Robert Kleeman: Are the San Antonio Spurs Too Young to Win a le?

[biba]

Are the San Antonio Spurs Too Young to Win a le?

by Robert Kleeman Written on March 11, 2010 Bleacher Report

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/3...to-win-a- le

Stop slapping yourself in the head. You did not misread my headline.

Cancel the ophthalmologist appointment and stop hitting “refresh” on your Internet browser.

The question I posed above deserves serious consideration. Since losing to the L.A. Lakers in the 2008 Western Conference Finals, the Spurs have dropped almost three years in average age.

Brent Barry signed with the Houston Rockets that summer. Jacque Vaughn retired. Damon Stoudemire skipped town almost as soon as he had arrived.

General Manager R.C. Buford sent Kurt Thomas, Bruce Bowen, and Fabricio Oberto to Milwaukee in a trade for Richard Jefferson. When Bucks' G.M. John Hammond bought out the expiring contracts of Bowen and Oberto, freeing them to re-sign with the Spurs, Buford and Gregg Popovich passed.

No, thanks.

Bowen called it quits, preferring to remain in San Antonio with his wife, and Oberto now plays for the woebegone Washington Wizards.

Peter Holt—er Buford—donated Theo Ratliff to the Charlotte Bobcats to lessen his luxury tax bill. Ratliff did not garner significant minutes while in the Alamo City.

Michael Finley asked to be waived so he could sign on with another contender. The Celtics brass dangled the promise of more playing time and a greater role. He has played in two games for Boston.

Popovich has griped about his team’s loss of corporate knowledge. With Michael Finley gone, just four players remain from the 2007 championship roster.

Matt Bonner was a garbage-time player then.

The Spurs' average age of 27.6 ties the L.A. Lakers and trails four other le contenders.

The Denver Nuggets, Boston Celtics, and Orlando Magic boast a higher average age than the Spurs. The Dallas Mavericks are the oldest team in the league.

Three players on Popovich’s roster—Antonio McDyess, Tim Duncan, and Manu Ginobili—are older than 30.

Four players on the Lakers are older than 30. The Nuggets will employ five ballers in their 30s. Every Maverick not named Caron Butler, Roddy Buckets, or J.J. Barea should keep his NBA-ARP card handy.

I'm kidding, but you get the point.

No one thinks the Spurs are better than any of the above outfits. Too old? Popovich wishes.

Those who insist young high-flyers win les missed Derek Fisher in last year’s Finals. Yes, championship hopefuls need spry athletes to survive the 82-game season. They need experience and veterans—old guys—to win when it matters most.

Does San Antonio boast enough experience to win it all?

Kobe Bryant has not drained six game-winners this season because he can jump high. As a 12-year veteran, he has sniffed every late-game situation imaginable. Ditto for Fisher.

Why do you think Lakers' G.M. Mitch Kupchak was so willing to swap 24-year-old Trevor Ariza for 30-year-old Ron Artest?

Magic G.M. traded for 34-year-old Vince Carter. Mavs’ Owner Mark Cuban traded away young speedster Devin Harris for Jason Kidd two years ago. This summer, Cuban tendered the 36-year-old point guard a three-year, $25 million deal.

Kidd made the oddball, but genius, play on Atlanta Coach Mike Woodson to send a recent Mavs-Hawks game into overtime.

Carmelo Anthony may be Denver’s go-to star, but the Nuggets will go as far as 33-year-old Chauncey Billups can take them.

The Celtics will not taste playoff success without a productive 35-year-old Kevin Garnett. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are as important.

With Parker out, Popovich is starting a 23-year-old at point guard. George Hill has established himself as an ever-improving, two-way athlete, but he was still in high school when the Spurs secured the 2005 championship.

Dejuan Blair, 20, makes great plays. He helped the Spurs out-rebound the New York Knicks 53-34 on Wednesday. He also makes rookie mistakes, the kind a seasoned Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, or Nene Hilario might not.

Malik Hairston does good things every time he plays, but how can Popovich expect a year old to deliver on the NBA’s biggest stage when his greatest career moments have come as a D-Leaguer.

Bonner, 29, was never an elite athlete. Popovich loves the forward-center’s defensive tenacity, his hustle, and his stroke from long range. Last week, Bonner defended David West and Zach Randolph and held both to well below their season averages.

Anyone who thinks 29-year-old Jefferson has lost a step should watch highlights of last night’s Spurs-Knicks joust. Jefferson, despite scoring zero points, sent a Toney Douglas layup attempt into the first row. Geriatric players cannot do that.

He can still catch overthrown lob passes for alley-oops. His age has little to do with his struggles as a Spur. My views differ from most.

Mason has not bricked 10 straight three-pointers because he’s getting older. He may not be capable of the consistency or accuracy the Spurs need with Parker sidelined.

Keith Bogans has produced like he did in his stints with Milwaukee and Boston—one game of brilliant defense sandwiched by three listless showings ripe with offensive inep ude.

The team has slipped defensively, but that slide can be seen across the league.

The Lakers allow opponents to shoot 44.4 percent from the field. Last year’s one round-and-done Spurs allowed teams to make 44.1 percent of their shots.

The squad that surrenders the fewest points, the Cleveland Cavaliers (95 per game), would have ranked fifth or sixth in that category for most of the 2000s.

Couldn’t lackluster defense be attributed to the increased number of championship hopefuls stacked with scoring threats?

