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DENVER -- At long last, Brian Shaw is getting his first chance to coach an NBA team. The former guard for the Los Angeles Lakers and Phil Jackson pupil has agreed to succeed George Karl as coach of the Denver Nuggets, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Monday night because the deal hadnt been officially announced. Still, it was the buzz of the basketball world. "I think the Nuggets are going to benefit from his tenure," Jackson tweeted. "So great to see Brian Shaw rewarded with this long overdue opportunity," Pacers coach Frank Vogel told The AP in a text. "Congrats to Brian and the Nuggets. Denver just got one of the best head coaches this league will see for years to come." The Denver Post first announced the agreement with Shaw, the Indiana Pacers assistant who told the newspaper hes been "prepared by the best of the best" for his first NBA head coaching job, adding "I feel like Ive waited and paid my dues." Shaw is a longtime assistant who has interviewed about a dozen times for head coaching positions but kept coming up short until Monday. He beat out Lionel Hollins, the former Memphis Grizzlies coach. The Nuggets called a news conference for Tuesday afternoon, where team president Josh Kroenke and newly hired general manager Tim Connelly will introduce their new coach. Shaw replaces Karl, who was ousted June 6 just weeks after winning the leagues Coach of the Year award. Shaw inherits a young team loaded with talent that won a franchise-record 57 games but lost Danilo Gallinari to a knee injury down the stretch and bowed out in the first round of the playoffs for the ninth time in 10 years. Gallinari recently underwent surgery and is expected back in December. The Nuggets have been a state of flux all summer after they were knocked off by the Golden State Warriors in six games in the first round of the playoffs. First, Masai Ujiri, who engineered the win-win trade of Carmelo Anthony to the New York Knicks, left the Nuggets front office for the GM job in Toronto. Ujiri was the leagues Executive of the Year. Less than a week later, Kroenke fired Karl. Ujiris right-hand man, Pete DAllesandro, then took the Sacramento Kings GM job and took Denver executive Mike Bratz with him. Also, the Nuggets top perimeter defender, Andre Iguodala, decided to opt out of the final year of his contract to become an unrestricted free agent, although he could return to Denver on a five-year deal while the most he could get elsewhere is a four-year contract. Shaw, 47, owns five NBA championship rings as a player and assistant coach. A first-round draft pick by the Boston Celtics in 1988, Shaw played for eight teams in his 14 NBA seasons. As Vogels top assistant, Shaw drew praise for his work with rising star Paul George last season. The Pacers forward was an All-Star and helped lead Indiana to the Eastern Conference finals, where they took the eventual champion Miami Heat to seven games. Although he has deep roots with the triangle offence that Jackson featured with the Chicago Bulls and the Lakers, Shaw told the Denver Post he wont use that system with the Nuggets, who thrived in a fast-paced, free-flowing system under Karl. Shaw played at St. Marys and UC Santa Barbara before an NBA career that lasted from 1988 to 2003. He was a member of the Lakers three championship teams in the early 2000s and Jackson hired him as an assistant after he retired. He won two more titles with L.A. as an assistant coach and when Jackson retired from the Lakers in 2011, Kobe Bryant voiced his support for Shaw becoming Jacksons successor, but he was passed over for that promotion. NCAA Jerseys China . -- Among the 31 players at the Montreal Canadiens rookie camp, none feels closer to cracking the NHL roster than right winger Aaron Palushaj. Clearance NCAA Jerseys . Thats when the eight-time champion revealed that a painful back is slowing his serves -- and, all in all, giving him more trouble than his opponents so far. https://www.chinajerseysncaa.us/ . The Blue Jackets got goals from Cam Atkinson, Nick Foligno, Boone Jenner and R.J. Umberger and Curtis McElhinney posted his first shutout since 2011 in a 4-0 victory on Friday night. NCAA Jerseys Outlet . The Canadian Luge Association officially named seven athletes to the 2014 Olympic team Tuesday. Edney, will lead teenagers John Fennell and Mitchel Malyk into their first Games in mens singles. Tristan Walker and Justin Snith will represent Canada