NBA: Denver Nuggets New Head Coach, Brian Shaw // MLB: Colorado Rockies, “Where Goest Thou? // All Sports: “So You’re ‘King Of Sports’ For A Day.”   

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Denver Nuggets, Brian Shaw   ---    WHEN new head coaches fail it’s usually from negative attributes that went unseen and unheard during interviews for the job and which never appear on a resume. It won’t be that way with new Nuggets head coach, Brian Shaw, a forthright individual, an open book.

Given that Shaw has five NBA championship rings as player and as assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers, and that he has also has had hands-on experience as assistant coach for the 2012/13 playoff-billeted Indiana Pacers, well, he won’t be an example of fallibilities coming into existence unexpectedly and fusing into a wrecking ball. Here’s what we won’t see from Brain Shaw ---

• Deciding on “My way or the highway.”
• Ignoring that among a head coach’s early tasks is establishment of a high degree of “Mutual Receptiveness,” e.g., players, head coach and assistant coaches listening and learning from each other “willingly.”
• Paying little or no heed to the fact that the Nuggets did not “flatline” without Carmelo Anthony. The Nuggets became a winning team by embracing the values of teamwork. 
• Telling the Nuggets starters and bench that only “the triangle offense” matters.
• Going to the front office with, “I need three big stars, as in ‘Heat.’
• Saying to a player, “You can’t matter, only the team matters,” and to another player, “The team doesn’t matter, only you matter.”
• Telling the Nuggets that they can rest on their way up in the standings, that it’s okay to trade away being at your best when you’re ahead.
• Commenting to the Nuggets that they can rest on the way down. Practice now? "Why bother, we’re already losing."
• Saying to players that there’s no art to basketball, it’s all science, all you have to do is “paint by the numbers.” Or, arguing that there’s no science to basketball, it’s all art, so forget about the X’s and O’s.
• Shouting to the team, “Everything George Karl advised you to do, fuggaboutit!”
• Failing to nurture, grow and exploit positively each player’s unique strengths, while responding negatively to a player’s vulnerabilities, i.e., ignoring Basketball-101.
• Sticking to a belief that “Defense” is “one shirt fits all,” same system versus any team.
• Announcing that sportswriters always know what’s best for an NBA team as long as they agree with the head coach .  .  .  So, from using what the NBA’s best coaches and players have been saying about Brian Shaw and also examining Shaw’s record, we can conclude that none of the above will ever happen. We can expect the very opposite. Prediction: Brian Shaw will join the pantheon of the better active NBA head coaches within a year’s time, and that means a Nuggets team shining during the 2013/14 NBA playoffs.     .     .    Colorado Rockies   ---     IT could appear as if the Colorado Rockies were programmed starting early May of this year for basement-living. Yet maybe NOT, though of late they’ve been visiting the lower depths.  .  .  Yes, the Rockies can lose, lose and lose; they are now 2-7 of a road experience and below .500, during which they were swept twice, first by the Toronto Blue Jays, then by the Boston Red Sox, in between losing two and winning two off of a four game series versus the Washington Nationals.  .  .  BUT---the two wins against the Nationals and the several three- and two-game Rockies winning streaks since April 1 reflect a pattern of comebacks siding with likelihood of a .Rockies .500 or higher end-of season finish. Besides, the Rockies were, as of Wednesday, just three games behind the National League West’s number one franchise, the then 41-35/.539 Arizona Diamondbacks, which signals that the Rockies are still in contention for post-season candidacy.  .  .  Of course, some credit for the upside of the Rockies year to date belongs to manager Walt Weiss and his line-up choices in the face of drawbacks from player injuries and unexpected player slumps. His trust toward certain players has paid off well, for example, in May and early June OF/IF Michael Cuddyer hadn’t reached base as often as expected; he looked like the poster-guy for lethargy. Then suddenly Cuddyer became Mr. Streak, hitting in 23 games straight, a significant portion being multiple-hit days. Also, IF’s Josh Rutledge and Johnny Herrera have proven to be suitable SS Troy Tulowitzki-surrogates re. the team’s defense while Tulowitzki heals from an injury; and, CF Dexter Fowler keeps bouncing back quickly from injuries, adding to his double-digit home run record.  .   .  Unfortunately, pitchers do not seem to heal as quickly as other ballplayers do, which has Rockies fans hoping that RH Rafael Betancourt’s return to the Bull Pen will have positive results.  .   .  Nor do pitchers normally have the staying power noted among other position players. Question: Can Rockies starting hurlers LH Jorge De La Rosa and RH Jhoulys Chacin’s combined ERA maintain---it’s now under 3.0.  .  .  Sadly, the LH Jeff Francis makeover failed, leaving him with low marks, result: Walking papers. Under-the-margin RH Juan Nicasio could be the next Rockies pitcher saying goodbye to big park baseball .  .  .  On Friday, June 28, the Rockies will begin facing a string of games vs. NL West teams, a 16-game haul possibly the most crucial period of the year for the Rockies if indeed they wish to stay in post-season contention. First up will be the San Francisco Giants. Being swept by the Blue Jays and Red Sox means that the Rockies need victories vs. NL West teams more than ever, if only to rise and stay above .500.          KING FOR A DAY   ---   It’s a dream, and a nice dream: You are King of Sports for a day and can initiate any changes that you wish have happen. I asked the question of several professionals, “What would you change in your sport if King?” Former Denver Nuggets head coach, George Karl, responded with, “The NBA season’s too long, too tight. I’d shrink it to around 60 or 65 games and spread these games out a bit, and there’d be no back-to-back games.” Colorado Rockies first baseman and super hitter, Todd Helton, said, “I’d have the sacrifice fly be recorded as a hit for the batter and for the team,” and Pittsburgh Pirates manager, Clint Hurdle, said that he’d have any questionable issue during a game subject to electronic review, i.e., TV replay, not just an umpire’s call .   .  .  Here’s a few more King For The Day ideas from athletes and fans, some as if from outer space and weird, others right on. Decreed---:
• All baseball games will be seven innings or 2.5 hours.
• NFL players will have advanced technology headgear with 100 percent anti-concussion effectiveness.
• The World Baseball Classic will be held every other year instead of every third year.
• The NBA will organize the World Basketball Classic, to be held every other year.
• Pete Rose will be entered into Baseball’s Hall of Fame because his 4,000+ hits beats his gambling actions in the first round.
• There are to be no more published biographies by athletes who feel sorry for themselves, or because they can’t resist the urge to tell the world that they’ve been jerks, which means they still are jerks.
• Mike Tyson is hereby ordered to stay away from wrestling, from all forms of MMA and from stage and film acting, while his prowess as a boxer should be revisited and then applauded more than in the past.
• TV and radio sports reporters, talk show hosts and analysts will no longer show off their knowledge of statistics when such has little bearing on team and individual player standings or on why this or that went down during a game; and no ‘Geek’ jargon is to be used as they speak.
• As of this reading, fans will no longer shout “Defense, Defense, Defense” to NBA players during any regulation game or post-season game.
• Fans performing “the Wave” when bases are loaded and there’s a three-two count on a batter will be told to leave the stadium, having proven that they don’t go to baseball games to watch baseball.
• Any famous athlete who punches out Paparazzi attempting to film he, his wife, his kids, his mama and papa while all are out for the day or night will be forgiven and awarded the NBA Medal for Proper Behavior.
• Any team owner can fire a player or staff over “doping,” and any athlete proven to be have been doping for a third time is to be banned from his/her sport for life.  .   .  READERS:   Send in your King For A Day ruling, to: MLResources1@aol.com.  END/ml