NFL: Week 10, Analysis; Broncos & Raiders // NBA: Repeat from earlier posting, “Q&A w/Denver Nuggets Coach, Brian Shaw;” NBA’s Current Standings // the NOTEBOOK.

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NFL---WHEN following the 16 week NFL season + Bye weeks, an observer could wonder if after the first eight or nine games are played the rest of the season will be one week repeated eight or nine more times, in that there’s very little change today from last week and the week before among first and second position teams of each of the league’s eight divisions. It’s the American Conference West’s 6-2 Denver Broncos atop second place team, the 5-3 K.C. Chiefs, and the AC East’s 7-2 N.E. Patriots leading the 5-3 Buffalo Bills, and the AC South’s 5-3 Indianapolis Colts above the 5-4 Houston Texans. The only AC North division leading change from Week 9 is the 5-3 Cincinnati Bengals dropping from first to third position behind now first position team, the 6-3 Pittsburgh Pirates, which evolved out of last night’s first Week 10 game and unexpected 24-3 Bengals loss to now AC North second place team, the 6-3 Cleveland Browns. Within the National Conference West, it’s the 7-1 Arizona Cardinals ahead of the 5-3 Seattle Seahawks, NC East’s 6-2 Philadelphia Eagles atop the 6-2 Dallas Cowboys, NC North’s 6-2 Detroit Lions leading the 5-3 Green Bay Packers and NC South’s 4-4 N.O. Saints above the 3-5 Carolina Panthers. Leading the AC, then, are the 7-2 Patriots, best winning record as NFL-2014 enters Week 10, and best in the NC as Week 10 actualizes are the 7-1 Cardinals. So, which of the two conferences are best as each enters Week 10? The AC can boast of 11 franchises being at or above .500, the NC but eight, and the AC includes the only division that has all four of its teams above .500, which is the AC North, with its last place team, the 5-4 Baltimore Ravens, holding at .566. Meanwhile, the NC owns the division with only one franchise above .500, the NC South, which is led by the Saints, now at the margin---.500. BUT---except for the two-game leads held by the AC East’s Patriots, the AC South’s Colts and the NC West’s Cardinals, no other division leading franchise has more than a one-game lead over a second position franchise. Week 11 could therefore look different from Week 10, with the Patriots dropping to a one game lead from being at Bye on Sunday and the AC East’s Bills prevailing against the AC West’s K.C. Chiefs, while the Colts will maintain its lead in that the Colts and the AC South’s second place team, the Texans, will be at Bye on Sunday. Moreover, the NC West’s Cardinals probably will maintain its two-game lead from a win vs. the NC West’s last place team, the 3-5 St. Louis Rams. That the AC West’s 6-2 Broncos will lose to the 0-8 Raiders on Sunday seems unlikely, so, too, the NC East’s 6-2 Eagles losing to the NC South’s 3-5 Panthers on Monday night, and it’s unlikely that the NC East’s number two and 6-3 Cowboys will lose to the AC South’s last place team, the 1-8 Jacksonville Jaguars at the Sunday game being played at London, England. Most contentious will be Sunday’s NC North’s Detroit Lions vs. AC East’s 5-3 Miami Dolphins match, in that the Dolphins much-improved offense/defense balance has been a standings threat, maintaining at 5-3, same win/loss record as that of the AC East’s second place and hard-challenging Bills. A Lions loss to the Dolphins and a Green Bay Packers win vs. the NC North’s 3-5 Chicago Bears on Sunday could result in a NC North Lions/Packers tie at first position, the 4-5 Minnesota Vikings then at second position above the Bears even from their Sunday Bye.

            Broncos, Raiders---ARGUABLY today’s best NFL-2014 franchise, even after a crushing loss to the 7-2 Patriots during Week 9, the 6-2 Denver Broncos losing to the AC West, AC and NFL last place franchise, the 0-8 Oakland Raiders, seems just as unlikely as Muhammad Ali losing a match to anyone while in his prime. It’s a well-informed guess that to defeat the Broncos on Sunday, the Raiders will need the X-Men, Superman, Iron Man and Batman disguised as football players. In three of the Raiders last five games, the secondary allowed more than 30 points to opposing teams, and only twice during the current season have the Raiders given away fewer than 20 points, 19 to the N.Y. Jets, 16 to the N.E. Patriots. To some credit, however, must go the fact that only in one of its eight losses have the Raiders failed to lose by a single digit, which was the nine points taken from the Patriots. This year’s Raiders, they try and they try hard, in spite of the team’s narrow sphere of influence for winning an NFL game, that is, the team’s insufficiencies among the three S’s when their fusion was most needed---Smarts, Speed and Slam, not even in ways for a win against this year’s poorly-performing Jets. Too, the Broncos are at the far and positive edge of the other side of the NFL’s win/loss spectrum and they have beaten the Raiders during the last five Broncos/Raiders battles, the last of their contests being Broncos 34, Raiders 14. If the Raiders cannot initiate a fast and harsh ground game for successive first downs and TD’s, and also penetrate the Broncos pass protection unit in ways disorienting Broncos QB Peyton Manning, the same result will surely repeat, the Broncos winning by more than 10.

