’s pleas for effort. Inadvertently or not, the team quit on Shaw and is bringing more energy now that he’s gone.
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The pace is up
The slow-it-down style Shaw wanted to implement never came to fruition. This season, the Nuggets ranked fifth in the league in pace with Shaw, so it’s not like they were walking the ball up court. Yet with Hunt at the helm, they’ve played at an even faster pace, averaging two more possessions per game and ranking third in the league in the past six games. They are creating more turnovers, some of which are direct results of steals, and are running more, averaging almost one more fast break point per game and close to five more points off turnovers.
''Coach Mel knows us,'' Kenneth Faried said to the AP after Hunt took over. ''He's been around us a lot longer than Coach Shaw has. Coach Mel was around when George Karl was here."
The subtext is obvious: The Nuggets have gone back to the identity they had under Karl and are running with teams now even more than before.
“It’s fun playing like that,” Hunt said. “I can’t say that enough. Who wouldn’t want to play that way? Sharing the basketball, teammate gets a basket, teammate gets a dunk. That’s fun basketball.”
The players agree, and it’s paying off for the Nuggets.
Players who were marginalized are stepping up
Under Shaw, Faried and Danilo Gallinari were getting 27 and 21 minutes a night, respectively. Since Hunt took over, Faried has been on the court an average of 30 minutes per game and Gallinari 29, and they are making the most of their chances. A finally healthy Gallinari is shooting 18-of-39 from three-point range during the past six games, while Faried is averaging a double-double (14.8 points and 10.5 rebounds) with 2.0 blocks and 1.2 steals to boot. Those two have essentially made up for the recent dip in Ty Lawson's level.
Another guy who has made an unexpected impact is Will Barton, who the Nuggets received as a throw-in in the Afflalo trade. Since joining the team, Barton has provided much-needed athleticism at the wing along with complementary scoring. If he can stay at the level he is showing now, he might be a keeper for the Nuggets going forward. The improved play of Faried and Gallinari along with Barton's surprising contributions have been enough to make up for the loss of Afflalo via trade and Jusuf Nurkic to injury.
★★★
The Nuggets have a brutal schedule ahead, with a visit to the league-leading Warriors coming up next. Even after their convincing victory over the Hawks, it's hard to imagine Denver continuing to win at this rate, which won't hurt their lottery odds.
Yet the change they have undergone since Shaw was fired has been profound, and it bodes well for Hunt keeping his job and their playoff chances next season.
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