Spurs Too Old!

[wolf754life]

Parker is the lone bright spot in terms of age, but after that its deep and dark in that old black hole. They have to be the oldest starting lineup in the league. Basketball is a young mans game!

Age:

Tony Parker- 24
Manu Ginobili-29, turns it on july 28
Bruce Bowen-35
Robert Horry-36, turns it on august 25
Tim Duncan-30

Average age of starting lineup-30.8 yrs old

Bench is a little better.

PG: Beno Udrih-24
SG: Michael Finley-33, Brent Barry-34
SF: Erik Williams-34 turns it on july 24
PF: Fabricio Oberto-31, Matt Bonner-26, Robertas Javtokas-26
C: Sean Marks-31

Avg Bench Age-29.875 yrs old

Usually your bench is made up of one or two vets and a bunch of young players with upside, as you can see here the spurs are slightly above average in terms of bench age.

The bottom line is that this club as currently constructed is going to realize that the window for another championship is closing rapidly. The spurs need to add some dynamic young talent to this aging roster. Another point, if Tim Duncan where to be injured at this point without Nazr or Rasho the spurs will play so small its scary!

RC and Pop must know alot more than the rest of us! Hoping and praying the spurs aren't slowly shutting down their run at competiveness. I shutter to think were this team is after the 2008 season! Yikes! Enjoy it while you can.

[TxJudsonRocketTx]

Wow! Its a good thing I opened this thread, because I never wouldve known this stuff otherwise even though we've all been seeing it every day for the past 3 months.

[dimsah]

Where's Finely? That should push the bench age average over 30.

[ducks]

sean marks might not be back

[wolf754life]

My bad on Finley, it does increase the age to 29.875, the point is the spurs are old and rich in experience, but young on energy. Don't get me wrong they will still win 55 + games the next two years, but its after that.

Ian Mahimmi (wrong spelling i'm sure) will help, but after that there really is no help. Are they going to build around tony and ian for the next decade? And if the spurs are struggling in 2010, will parker want to stick around, after tim retires?

Scary questions, I try not to think about it, but it eventually happens to all teams.

[Trainwreck2100]

No way Horry is starting

[1Parker1]

Thank You, Captain Obvious :lol

[SenorSpur]

Parker is the lone bright spot in terms of age, but after that its deep and dark in that old black hole. They have to be the oldest starting lineup in the league. Basketball is a young mans game!

Age:

Tony Parker- 24
Manu Ginobili-29, turns it on july 28
Bruce Bowen-35
Robert Horry-36, turns it on august 25
Tim Duncan-30

Average age of starting lineup-30.8 yrs old

Bench is a little better.

PG: Beno Udrih-24
SG: Brent Barry-34
SF: Erik Williams-34 turns it on july 24
PF: Fabricio Oberto-31, Matt Bonner-26, Robertas Javtokas-26
C: Sean Marks-31

Avg Bench Age-29.4 yrs old

Usually your bench is made up of one or two vets and a bunch of young players with upside, as you can see here the spurs are slightly above average in terms of bench age.

The bottom line is that this club as currently constructed is going to realize that the window for another championship is closing rapidly. The spurs need to add some dynamic young talent to this aging roster. Another point, if Tim Duncan where to be injured at this point without Nazr or Rasho the spurs will play so small its scary!

RC and Pop must know alot more than the rest of us! Hoping and praying the spurs aren't slowly shutting down their run at competiveness. I shutter to think were this team is after the 2008 season! Yikes! Enjoy it while you can.

That is certainly one of the issues that has worried me for the past couple of years. For those that remember, the Spurs had the oldest roster in the league last year, whereas they had no less than 5 guys (Barry, Finley, VanExel, Horry and Bowen) who were 33 years of age or older.

A continuing process of adding the latest, over-the-hill, "veteran-of-the-year"-types is not a viable philosophy for staying competitive for the long-term.

Of course NVE has retired (Thank God!), but the point being is the Spurs need to balance out this roster with more younger, athletic, cheaper players that can develop as nucleus for the future. All the top teams in the West (DAL, PHX, LAC, SAC) have a good mix of younger, developing talent to go along with their superstars and veteran talent.

Having players stashed in Europe and other international areas is fine, but there is nothing like having a small core of at least one or two young players that are getting precious experience at the NBA level.

[Doc Jerome]

I echo the sentiment. The Spurs need young dynamic talent now, not tomorrow. This team as currently constituted will barely get by, and the added wear and tear on some of these old tires will surely come to an ugly end.

