Under Karl, the nuggets played very entertaining basketball. In fact, there were night when they were an absolute joy to watch. After the Great Panic following the loss in the GS series, it seems that the management of the nuggets has lost its moorings. Now, going on 3 years later, a basketball team that used to be entertaining to watch has become just about the most painfully inept outfit in recent NBA memory. And that slide has been consistent through the acquisition and removal of personnel. The logic behind this was an assumption that Karl would never win the Big One playing up-tempo basketball. Maybe; maybe not. We will never know now. And for two years we have been hearing that Shaw can't win because he inherited a bunch of mediocre players who are ill-suited for his more sophisticated approach, one that if they will just learn and execute will take them to the promised land. Maybe; maybe not. But watching this team through these last two alleged transition years, I'm betting not. Instead, I think we are now doomed to watching basketball that is both not entertaining and is ineffective in terms of wins and losses. In short, we now have the worst of all worlds. This realization is showing up in the general demeanor of the players. They have zero joie de vivre, and who can blame them? They look lost on offense, confused on defense, and lack all confidence. Even the veterans look like they can't figure out what to do. The last time I remember the nuggets looking this lost was when Westhead was the coach. That should send a chill down the collective spines of long-time nuggets fans. We can keep dismantling the roster, or try for the blockbuster trade, but I don't think that's the way out of this mess. One major component was changed that produced this death spiral. Using Occam's Razor tells us perhaps that component is the source of the malfunction.