After landing the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference playoffs last season, this year's been a disappointment so far for the Denver Nuggets. With new faces in the front office and a rookie head coach on the sideline, some pieces from last year that were big contributors aren't fitting in as well.
The best example of that is veteran point guard Andre Miller. He's a respected NBA veteran in his 15th season, with a reputation for possessing so much savvy he's nicknamed "The Professor" in some circles. Savvy hasn't been able to keep him on the court these days though, as Shaw has him playing only 19 minutes a game.
On Wednesday night against Philadelphia Miller had his first DNP of his career that wasn't injury related, and vented his frustrations publicly. That has earned him a two-game suspension, and forced Shaw to have a lengthy sit-down with the rest of the team.
Andre Miller has to be restrained on the Denver bench. Not sure if he was having words with coach or another player.
— Bob Cooney (@BobCooney76) January 2, 2014
This is when you know things are bad. Andre Miller had to be restrained on the Denver bench. Yes, the Nuggets have PROBLEMS. — Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) January 2, 2014
"Didn't anticipate for (the meeting) to last as long as it did, but however long it needs to take to flush everything out and figure out what's going on with our team, we decided to take that time today," Shaw said. "It's been a long morning after a long night of watching the game over and just playing everything back in your mind and trying to find a solution for where we are."
Ty Lawson, the star of the Nuggets these days viewed the team meeting as a positive to be drawn from going forward. "Everybody got their feelings out. Everybody said what needed to be said," Lawson said.
Hopefully everybody can take that to heart and change so we can start getting wins. It's always healthy to get things out and get everything in the open. Hopefully, this will be a turning point for the rest of the season."
When discussing the situation with Miller, Shaw was less optimistic it seemed. "It just came to a boiling point. We made a decision and we're moving forward," Shaw said. "We will have a conversation before he comes back with the team. That'll happen when it happens."
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