OKLAHOMA CITY — Running a tight ship requires sacrifices, difficult conversations and the ability to smooth out frustrating situations. Nuggets coach Brian Shaw lived it last season. He might have to live it again this season. He directs a team with more good players than there is court time to give them.
So what might happen as we get further into the season? It’s just two games into the season, but peering into the Nuggets’ crystal ball already reveals things that need addressing.
Paring the Denver centers from three to two. There isn’t a bone within Shaw’s body that tells him he can’t play all three centers — Timofey Mozgov, Jusuf Nurkic and JaVale McGee — in every game they are available this season. And maybe he’s right. He probably is. But there is little doubt the Denver coach could get the same production from two centers as he could from three.
Mozgov had 13 points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes in the Nuggets’ season opener. Per 36, that stretches out to be 18.7 points and 15.8 rebounds per game. Monster numbers for real starter’s minutes. And sure, that was just one game.
But consider that last season Mozgov’s per-36 stats were 15.7 points and 10.7 rebounds, and it’s not a stretch to think that with 35 minutes or more per game, he’d put up big numbers. Slot in either of the other two as the backup, and that center would make up the difference — giving Mozgov the opportunity to put up big numbers all season long.
What to do with Harris and Green? J.J. Hickson serving a five-game suspension at the start of the season did the Nuggets no good from a personnel standpoint, because he must be included on the active roster every game. So Shaw made Gary Harris and Erick Green the inactives in Game 1. Barring injury, there’s almost no way the two guards won’t be the inactives for almost every game this season. It means both will have to be patient, play hard in practice and make the most of their opportunity when they do suit up.
Find an offensive identity. The confusing side of having mega-depth and a roster full of versatile players is what to do with all of them. Mozgov, Nurkic, McGee, Kenneth Faried, Arron Afflalo, Wilson Chand- ler and Danilo Gallinari can all post up. Chandler, Afflalo and Randy Foye are catch-and-shoot players. Ty Lawson is at his best driving the lane. Hickson is deadly as the roll guy in screen-roll action. Darrell Arthur is a pick-and-pop player. And so on.
It’s impossible to do all of those things at a high level in every game. It’s also impossible to do every single one of those things, target all of those players and still keep an identity. So the Nuggets need to decide which kind of team they are going to be: a medium-paced, inside-out bunch or a high-octane, quick-hitting bunch. As such, there will be a point this season when the Nuggets cut the fat off all the things they can do, keep what fits best into their fast-paced identity and save the rest for special situations.
Get meaningful minutes for Arthur. His contributions — defense and shooting as a “stretch-4” player — are as important as any on the team. But after Hickson returns from his suspension, Arthur could find playing time difficult to acquire — which would be a shame. The downside to having a team with 15 players who can all legitimately argue they should be on the court is that some of them just won’t be. Arthur definitely will be on the court when the Nuggets are looking to lift their defensive profile. The question is: Can Shaw find consistent, significant minutes for this veteran forward?
Christopher Dempsey: cdempsey@denverpost.com or