The first sign will be if Manu can keep his frail self healthy, and TD has overcome his foot problems. If neither is accomplished, all U can do is keep hope alive.

There may be an extraordinarily high number of "Believe" threads next season. Stay tuned. :fro

[J.T.]

If you watched even one game of the Semifinals, you shouldn't be worried about Tim's "foot problems".

[mabber]

Parker is the lone bright spot in terms of age, but after that its deep and dark in that old black hole. They have to be the oldest starting lineup in the league. Basketball is a young mans game!

Age:

Tony Parker- 24
Manu Ginobili-29, turns it on july 28
Bruce Bowen-35
Robert Horry-36, turns it on august 25
Tim Duncan-30

Average age of starting lineup-30.8 yrs old

Bench is a little better.

PG: Beno Udrih-24
SG: Michael Finley-33, Brent Barry-34
SF: Erik Williams-34 turns it on july 24
PF: Fabricio Oberto-31, Matt Bonner-26, Robertas Javtokas-26
C: Sean Marks-31

Avg Bench Age-29.875 yrs old

Usually your bench is made up of one or two vets and a bunch of young players with upside, as you can see here the spurs are slightly above average in terms of bench age.

The bottom line is that this club as currently constructed is going to realize that the window for another championship is closing rapidly. The spurs need to add some dynamic young talent to this aging roster. Another point, if Tim Duncan where to be injured at this point without Nazr or Rasho the spurs will play so small its scary!

RC and Pop must know alot more than the rest of us! Hoping and praying the spurs aren't slowly shutting down their run at competiveness. I shutter to think were this team is after the 2008 season! Yikes! Enjoy it while you can.

Wow, I didn't know Bowen was that old. He certainly doesn't play like it.

[davi78239]

Wow, I didn't know Bowen was that old. He certainly doesn't play like it.


I know. I thought he was like only 30 or 31 but 35?! No kidding that this team needs to get some young and fresh legs out on the court.

[ducks]

spurs did not lose because of their age

[texlawman]

No draft picks and No free agent signings thus far will certainly help you guys out :lol . I figure the Spurs have a shelf life of two years unless major roster changes are made. And its not happening this year IMO.

[MajorMike]

Wade - 24
Shaq - 34
J Wil - 31
Haslem - 26
Walker - 30

Ave age - 29

Bench
Posey - 29
Payton - 38
Anderson - 33
Zo - 36
D Anderson - 34
Kapono - 25
Doleac - 29

Ave age - 32


Age matters... why?

[awmyplace]

Wade - 24
Shaq - 34
J Wil - 31
Haslem - 26
Walker - 30

Ave age - 29

Bench
Posey - 29
Payton - 38
Anderson - 33
Zo - 36
D Anderson - 34
Kapono - 25
Doleac - 29

Ave age - 32


Age matters... why?


I thought that we talking about the Spurs not the Heat.

[DirkAB]

If you watched even one game of the Semifinals, you shouldn't be worried about Tim's "foot problems".


With Tim's age and recent history of increasing injuries, you should be very worried about him getting injured, especially foot problems.

[strangeweather]

Let's wait and see what the rest of the offseason moves bring. Horry won't start, Marks is almost certainly gone, any combination of Barry, Williams, and Oberto could be traded, and we might sign a summer league kid or two.

[jman3000]

damn... jason williams is already 31 ... i remember when he was young and getting comparison to pistol pete.

[Kori Ellis]

Take Horry out of that starting lineup! Right now there's really a ZERO there, so that lowers the average age of the starters to 23.6 :)

[polandprzem]

Take Horry out of that starting lineup! Right now there's really a ZERO there, so that lowers the average age of the starters to 23.6 :)

They are the youngest I believe :smokin

[jman3000]

hmmmm.. so if we just played 5-4 we'd have one of the youngest teams in the league... interesting.

[polandprzem]

hmmmm.. so if we just played 5-4 we'd have one of the youngest teams in the league... interesting.

They would be running fastbreaks both sides :smokin

[ObiwanGinobili]

Wow, I didn't know Bowen was that old. He certainly doesn't play like it.


agreed. I would think he was 32/33.
Hopefully he;s stil lgot some good years in him. :tu

[jman3000]

I would think that his body would be able to take at least a couple of more seasons of near dpoy performances. His game doesn't rely on explosiveness... so that's not the problem... even when he degrades from dpoy level to just a good defender, he still might have his uses.

