Nuggets coach Brian Shaw looks on against the Spurs on Tuesday in Denver. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)
Brian Shaw was spit-balling. Before the Nuggets’ fourth consecutive loss Tuesday, , the coach talked about all the different ideas he’s toyed with to turn his team around.
One of those ideas included a curious comment about Kenneth Faried.
At one point, Shaw was asked if he’s considered inserting forward Darrell Arthur into the starting lineup.
“And take who out?” Shaw said. “Darrell and Kenneth would be a small starting front court, if I went that way. If I took Kenneth out of the starting lineup, I’d probably get egged by all the fans around here because everybody is a big Manimal fan.”
Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried checks San Antonio’s Tim Duncan in Denver on Tuesday. (John Leyba, The Denver Post)
Shaw seemed to be acknowledging the pressure he’s under to field a lineup with Faried, who signed a four-year, $50 million contract extension before this season. At least pressure from outside 1000 Chopper Circle.
“If I started the five guys who I thought would give it to me from the beginning of the game, it would probably be the five smallest guys on our team,” Shaw said. “But to go out there with Ty (Lawson), Jameer (Nelson), Alonso Gee, Gary Harris and whoever else you want to throw in there, I’d probably get run out of here.”
Shaw’s call-out seemed directed at all of the Nuggets’ front court, including Jusuf Nurkic and J.J. Hickson. And it stemmed from his frustration after the Nuggets’ blowout loss to Golden State the day before.
But after Tuesday’s game, in which Faried scored a game-high 26 points in a losing effort, I asked Faried if Shaw had called out the Nuggets’ bigs before the game, behind the doors. I mentioned Shaw’s comment about wanting an all-small starting five.
“No, I didn’t know that,” Faried said, seemingly surprised. “I didn’t know that. I didn’t hear that. But he… I’ve got no comment on that. I’m sorry.”
Shaw already this season, in November, . The two even had a to hash out their issues.
After Faried’s high-scoring night Tuesday against San Antonio — helped by Tim Duncan’s struggles in the first half, sitting for large minutes — Shaw said he was a bit more pleased with his bigs, Faried included.
“Yeah, yeah. Kenneth was trying to get after it tonight,” Shaw said. “Down the stretch we went with a small lineup, because offensively we needed to try to get some scores. So we had basically four guards on the floor with Kenneth to end the game.”
The Nuggets’ ugly 43-point loss to Golden State on Monday still lingered the next night. Faried said the Nuggets’ might have been thrown off by the afternoon start time.
“(Monday’s) game was kind of hard for all of us,” Faried said. “It was an early, early game. We weren’t used to that. People usually get naps in and they’re able to rest their bodies a little bit. And really lock into the game. (Monday) just, as soon as we woke up, hey — breakfast, buses, game. And it’s like, wait, we’ve got to get our minds right. But those afternoon games creep up on your pretty fast.”
