The Denver Nuggets are slowly falling out of reach in the playoffs. They are a full nine games behind no. 8 Phoenix Suns, and they still have to pass Memphis and Minnesota.

Brian Shaw was once of the top candidate names in the coaching circle. His name was always at the top of the list whenever there was a vacancy. Even for the Los Angeles Lakers where his mentor Phil Jackson was revered, he was not able to make it. For some reason, the teams pass on the last minute.

The Denver Nuggets just released Coach Of The Year George Karl last year, and took Shaw with high expectations. Now that the team is crumbling, could the team's that passed on Shaw be saying "I told you so?"

With a 25-33 record, (nba.com) should the Nuggets give up and focus on the next year? More importantly, should they do so without Brian Shaw?

From the Colorado Sports Guys Broadcast, Wilson Chandler defends his coach: "He's laid back, but he's pretty straight forward. Most of the stuff he has said in the media I've heard. I can't say that I haven't heard it in the locker room. He's pretty straight forward when it comes to stuff like that."

Do they need to have 'player policing?': "Definitely. We have some vocal guys. Like I said, it's a tough situation. Everyone is trying to stay positive. We have a lot of young guys that are playing that didn't play last year, so it's kind of hard to grasp that and take it as a building block. You have to treat some players different than others. You can't get on certain players or they'll get down on themselves, some players you can talk to any type of way and they'll take the constructive criticism."

The idea of player policing was brought about by Paul Pierce's tweet about his teammates after his Brooklyn Nets lost by 40 points to Portland.

Brian Shaw understands how The Truth feels: "Paul Pierce has earned the right to be able to police his own team and call his teammates out, if that's what he deems necessary. He's a player that has won a championship, that has been in the league for a long time, and that will probably be a Hall of Fame player. So the young guys on his team should respect what he said. There's definitely a pecking order on that team, you have KG, you have Pierce, Joe Johnson, Deron Williams, they are veterans, they are extensions of the coaching staff on the floor. Our team is built differently, we have young guys, and I don't know if there is that same respect level if one guy was to call another guy out because they are all, kind of, on the same level."

The Nuggets don't have a clear leader. They traded veteran Andre Miller after a publicized spat with Shaw. Ty Lawson and Danilo Gallinari, two of their top players, are injured.

Perhaps Shaw should have another chance, but this summer will be very interesting for the Nuggets-more interesting than their current season. The Nuggets own the New York Knicks' first round pick in 2014, but they have to give up the lower pick to Orlando (for the trade that got them Iguodala, who bolted for the Warriors). Still, they have one lottery pick either way. They must maximize that pick as they don't really have too many assets or cap space to trade.