            NBA: Q&A w/Nuggets HC, Brian Shaw  (Re-printed from Mile High Sports Magazine-Online Issue) ---

 MHS & Sports Notebook writer/editor, Marvin Leibstone – WHAT were the hardest among challenges that you faced at the start of your being head coach for the Denver Nuggets?

COACH SHAW – Actually, the first days were about the standard necessities for preparing an NBA team for regular and post-season play. This included setting up schedules for practice and for observations of each player’s strengths and vulnerabilities, for my analyzing their skills and where they might need improvement, and from that building the right criteria for the right rotation of players during game time, a process that’s crucial for any coach.

ML – How would you portray the Nuggets in your first season with them, as the season progressed?

SHAW – We began strong and healthy enough for some good wins, which started to happen. We had those nights that pointed to the possibility of another post-season slot, but injuries occurred. We already had forward Danilo Gallinari injured. Then it was guard Ty Lawson getting injured. Then others were down, and so the Nuggets became a new team every so many nights, a less experienced team. When this happens, you have to make ‘adjustments on the fly’ and it could be too late for that to make a difference for you in the standings.

ML – Which Nuggets players have surprised you the most with their commitment and improvement of skills?

SHAW – I’d have to list center, Timofey Mozgov. His game improved immensely as the season continued—speed, transition to defense, that full package of a center’s intended skills. Also, guard Randy Foye, for his ability to lead, to improvise and as a shooter. Keep in mind that these players had to take up the slack from Gallinari and Lawson being out.

ML – How would you want the Nuggets to be for leading its division in the coming season, for leading the Western Conference, for being seeded for post-season play?

SHAW – Of course, we want to be a team that wins consistently. For this, you know, the Nuggets do not have a superstar, and surely the right superstar can make the difference that is desired, ‘which isn’t always the case.’ The superstar concept can be a detriment, in that all becomes dependent on the one or two stars, maybe a third.

ML – In other words, the rest of a team’s players just being supporting characters in the superstar’s movie?

SHAW – I’m an advocate of the complete team, the basketball team that is made up of competent players who breathe and live the idea of ‘teamwork.’ A fine example of this are the San Antonio Spurs teams coached over the years by Gregg Popovich, who doesn’t see superstar in any player; he sees skilled teammates. If the Spurs Tony Parker or Tim Duncan make mistakes in a game, Coach Popovich works with them as he would even a rookie and he might put in back-up players soonest, he may even start a back-up player next game and have Parker or Duncan sidelined. I lean in that direction, wanting a group of players skilled in more than their best quality, a guard who can defend well, a center who can also shoot, a forward who can suddenly execute the playmaking expected from a point guard. In other words, across the board expertise, everyone strong at the assist, the rebound and the block, at transitioning fast into and back from defense, all capable of sinking the three-pointer as well as the two, being fine at the drive and scoring. And, most important, are leadership and improvisation, Nuggets players who together can improvise out of a bad situation and exploit the good situation, turning it all into points.

ML – Can we say, then, that whoever has the basketball at any given moment has to be a leader and think quickly for what the next team move has to be, and then “execute?”

SHAW – The potential for that is definitely with the current Nuggets organization. Needed is for us to make sure that this potential becomes a reality for NBA 2014/15.

ML – Is there a coaching style that nurtures this floor leadership and the ability to improvise?

SHAW – I don’t think it’s in micro-managing, and it isn’t in being hands-off either, in just sticking to watching practice passively and relying on rostering-choices being correct. You need to guide players into thinking about leading and improvising and on improving that during practice sessions, but you have to give your players some leeway to also figure things out by themselves, especially so that the players coming to you from other teams and from college basketball can first undo their habits that can’t always work in the NBA.

ML – All this said, who will be the five Nuggets starters when the new season begins?

SHAW – Oh, it’s too early to get into that with precision, with a final statement, though some informed guesses have been made. I’ll be making that decision after the off-season, when the new season is about to commence.

ML – When you were assistant coach with the Indiana Pacers, you had several talks with Indiana player, Paul George, who confessed to you his appreciation for all that guard Kobe Bryant has meant to the NBA game, especially as a developer of skills for the L.A. Lakers. In those talks, you emphasized the enormous dedication that Bryant applies to perfecting his game, not only on-court but during practice sessions, this above that which other players normally offer up. Are you still an advocate of that kind of dedication?

