Shaw proving he is awinner

Go ahead. Tell Nuggets coach Brian Shaw you are sorry. It won’t hurt. Under the direction of Shaw, recently purported to be the worst coach to work a sideline in Denver since Broncos buffoon JoshMcDaniels was run out of town, the Nuggets have won seven games.

Behind the leadership of LeBron James, who builds NBA teams to his exact specifications, the Cleveland Cavaliers have won six games.

How is that possible?

Shaw is no longer the ugliest four-letter word in Denver.

“It just means the horrendous start thatwe had— at 1-7, 1-6, whateverwewere— we’ve kind of wiped that clean,” Shawsaid.

On the strength of 20 points and 12 assists from point guard Ty Lawson, the Nuggets held on for a difficult 114-109 victory against the depleted Chicago Bulls, who began the game without center Joakim Noah and ended it without Derrick Rose. Surprise, surprise, surprise: Denver now owns a 7-7 record, after a miserable 1-6 start that made folks sentimental for the self-aggrandizing whining of George Karl.

It’s too early to suggest Denver is a legitimate playoff contender in the brutally tough Western Conference.

But it’s not too early to de- clare that Shaw has earned respect as a legitimate NBA coach, after battling through a rookie year in which injuries gave the young coach no chance and a crisis so severe to start this season that Shaw himself wondered aloud if he could survive it.

Break up theNuggets. They havewon five in a row. What has been the common thread during the streak?

“Our energy has been good defensively, Ty (Lawson) has