Kenneth Faried is not a go-to player.
No, that’s not new. Everyone knows this. Even Denver Nuggets head coach Brian Shaw, who had some weird things to stay while discussing the Manimal’s regression this season.
From The Denver Post‘s Mark Kiszla:
“There are a lot of players out there that feel like they’re better than (Faried). There are a lot of players out there that aren’t making the kind of money he’s making that play that position,” Shaw said. “When he faces them on a night-in, night-out basis, they’re coming after him, because they want to prove to their team if he got this kind of money, they should get that kind of money, too.” …
“The expectation level with Kenneth was never as a go-to guy. He was never a guy we expected to be able to throw the ball into and say: ‘Go get us 20 points every night.’ … It’s probably unfair for people to expect that,” Shaw said. “But the other things — the rebounding, the running the floor and the energy — that’s what people expect. And that’s been a little bit inconsistent.”
What an odd little sermon (that was, undoubtedly, evoked by one or more questions).
You have to appreciate Shaw’s honesty. He doesn’t coddle his players and has been unafraid to call them out, criticizing their effort and energy any time he’s suspected they’ve given less than everything. Other coaches might make excuses, sidestep questions. Not Shaw. He comes off as candid, even if brutally so.
But Shaw also seems forthcoming to a fault. Aside from arguing that deriding player motors can be a form of offering excuses, he’s publicly eviscerated his team on numerous occasions this season. It’s one thing to unleash hell behind closed doors; it’s another to air dirty laundry, however well-intentioned, to the media and run the risk of every line, every word, every syllable being misinterpreted and falsely depicted.
Shit, we might even be doing that here, as I have no idea what line of questioning, if any, prompted Shaw to acknowledge Faried, who will be the team’s third-highest paid player next season, is not a go-to guy.
Faried, in fact, is not a go-to guy, someone you feature on the offensive end or rely on to carry you tactically. This season has driven that fact home time and again, with the Manimal declining in just about every statistical category that matters.
At the same time, can Shaw really say this? Or rather, should he? After the Nuggets handed Faried a semi-lucrative extension over the offseason? Knowing how much conjecture exists that questions Denver’s fondness of him?
Deeming certain portrayals of Faried “unfair” suggests this was Shaw’s own, quirky way of defending his slumping forward, but the execution is ineffective, justifying any and all inquiries into his actual intentions and opinions, not to mention giving way to the greater, more pressing question that can be tied to everything Nuggets.
What the hell is going on in Denver?
