Brian Shaw doesn’t hate the Denver Nuggets’ roster

It has been a rough year for first-year Denver Nuggets’ head coach Brian Shaw.

Shaw finally got his shot at being a head coach, replacing George Karl. Karl was fired by the Nuggets last season, despite leading the team to a 57-25 record and being named Coach of the Year.

Shaw’s Nuggets lost Andre Iguodala to the Golden State Warriors, had Andre Miller simply stop playing (and then get traded to the Washington Wizards) and have been decimated by injuries. The Nuggets are just 25-30 and looked like they will miss the playoffs for the first time since the 2002-2003 season.

There have been rumors Shaw does not like the roster and although he won’t admit to that, he did voice his concerns in a radio interview transcribed by Christopher Demsey of the Denver Post.

“I can’t remember who it was that asked me yesterday; he said ‘Would you have taken this job with the roster, if it was just the guys who are healthy and playing right now would you have taken this job?’” Shaw said. “I said, after interviewing for head coaching jobs as many times as I did, 11 times prior to this interview, and not getting a job, I said ‘Yeah, I most likely would have taken it.’ But the expectation and everything else would have been different, knowing if there wasn’t going to be Gallo, JaVale (McGee), Nate (Robinson) for half the season and the situation be what it is.

“So, no, I don’t hate the roster. What I hate is having to beg guys to play. That simple. That shouldn’t be a part of what coaching should be. And circumstances are what they are. None of us asked for it.”

That’s obviously not what you want to hear from your coach, but maybe it will serve as a wake-up call to some of the Nuggets’ players.