Foye is out with a knee injury. Harris suiting up for the first time this year. Apparently JJ is our answer....
Faried is The Manimal. If you're like me, he is your favorite Denver player. Why? The dunks, the hair, the energy. It's all irresistible. But here's the truth: At 6-foot-8, Faried is undersized at his position and has no reliable moves in a half-court offense. He won't ever be the No. 1 power forward in the NBA. But he could be the league's top sixth man.
What's more, J.J. Hickson is the best inside scoring threat for a Denver team that struggles to get good looks in the post to spread out the floor. As soon as his recovery from a knee injury allows him to play unlimited minutes, Hickson should be the full-time starter at power forward.
"If you go straight by point production and rebound production per minute, I think he would probably be classified as our best big," Shaw said. "It opened up an argument last year, when there was this perception that Kenneth and I aren't getting along, weren't getting along, whatever the case may be. It's not a matter of that."
The way Shaw wants to run Denver's offense requires Hickson at power forward. "It's something I have to look at. He needs to be out there on the floor," the embattled coach said.
"If I have to move him to starting center or if I have to move him to starting power forward and he's giving us production and it's going to help us win, I have to explore it."
While it breaks with conventional wisdom about playing basketball in the thin Rocky Mountain air, Shaw does not believe the Nuggets have had the personnel to play the fast-faster-fastest style since the departures of Andre Iguodala and Corey Brewer.
"My question is: Do I continue to try to necessarily please everybody else by playing the style that the Denver Nuggets have always played, which is getting up and down the floor, if it's not conducive to what we really have on this roster right now?" Shaw said.
Here's a solution Shaw seems to be mulling: The Denver starting five plays more traditional half-court basketball, while the second unit on a deep roster runs at warp speed, fueled by the high-voltage energy of Faried and reserve point guard Nate Robinson.
http://www.denverpost.com/kiszla/ci_269 ... by-nuggets