[SenorSpur]

spurs did not lose because of their age

That's not the point of this thread. It's about their aging roster and about the absence of a young, core of developing talent on the active roster.

While age did not directly cause them to lose in the playoffs, in some ways it did catch up to them. Except for Duncan who routinely dominates his matchup, the Mavs either had the advantage or a "push" at practically every other position on the floor and with their bench player contributions.

Bottom line, this team has to get an infusion of young blood someway, somehow.

[furry_spurry]

I agree. Some young blood needs to come in soon. It is part of the downside to drafting guys and developing them in Europe for a few years, as Robertas and Scola are aleady 26, I think. Even Manu- look at the "fewer" years that will be gotten out of him in the NBA because of his age when he came.

[ShoogarBear]

:flipoff at "35 is old".

[wolf754life]

in basketball it is, not life, we are talking about the nba, agility, speed, jumping, running, endurance, physical activity, these guys play from late september to june, you need to be young, your body eventually lets you down, look at horry this year!

[ShoogarBear]

Basketball is life. :)

[Ocotillo]

The Spurs opening day roster is hardly set as we type on July 11.

I like the philosophy of signing the past his prime vet that is hungry to be on a competitive team with a realistic shot at the title. It did not work with NVE last year but has served well as in the case of Jerome Kersey, Glenn Robinson, Kevin Willis.....

I understand the desire to have a stable of young studs with the potential to develop into valuable contributors but there is two things wrong with that.

1. They are taking up roster and cap space while they are developing.

2. If they do realize the potential, they are hard to hold onto when they enter free agency because the lions share of cap has to go to the starters that have to be there if you are going to go all the way.

That doesn't mean you carry a roster of aging vets and crash and burn when they get too old or retire.

You have your core which is basically your starters. The rest of the bench needs to be a mix of young players and aging vets that you know likely are going to turn when their contracts are up. What you have to be worried about is keeping your core in their prime.

Having said that, the thing that jumps out at you regarding the Spurs roster is Bowen is getting to the age where he could lose a step and it could happen quickly and he will lose all effectiveness of the role he plays on this team when his athleticism declines. The other problem is the doughnut problem. The Spurs are a team with a hole in the middle at the moment.

I know managment has said they generally are looking for a back up point, a long defensive oriented three and a center. It may be a bit much to expect to fill all three needs this off-season as the center position is the most difficult of the three and centers are often overpriced for what they produce.

Moving Duncan to the middle is an option but then he will have to bang with Yao and Shaq as well as an army of hackers that will be getting their six fouls worth on him. This would not be ideal as he is now 30 and it would be nice to lessen his load rather than increase it thus increasing the opportunity for injury and regular season wear and tear.

A lot of the future is contingent upon how much Ian develops and how quickly. Beno is also an important cog if he is not traded as he will have to do as the back up point more than likely.

So when you say the Spurs are old, the core is what has to be focused on and the core is not complete today.

[JUUOT]

bonner and javtokas 26 will be joined by ian 20 so we have a young core for the Big
Beno 23 (somehow not relevant since tony the clear starter is so young there is no need)
It seems it is on the wings that we need 1 or 2 young prospects. Melvin's upsides seem too limited for him to develop. Looking at the rumors during the draft and the players on summer league, Spurs are not only looking for a tall athletic three but simply a young 2/3 winger with a lot of upside. He would have time to develop behind bruce finley and whoever else we keep (barry - williams) or bring

[GrandeDavid]

The Spurs' core strength, Duncan-Parker-Ginobili, are 30-24-29. That's called "in their prime". The rest are a supporting cast. They could use a couple of young bodies off the bench, but I'm not worried about them next season.

[ducks]

spurs will have have a first round draft pick and bucks second round pick next year

the first round pick should be a solid young player

[wolf754life]

bump my own thread, this isn't going away

[MajorMike]

spurs will have have a first round draft pick and bucks second round pick next year

the first round pick should be a solid young player

Should be lottery, as I don't see the Bucks goin anywhere anytime soon

[wolf754life]

WINDOW HAS SLAMMED SHUT! GAME OVER, lets work our asses off for that 4th seed next year!

[violentkitten]

the spurs dont necessarily need youth they need one or two players who are big enough to play the 4 yet are able to defend the 3. a little rebounding would be nice too.

age didn't beat the spurs last season. matchups did. lack of rebounding did (which is a result of the matchups)

[wolf754life]

Bump!