age and experience in the NBA - a decade retrospective

[cranrab]

people frequently comment on the virtue of youth, young legs, and athleticism when discussing the NBA.

but age (or at least youth) is a red herring in the discussion.

take a look at the past 10 NBA champions:

miami heat 5th oldest
dallas mavericks oldest
los angeles fakers 5th oldest
los angeles fakers 9th oldest
boston celtics 8th oldest
san antonio spurs oldest
miami heat 2nd oldest
san antonio spurs 3rd oldest
detroit pistons 12th oldest
san antonio spurs 7th oldest

so in a decade's worth of championship teams NONE of the squads were at or below the league's median age.

and 9 out of 10 (with the pistons being the lone exception) were among the top 10 oldest teams in the league at the time.

more than half of those 10 championship teams were among the top 5 oldest teams in the league at the time.

 

[cranrab]

so if older teams with experience have proven to be successful, does being young automatically translate into a negative?

let's see how the youngest teams did over the past 10 seasons:

washington wizards 2nd worst overall
oklahoma city thunder 7th best overall
oklahoma city thunder 11 best overall
memphis grizzlies 5th worst overall
portland trailblazers 16th overall (.500)
boston celtics worst in the EASTern conference
atlanta hawks 3rd worst overall
charlotte bobcats tied for 2nd worst overall
los angeles clippers worst in the WORSTern conference
cleveland cavaliers worst overall

so the youngest team in the league had these results:

worst leaguewide (x1)
2nd worst leaguewide (x2)
3rd worst leaguewide (x1)
5th worst leaguewide (x1)
worst in just the conference (x2)

the overachievers were the oklahoma city thunder and the portland trailblazers, providing pleasant aberrations to the mix.

the exceptions notwithstanding, it's apparent that you'd want to avoid putting together a young team in the NBA if you want to win games.

 

[cranrab]

what about current year outlook?

does any of this hold true presently?

3 youngest teams

cleveland cavaliers 3rd worst overall
new orleans hornets worst in the WORSTern conference
houston rockets tied for 18th overall

3 oldest teams

los angeles fakers tied for 18th overall
miami heat 2nd best overall
new york knicks tied for 5th best overall

 

[cranrab]

finally, where did the league's worst finishers place amongst their peers in terms of age?

take a look at the past 10 years:

charlotte bobcats 4th youngest
minnesota timberwolves 2nd youngest
new jersey nets 5th youngest
sacramento kings 14th youngest
miami heat 10th oldest
memphis grizzlies 14th youngest
portland trailblazers 3rd youngest
atlanta hawks 7th youngest
orlando magic 7th youngest
cleveland cavaliers and denver nuggests tied for worst records and they were 1st and 2nd youngest respectively

 

[cranrab]

footnote.

what of the oldest teams in the past 10 seasons?

dallas mavericks tied for 7th best in the WORSTern conference
dallas mavericks NBA champions
dallas mavericks 2nd best in the WORSTern conference
san antonio spurs 3rd best in the WORSTern conference
san antonio spurs 3rd best in the WORSTern conference
san antonio spurs NBA champions
san antonio spurs best in the WORSTern conference
houston rockets 5th best in the WORSTern conference
new orleans hornets 5th best in the EASTern conference
utah jazz 7th best in the WORSTern conference
new york knicks 7th worst overall

in 9 out of 10 past season (the knicks being the exception), being the oldest team in the league was not a hindrance to advancing to the playoffs.

 

[cranrab]

MWP just pointed out how incredibly stupid it is to point to age as a factor in playing poor basketball:

Metta World Peace, 33, refused to accept the age of the Lakers' roster as an excuse for their play, pointing out what the New York Knicks have accomplished so far this season.

"That's no excuse, the Knicks are playing great, so that's no excuse," World Peace said. "You can't use it as an excuse for us. Thank you. Thanks for trying."



only a truly sub-moronic no basketball IQ bitch would talk about age as an explanation for playing poor basketball. oh wait.

"You just saw an old damn team," Bryant continued. "I don't know how else to put it to you. We're just slow. You saw a team over there that was just younger and just had fresher legs and just played with more energy, and we were just stuck in the mud. I think individually we all have to figure out how to get ourselves ready each and every game to have a high level of energy. That's all that is."

 

[RunawaySlave]

I believe age and experience come more into play during a playoff series....but on any given night that youth can win a couple of games for you.
I think neither age nor youth play the deciding factor. I believe it's a balance of the two which can win the day....
I mean if you have a team with nothing but 38 year olds does anyone really believe that team wouldn't have as many problems making the playoffs same as a team full of 20 year olds?

 

[RunawaySlave]

Watching a D-League game right now and one thing that's noticeable is the fact that NO ONE is out there flopping
Not one player. Not offensive players falling down when going to the basket....no euros fainting....nothing
If that was a team of vets there'd be flopping all over the place. Or else that vet wouldn't even be on the court

 

[D-TOWN REP]

Good breakdown

I think that a nice balance is the key along with general health of the team

Watching a D-League game right now and one thing that's noticeable is the fact that NO ONE is out there flopping
Not one player. Not offensive players falling down when going to the basket....no euros fainting....nothing
If that was a team of vets there'd be flopping all over the place. Or else that vet wouldn't even be on the court

that's cuz there is no superstars in the NBDL

just pure basketball not any players depending on refs for points and bail outs on defense

 

[Costanza]

Good thread minus the compulsive Kobe attack, cranrab.

 

[Costanza]

I believe age and experience come more into play during a playoff series....but on any given night that youth can win a couple of games for you.
I think neither age nor youth play the deciding factor. I believe it's a balance of the two which can win the day....
I mean if you have a team with nothing but 38 year olds does anyone really believe that team wouldn't have as many problems making the playoffs same as a team full of 20 year olds?

Oldest and youngest are relative terms, also.

 

[cranrab]

congratulations to the miami heat on winning the championship.

not a bad accomplishment for the 2nd oldest team in the league.

 

[Costanza]

so the 2nd oldest team in the NBA won the championship?

SHOCKING.

not really.



excuses about age need to be buried. again. forever.

That bullshit stat proves the Mark Twain quotation. Miami had the best player in the series and he's 28. The Spurs best player is on the wrong side of 30 and the franchise player is pushing 40. Shane Battier's age shouldn't be weighted the same as LeBron's when his old ass can sit on the bench half the series and they can win the title with one standout contribution from him.

 

[cranrab]

laughable objections. literally.

shane battier? ray allen? chris andersen? mike miller? dwyane wade? all in their 30s

but you focus on lebron james.

try again.

 

[RunawaySlave]

I choose to focus on one player too....Manu Ginobli

 

[Costanza]

laughable objections. literally.

shane battier? ray allen? chris andersen? mike miller? dwyane wade? all in their 30s

but you focus on lebron james.

try again.

MVP's a good place to start. Try reading again and see if that's where it ended.

 

[cranrab]

I choose to focus on one player too....Manu Ginobli

hence, my old team names in your fantasy leagues.