2. PF/C Kenneth Faried
I think everybody has a sour taste in their mouth when it comes to Kenneth Faried, but I’m not so sure that’s fair. A few years ago, when they were the run-and-gun Nuggets, Faried was the city’s darling. Suddenly, he’s overrated?
From my perspective, the Brian Shaw-led Nuggets could not have been a worse fit for Faried — having Ty Lawson around didn’t help, either. Shaw was constantly asking Faried to do things that (a) he’s not good at and (b) take away from what he is good at. Then, when it didn’t work — and it rarely did — he’d quickly find himself sitting in the doghouse.
That’s not going to happen this year; we’ve seen the last of Faried inching down into the post, calling for the ball and throwing up an abysmal hook shot.
As any casual basketball fan could tell you, there are three things Kenneth Faried should be doing: playing defense, getting rebounds and bringing energy to the floor. Those are the three things that make Faried special, the things that make him the Manimal.
If there’s one player I expect to have a breakout season under coach Malone, it’s Kenneth Faried.