SHAW – Dedication, focus, practice by any player above that which a coach asks for is always appreciated. It can inspire others greatly. .

ML – Which Western Conference and Northwest Division teams are, from your vantage point, the teams to beat?

SHAW – Conference-wise, certainly the Spurs, and this coming season we may see some extraordinary playing from the Phoenix Suns. As for our division, for the Nuggets it could be the Portland Trail Blazers, and there is always pressure from the Oklahoma City Thunder.

ML – Coach Shaw, you are suddenly King of the NBA for several days and can make any changes you wish. What would those changes be?

SHAW – I’d certainly want to downgrade, maybe end the excess seen in rewards given to some potentially super-excellent players before they have had the NBA court-time to prove that they are worth it, especially the financial end of rewards. Also, it’s a tight season of 82 games plus pre-season games from October through mid-April, so I’d probably consider ending the back-to-back games within that.

NBA Standings --- THE changes in standings among the 30 NBA franchises since last week haven’t been devastating except for the now 1-3 Denver Nuggets, this team having dropped from being number one within the Western Conference Northwest to fourth position in less than a week. Yet the Nuggets are above last season’s WC Northwest number one team, which is the division’s now last placer, the 1-4 Oklahoma City Thunder, meanwhile the Portland Trail Blazers leading the WC Northwest from its 2-2 record, while the WC Southwest’s 6-0 Houston Rockets moved to first above the 5-0 Memphis Grizzlies, holders of the two best records in the NBA to date, either conference. Within the WC Pacific Division, it’s still the Golden State Warriors, now 4-0, directly behind them the 4-1 Sacramento Kings. Inside the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division, the reading is musical chairs, the 4-1 Toronto Raptors now the number one team, the 2-2 Brooklyn Nets second, the 2-3 N.Y. Knicks third, which is a reversal from last week. And, the now EC Southeast first place 4-1 Washington Wizards and the currently EC Southeast second place 3-2 Miami Heat are also reverse-positioned from a week ago. Within the EC Central, the 4-1 Chicago Bulls are still first, but last week’s second place now 1-3 Cleveland Cavaliers are third, the replacement team being the now 2-3 Milwaukee Bucks. But, as noted on this page on Tuesday, the early weeks of an NBA season are largely experimental, teams feeling out various concepts for the win, we could therefore find the standings unrecognizable, say, three weeks from today’s rankings.

the Notebook --- LeBron, Cav’s:  JUDGING from the vantage point of reasonable expectations, and from the realities about a player that can be fathomed in the early weeks of an NBA season, it’s fair to say that the Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James is NOT being marginal, is NOT downright disappointing as a Cleveland Cavaliers star and bringer of hope for a Cavaliers post-season billet. Le Bron is shooting well above 20 ppg, and has had nearly five assists per game since the start of NBA-2014/15. Add, LeBron’s above 5.0 RB rating. Yet this hasn’t lifted the Cavaliers beyond a 1-3 record, no better than that of WC Northwest’s fourth place + 1-3 Denver Nuggets, a team that the Cavs will be challenging tonight. Evident is that the integration of LeBron, or, should we say, “the fusion of the rest of the Cav’s with LeBron,” has been wanting, it hasn’t, to say the least, “solidified.” So, can this necessary fusion occur? No Superstar is enough to win a post-season spot and a championship. If the Nuggets win tonight vs. LeBron and the Cav’s, it could very well be from the Nuggets knowing that a winning team is the team that transitions successfully from any one player shouting, “It’s all about ME,” to a resounding, “It’s about WE.” .  .  NHL:  ANYONE thinking that a professional hockey team has to be born, bred, trained and maintained inside “ice territory” or it’ll be filling the rear among rankings, hasn’t a slam-dunk argument. Yes, U.S.-south imports players from the far north but they are integrated with home-grown players, as well. Leading the NHL today are teams from Anaheim, California, St. Louis, Missouri, and Tampa Bay, Florida, respectively 10-3, 9-3 and 9-3. And, how come 4-8 Edmonton, Canada, is last place within the NHL’s Pacific Division, and how come none of the four other Canadian teams are holding a first place slot within their respective divisions, and why is that the snow country Colorado Avalanche are second from the bottom among the seven NHL Western Conference teams? That professional hockey is widespread geographically can only be interpreted as good for sports, especially for that kid from Miami, Florida, who has thrilled at seeing Montreal and Calgary games on TV and can’t wait until he can get his first pair of skates. What’s that? Cuban, Guatemalan and Dominican Republic baseball players switching to ice hockey?

END/ml