in doubles, while Gough, will be joined by Kimberley McRae in womens singles. Wholesale NCAA Jerseys . The stress, the waiting, the whispers about whether he doped during his stellar cycling career, all of it ended when - after nearly two years - federal prosecutors closed an investigation of him last week without bringing any charges. DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Ricky Romero is headed back to the minors. One day after being shelled by the Detroit Tigers, the former Opening Day starter and fellow pitcher Marcus Stroman were sent to the Blue Jays minor league camp. Toronto manager John Gibbons said both pitchers needed more work. Gibbons tried to soften the blow for Romero, saying the 29-year-old left-hander had pitched well earlier in the spring and was moving in the right direction after two troubled seasons. "We really like what he did this camp," Gibbons told reporters Wednesday prior to a Grapefruit League game against the Philadelphia Phillies. "Just go down there and polish it up." Stroman, a 2012 first-round draft choice who pitched in Class-AA last season, managed just one out in Tuesdays 18-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers. The 22-year-old right-hander gave up seven runs on six hits. "He was kind of the odd man out," said Gibbons. "He had trouble throwing strikes (Tuesday). Hes got to do that." Romero, who is due to make US$7.75 million this season, walked five and threw two wild pitches in 2 2/3 innings. Unofficially he threw 57 pitches, 23 for strikes. Gibbons said Romero needs to do "whatever it takes" to throw strikes. He was an all-star in 2011 when he went 15-11 with a 2.92 earned-run average. In 2012, he slumped to 9-14 with a 5.77 ERA and things got worse in 2013, when he saw action in just four games in the majors with an 0-2 record and 11.05 ERA. He spent most of last season in the minors where he went 5-8 with 5.52 ERA. "Its a long road. You never know if a guys going to make it back from that or not," said Gibbons. "But he was starting to show the signs of it. (Tuesday) he wasnt as good and it just kind of reaffirmed, Hey start him down there, but hes moving in the right direction." Romero had been a feel-good story earlier in spring training. Gibbons called him "the big talk of camp" last week after giving up one run in seven innings for an ERA of 1.29 in three appearances. But Romero fell back to earth Tuesday in Lakeland. He gave up three runs on three hitts with five walks, a hit batsman and two wild pitches.dddddddddddd "Weve taken too many steps forward to dwell on this," Romero said philosophically afterwards. Somewhat bizarrely, he referred to a "weird weather day" in noting "the balls were a little slick and just kept coming out of my hand." It was a sunny 20-degree day at Joker Marchant Stadium. Romero has been positive this spring, making an effort to stay in the moment rather than labour in the past or worry about the future. A lot of people have been rooting for him to succeed, including his manager. "We feel for the guy," said Gibbons. "Its not just looking at results. As much work as the kids putting in, things like that -- the battles hes going through, mentally -- you root for him. You root for him extra hard. "But were encouraged. Were positive after this camp. He may look at it differently but we feel positive with what he accomplished this spring." Romero had left the clubhouse by the time the announcement was made. Gibbons said the pitcher was disappointed at the news. "And rightfully so. I cant blame him for that, but hopefully he feels good about how this spring went." Despite the positive signs, Gibbons said he always saw Romero as having an outside shot at making the team. "Personally I thought regardless of the camp he had, it would probably do him some good to start down in the minor leagues in real competition where things are different," he said. "Just to make sure hes back to where he needs to be. "Because you dont want him to come up and if hes not ready to start the season, backslides and he may never regroup. So that was kind of my thinking. But that wasnt everybodys opinion. If he proved he was ready in spring training, he might have been the guy." NOTES -- Gibbons said closer Casey Janssen felt "great" after a throwing on the mound Tuesday and will go again Friday. Hes slated to make three or four appearances before the season starts March 31 in Tampa. Janssen has been limited in action to protect against shoulder soreness. ' ' '