Nuggets to Play Smashmouth Basketball Under Brian Shaw

Not Celtics news, but interesting.  It'll be interesting to see how WC teams respond to this.


http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/230069/Nuggets-To-Play-Smashmouth-Basketball-Under-Brian-Shaw


Nuggets To Play 'Smashmouth Basketball' Under Brian Shaw
Oct 02, 2013 10:50 AM EDT


The Denver Nuggets plan on playing "smashmouth basketball" under new head coach Brian Shaw.

"Smashmouth means that you are literally going to get your mouth smashed if you're going against us for a rebound or a loose ball," Shaw said. "We want to have a nasty disposition, both offensively and defensively."

The Nuggets have always been very difficult to play in Denver due to the thin air, but it hasn't been a strategy that has led to playoff success.

"The style of play ... is going to be a little different than what it has been around here for the past few years," Shaw said. "We do still want to take advantage of getting up and down the floor and take advantage of the climate and the altitude. But, with that being said, the teams I've been associated both as a player and as a coach have had success establishing a presence inside, executing in half court and having a defensive identity, as well as being a good rebounding team."

Via Mark Kiszla/Denver Post



bob

.

So it's going to be pinball, with opponents bouncing off Kenneth Faried, Javale McGee, and J.J. Hickson? Gallinari may be good for a hack or two, but I don't see him getting in on the rough stuff.

They need to do something. After losing Andre Iguodala and picking up Hickson, a power forward they didn't need, they're bound to drop in the West. With the rest of the conference so strong and their record last year being a milestone to overachieving, the question is how far that drop will be.

Now that is funny. Brian Shaw weighed 200 lbs soaking wet when he was a player, and then coached for years on the staff of those pansy Lakers teams who cried every time anyone met them physically. Good luck.

Simply being on the staff doesn't necessarily imply one has a huge impact on the overall style of play a team chooses.


KJ

k_j_88 wrote:Simply being on the staff doesn't necessarily imply one has a huge impact on the overall style of play a team chooses.


KJ

So you think Brian Shaw has enough first hand experience with physical basketball to teach his team to enlist it?

mrkleen09 wrote:
So you think Brian Shaw has enough first hand experience with physical basketball to teach his team to enlist it?

No.

I just think its too soon to assume one way or the other. He's just getting his start as a HC, so time will tell if he lives up to his aspirations or not.

Shaw did play during a time when the game was more physical, so that gives me at least some indication that he understands what physicality brings to the game.

But again, too soon to say.


KJ