Does age alone explain the league-wide decline? No chance.

Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard played in different cities in 2005. Pau Gasol could not have dreamed then he would team with Odom and Andrew Bynum.

Could any team in NBA history limit the current edition of the Lakers, Cavs, or Magic to 80 points with any consistency?

Defense still wins les, but how elite foes stack up offensively is as important as ever.

The Spurs need to improve defensively and find another seven-foot difference maker— Tiago Splitter?—to pair with Duncan.

San Antonio’s franchise star isn’t getting any younger. His years of prime production are numbered. Ginobili could squeeze out two more seasons worth of Manu magic.

Does two-thirds of the “Big Three” boast enough moxie to make up for the prosaic experience at other key positions?

As I repeat the question that probably surprised you, do not laugh.

Are the Spurs too young to win it all?

[TD 21]

Good article and something I've thought about for a while. In the course of three off seasons spanning two years, this team has gotten significantly younger and if they're successful this summer in bringing in Splitter and snagging another solid draft pick, they will have went from having virtually no young talent in place heading into the summer of '08 to having a solid base of young talent in place for the '10-11 season and they'll have accomplished this feat without a (likely) single pick even in the teens.

It's also not out of the question that McDyess could be gone next season, which would leave (assuming Ginobili re-signs) only Duncan and Ginobili as players over 30 (assuming Bonner re-signs, count him and Jefferson as the only others at 30) and even if McDyess stays, the days of having veteran role players who can barely play in the league anymore (even in his current state, he's still better than that) filling out the roster were officially over when Finley was released.

[roycrikside]

I told this to my friend the other day. Age isn't really the problem on this team anymore. For that matter, neither is athleticism. There is plenty of it on the roster, if you know where to look (Malik and Ian being two examples).

The reason we're not that good right now, besides constant injuries to Tony, is that Pop is trying to wring defensive performance out of a roster built for offense. Also, he's playing some guys in his rotation that shouldn't be getting time and vice versa.

[TIMMYD!]

Yeah, our only problem is misuse of talent.

[HarlemHeat37]

-The Spurs age is an issue because of their roles..the big 3 has a ton of mileage and McDyess is the starting PF on this team, a guy that is OLDER than Duncan..a starting frontcourt consisting of a 34-year old Duncan with a ton of mileage/knee problems with an old man in McDyess is a bad idea..

Duncan is breaking down in the 2nd half so far, just like last season..obviously attributed to age/mileage..

-Athleticism is still an issue because of their roles as well..our defense stopper isn't quick or athletic in any way and Hairston probably won't get PT in the playoffs..our frontcourt severely lacks athleticism(which is a problem because there's very little size), so that's another huge problem..

-I don't expect the Spurs' defense to be as good as it used to be due to the loss of prime Duncan and prime Bowen + rule changes, but it can still be a lot better..it doesn't have to be against the elite teams(LA, Cleveland, Orlando), but it's been inconsistent even against the above average/good teams in the NBA..

-Experience isn't an issue at all..the big 3 + Pop obviously have a ton of championship experience, McDyess and RJ have made the Finals before..the experience of the younger players really won't be an issue IMO, as Hill showed when he was thrown into the fire last year..


The Spurs have gotten younger, I applaud it since the team has needed it for a while, but there's still a serious athleticism/size issue..hopefully with Hairston in the rotation next year + Splitter's addition + the addition of either an athletic big or a long SF through the draft helps all this..

[timtonymanu]

-The Spurs age is an issue because of their roles..the big 3 has a ton of mileage and McDyess is the starting PF on this team, a guy that is OLDER than Duncan..a starting frontcourt consisting of a 34-year old Duncan with a ton of mileage/knee problems with an old man in McDyess is a bad idea..

Duncan is breaking down in the 2nd half so far, just like last season..obviously attributed to age/mileage..

That is why I dont understand why most people on here wanted Mcdyess to sign here. I like McDyess but he's too old and Duncan needs a young big to take the load off of him. I was really pursuing Gortat but I guess I cant complain because Dice was probably the only one that would sign here. Its better than Bonner starting.

[SpursRulez4eVeR]

i wanted dice to be here but not for a role that he can no longer fulfill...

[daslicer]

The problem with this team is not age but the lack of size to compliment Duncan. The spurs have nobody above 6'10 to put near Duncan capable of defending the paint area much like they did in the past with Robinson,Rasho,Nazr,Oberto etc.

[ffadicted]

Excellent article, makes you feel good about the future. If the spurs do well with their pick this year, we could very well be one of the leagues promising teams in the next couple of years.

[BillMc]

Good Article. We have gotten younger and have never had to have a bad season. (Even this much maligned season may get us to 50 wins.) While we hard core fans nitpick the mistakes both big and small, in the big picture the Spurs are doing the right thing. Now if we can only get bigger...

[jjktkk]

Another thing to consider, is that the Spurs found these young guys in the bottom 1st round, and 2nd rounds, which is not always an easy thing to do when your perennially picking in the late rounds like the Spurs do.

[SenorSpur]

The Spurs have gotten younger, I applaud it since the team has needed it for a while, but there's still a serious athleticism/size issue..hopefully with Hairston in the rotation next year + Splitter's addition + the addition of either an athletic big or a long SF through the draft helps all this..

That's the key right there. They have gotten younger, but not in some other critical areas where age was, and still is, an issue.