In the 1960s, former Boston Celtics guard and then-coach Bill Sharman invented the game-day shootaround, a way to ensure that his players were all on the same page heading into that evening’s contest without having to put his players through the paces of a full-on and wearying practice.
In 2015, former Boston Celtics guard and current Denver Nuggets coach Brian Shaw might put an end to his team’s use of the shootaround, as a way to keep legs fresh as his up and down team works through what has been an increasingly frustrating season.
Anyone who watches contests worked by the 14-20 Nuggets will tell you that not only is the team struggling to come up with a consistent stylistic sense on both ends of the floor, but the team’s body language is miserable. The team is not fun to watch, a basketball art crime pitched in a setting that at the very least usually sees endless amounts of entertaining thin air basketball run at a fever pitch up and down the court – even during the losing seasons. The Nugs play at the league’s fifth-fastest pace, but nobody is hurriedly clicking over to watch them run.
In an attempt to break the dulled stasis and turn his team’s season around, Shaw has decided to experiment with downing the idea of a late morning shootaround on game days. From Christopher Dempsey at the Denver Post:
Nuggets coach Brian Shaw and the decision-makers in the team's front office are experimenting with abolishing the traditional shootaround as we know it. It would be replaced by players getting to the arena an hour earlier than usual — around 3 p.m. for a 7 p.m. game — and going through opponent preparation then.
The Nuggets did not have a shootaround Saturday before their game against the Memphis Grizzlies at the Pepsi Center.
"I'm going to experiment with it, I think, for the rest of the season and see how it works," Shaw said. "Even if it doesn't translate into wins and losses, just if our energy and our focus and everything is better."
There are a couple of reasons for the change. The first is because of sleep studies the Nuggets have seen that show additional uninterrupted rest has a positive impact on the players' attention and energy.
The second reason? "When you have a young team, you know, guys like to go out as well," Shaw said. "Am I torturing them by making them get up in the morning when they can be sleeping? And whatever it is they did the night before, maybe they have more time to recover as well."
Shaw isn’t going to win over any old school types by pointing to his young team’s propensity to “go out as well” as the reason for the potential change, but anyone hand-wringing over that should get over themselves.
When you’re a young man or woman in your early and mid 20s – even if you’re in a monogamous relationship, even if you don’t drink, regardless of your financial situation and/or job – you “go out.” We expect these athletes to be at absolute mental and physical peak for in the waning seconds of a game at 10:30 and then further expect them to be cordial and cogent in speaking with the media directly after the contest. Also expecting them to be in bed with a le Carre novel and Sleepytime Tea just an hour later is absolutely ridiculous.
The Nuggets are 1-0 so far in the “no shootaround” era, taking down a Grizzlies team that was playing on the back end of the toughest back to back the NBA has to offer, regardless of opponent’s record – the West Coast Pacific time game pitched one night followed by a trip to Denver’s home court advantage the next night. NBA players, despite the chartered flights and five star hotels, have wearying schedules – asking guys to fall asleep at 3 AM (whether they go out or not), get up to work in the morning then go down for that hoped-for mid-afternoon hotel nap prior to a game is a bit much.
Ask anyone with sleeping issues – you can’t just flip the switch and nail that perfect 2 PM nap. Especially with that phone, tablet, computer or TV there to bug you. Especially after returning from a shootaround that was equal parts basketball drills and your coaches telling you exactly what to expect when the Mavericks are coming out of a timeout in the fourth.
One shouldn’t suggest that the sleep-in and late afternoon start is ideal, because this still has players lingering around an arena for four or five hours prior to a game, watching the clock. Players will tell you that there is something refreshing about bounding up from that mid-day nap to make your way to the arena for a game that is comparable to someone with a 9-to-5 schedule that shows up to the office bright and cheery just 90 minutes after his or her alarm goes off. Though Shaw has his defenders, his first season and a half in Denver has just about been an outright failure.
There’s something to this, though. Breaking off an NBA workday into work and rest segments has been a staple dating back to the early 1970s, but that doesn’t mean the approach is correct. As the game evolves and we learn more and more about what helps players best, Shaw’s innovation could take hold, and he could be lauded in the same way that Sharman’s innovation rightfully was during his time.
Shaw doesn’t have to be the NBA’s best coach, and his Nuggets don’t have to finish the season on a 35-13 tear for this to turn into something that sticks. Yes, some players might take advantage of not having to get up until the afternoon, but those guys are usually flushed out of the NBA soon enough even under the current system. This could be a bit of a breakthrough.
Anything to make the Nuggets entertaining again.
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops
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