MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Nuggets coach Brian Shaw let loose in the postgame press conference on Thursday night, detailing his displeasure with his team’s effort in a 30-point loss to the Grizzlies.
Nuggets coach Brian Shaw, during Thursday’s game at Memphis. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
He had backup.
From none other than TNT analyst Charles Barkley.
“We blame the coaches all the time and these players never take responsibility,” Barkley said. “Itap hard to lose an NBA game by 30 points. I feel bad because Brian is a really nice guy and a good coach. Itap a players league and sometimes the coach gets thrown under the bus.”
Shaw was most upset at what he thought was a severe lack of will to compete against a team that punishes opponents that don’t bring it. The Nuggets never led and trailed by as many as 33 points in the game.
Reggie Miller wondered about the direction of the team during the broadcast.
“How are the Nuggets doing?” he said. “I just don’t know what direction or path they want to take. Before the season started, they were supposed to be one of those teams fighting for that eighth spot. They have kind of been a rollercoaster team all season.”
Miller also weighed in on Kenneth Faried’s season, praising him for being “a high energy guy,” but also questioning why the Manimal hasn’t played up to the level he did at the end of last season and through the summer.
“I was expecting a bigger and better season from Kenneth Faried,” Miller said. “I thought coming off that gold medal this summer and playing with USA Men’s Basketball, being that energy guy off the bench for Coach K, that confidence wise, he would come in and play like gangbusters. He hasn’t done that. His numbers are the same, but he’s not quite the same player confidence-wise.”
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