Report: Nuggets Counting Down Weeks Remaining in Season During Late-Game Huddle

-- Update at 9:45 p.m. ET on March 2 by Alec Nathan -- 

According to The Denver Post's Christopher Dempsey, Denver Nuggets head coach Brian Shaw denied that his team's chant referred to how many weeks remain until the end of their disappointing 2014-15 campaign: 

"

I said, probably three or four days ago in practice, that we hadn't won a home game in six weeks. Which dated back to Jan. 14, against the Dallas Mavericks, was the last time we won a home game here, which was six weeks ago. So, the comment that the players made when they got together and said '1, 2, 3, six weeks!' was the players saying 'this is the end of the six weeks, we're going to get a win tonight on our home court and break the six-week losing spell on our home court.' Not six weeks that it's the end of the season.

Now, coincidentally it does happen to be a little over six weeks from then, that it's the end of the season. But I think our players and the Denver Nuggets as a whole were misrepresented in how that was reported.

"

Generally, Denver has parlayed its high-altitude home-court advantage into prosperous results. Even when the Nuggets finished 36-46 last season they still managed to post a 22-19 record at Pepsi Center. 

Unfortunately, that trend hasn't held steady this season. The Nuggets are 12-18 at home, giving them the third-fewest home wins of any Western Conference team.  

Original Text

Rocky Mountains, meet rock bottom.

As if the Denver Nuggets' 2014-15 season wasn't depressing enough, The Denver Post's Christopher Dempsey reports the team collectively embraced its downward spiral into purgatory with an...interesting in-game motivational chant:

"

A fourth-quarter huddle late in the Nuggets' 104-82 loss to the Utah Jazz on Friday broke with this phrase: "1-2-3 ... six weeks!"

As in six weeks to go until the end of the season. That's 24 games, 46 days and 1,152 minutes away.

Tax day, April 15, is getaway day: the last day of the Nuggets' season. Rest assured, there are players who are already counting.

"

So instead of dropping an encouraging message coming out of its timeout, Denver's clinging to the futility that has consumed its season.

Of course, that's not very surprising after head coach Brian Shaw essentially accused his team of tanking earlier last month.

"I'd have more respect if guys just told me they didn't feel like playing tonight from the start," Shaw said on Feb. 1, according to The Denver Post's Nick Groke.

Shaw elaborated further, per Groke, saying, "I think it's hard to try to lose, try to tank, try to go out there with guys who are competing with you and not compete back," he said. "It's harder to do that than to just put forth the effort in the first place."

At the very least, you can't fault the Nuggets for a lack of self-awareness.

Brian Shaw's squad has yet to put together a winning month this season (besides October, when the Nuggets played one game), and its struggles in February served as a microcosm of those trials and tribulations.

Month	Record	Offensive Rating	Defensive Rating
October	1-0	92.3	82.0
November	7-8	110.3	111.0
December	5-11	101.2	107.5
January	6-10	103.5	107.6
February	1-9	99.0	112.0

Over the past four weeks, Denver ranks 29th overall in net rating ahead of only the Sacramento Kings. During that 10-game stretch, Denver went 1-9 and was outscored by 10.7 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com.

The Nuggets' offensive rating of 96.1 ranked No. 28 overall, which was only 1.3 points better than a Philadelphia 76ers unit on pace to rank as one of the least efficient offenses in league history.

Dating back to Feb. 20, Denver has lost five straight. That includes a 104-82 defeat to the Utah Jazz Friday night, which dropped the Nuggets three games back of Quin Snyder's bunch in the Northwest Division standings.

After partially deconstructing their roster at the trade deadline, there's little reason to believe things will get better before they get worse in Denver.

With Arron Afflalo now residing in Portland, the Nuggets are starved for true off-the-dribble threats and reliable perimeter scorers. For a squad that already ranks 29th in three-point field-goal percentage, that's bad news.

2014 first-round pick Jusuf Nurkic recently suffered a right ankle sprain and Kenneth Faried has yet to make an offensive breakthrough to justify his generous contract extension, so Denver has very little reason to remain optimistic right now.

A top-10 pick in June's draft and bundles of cap space could ease tensions when warm weather arrives this summer, but a complete cultural overhaul may be necessary for the Nuggets to start making even moderate developmental progress.

All statistics current as of March 1 and courtesy of NBA.com unless noted otherwise.