Brian Shaw, the newest coach on Denver’s pro sports scene, is in town Tuesday as the Nuggets introduced him as their new coach at a news conference.
“I love this roster. I think it’s young, fresh, energetic,” Shaw said. “The team I just left in Indiana was a true team. We didn’t have a superstar player. We didn’t have a go-to guy. … This team reminds me of the team I just left in Indiana.”
Shaw was hired to replace George Karl, who was fired earlier this month.
“I’m 47, but I still feel like I’m very young,” Shaw said. “I’m a young coach with an old soul.”
Shaw spent the past two seasons in Indiana as an assistant coach to Frank Vogel and helped get the Pacers to a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat. He also spent seven seasons as an assistant with the Lakers under coach Phil Jackson.
“I’m proud to say that I’m from the Phil Jackson tree and proud to say I’m from the Frank Vogel tree,” Shaw said. “In terms of a system, that’s still up in the air. I have to familiarize myself with the roster a lot more.”
Shaw inherits a team that entered last season as the third-youngest in the NBA and finished third in the Western Conference. But the Nuggets lost in the first round of the playoffs for the third consecutive season. That playoff loss, and an inability to agree on the philosophical direction of the franchise, led to Karl’s firing earlier this month.
“I have a lot of respect for Coach Karl,” Shaw said. “I’m not trying to come here and fill his shoes, but build on what he did when he was here.”
Shaw said he got 200 texts Monday — 100 from guys who want to be on his coaching staff.
“The important thing is to find the right guys to not only support me but the players on the team and get the best out of them,” Shaw said.
He said wants his team to play tough defense and execute well in the halfcourt in order to have the best chance to advance in the playoffs.
“One of the areas I would want to strengthen is the ability to play in the halfcourt in the playoffs,” he said. “You get judged on what you do in the playoffs.”
As a guard, Shaw played in the NBA from 1988-2003. He was drafted by the Celtics.
Shaw said starting his career with the Celtics showed him that, “If you’re true to the game, the game will be true to you.”
Shaw said his idols were “my father, who was an auto mechanic, a very hard-working man. … In terms of basketball, I love and respected the way Magic Johnson played the game. He made players around him better and had fun playing the game.”
After the Pacers were knocked out of the playoffs, the Oakland, Calif., native interviewed for jobs with the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers. Doc Rivers took the Clippers job Sunday after a prolonged negotiation between the two franchises. The Nuggets hired Shaw Monday evening.
Shaw’s main competition for the job was former Memphis Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins. The Nuggets also interviewed fired Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro and San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Brett Brown.
“There was a lot of wonderful people we interviewed,” team president Josh Kroenke said. “To separate Brian from that group was tough.”
