There are a lot of green lights in Kenneth Faried’s world with the Nuggets, but this is one of his better ones. It’s the ability to substitute himself into the game when he’s ready.
It starts with the discipline to take himself out of a game when he’s tired. If he does that, Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said, then Faried has the go-ahead to put himself back in when he’s rested enough to give a full Manimal effort again.
“He’s put himself back in a couple times,” Shaw said.
Has Shaw ever had to tell Faried to hold on a minute?
“I have done that a couple times too,” Shaw said, smiling. “And it’s interesting, because there’s been a couple of times where he’s taken himself out and then he’ll say, ‘Coach, I’m ready,’ and start to walk up to the scorer’s table. And say Darrell (Arthur) or J.J. Hickson or (Jusuf Nurkic) had it going good or that group had it going good and he’s like, ‘I want to get in there and be a part of this.’ And as a coach I’m like, ‘We don’t want to mess up the rhythm they’ve got going now.’ But I’ve made that point to him that if he takes himself out, he can put himself in. So, it’s working for him.”
Foye update. Shooting guard Randy Foye has been out 19 consecutive games — more than a month of action — as he rehabs his right quadriceps back to health. He’ll be out through the beginning of the new year, but Shaw can see light at the end of the tunnel.
“He’s been a little more active,” Shaw said. “He still hasn’t been on the court practicing with us at all, but he’s saying that it’s feeling a lot better. And I’m hoping sometime shortly after the new year, he can get back on the court and start doing some basketball things with us and then see what happens from there.”
