The anchor of the defense. Conventional. A presence in the middle. A true center.
If you dropped these phrases on most NBA fans and asked them who came to mind, its a near certainty that none of them would answer, JaVale McGee.
And if in turn you surveyed them on how theyd describe McGee, youd invariably end up with bonehead, goofball and Shaqtin-a-fool on your short list of most common responses.
New Nuggets head coach Brian Shaw appears to be on a mission to change all that, however. Hes taking the team in a more traditional, fundamentally sound direction, and a major part of that plan is running more of the offense through his frontcourt players, above all McGee, who will be given a larger role with more responsibilities than he ever had under George Karl. The Nuggets are not just hoping JaVale can rise to the challenge; theyre banking on it, both literally and figuratively.
Shaw does want his team to continue playing at a relatively fast pace to take advantage of the teams speed and Denvers high altitude. So to a certain extent the freewheeling, breakneck Nuggets should remain fairly recognizable, and we can still expect to see the big men running the floor, cutting to the rim, and dunking and ooping with jaw-dropping athleticism. McGee will contentedly be in his comfort zone in those moments.
