Spurs Youth Movement?

[SpursFanInAustin]

OK,

What if Mason starts instead of Manu....what's the "average age?"

[Solid D]

Some of you have an amazing grasp of the ****ing obvious. (If the older guys aren't playing many minutes, those minutes will be played by - gasp - younger guys. Gee... you think?) But I wonder if any of you are big enough to admit when you're wrong? How about this then:

Last year our starting 5 at the end of the season was Duncan, Parker, Mason, Finley, and Bonner. They had an average age of 30.02 years. This year, our starting 5 is very likely to be Duncan, Parker, Mason, Jefferson, and McDyess. And their average age would be 30.67 years. That's right, ****nuts. Our starting 5 this season will probably be older than last years'. And, like it or not, the starters get the lion's share of the minutes. And if we happen to start Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, Jefferson, and McDyess? Their average age would be 31.30. That's a very plausible starting 5, that would be well more than a year older than last seasons starting lineup!

And before you talk too much about how young our bench players will be, remember that Bonner, Mason, and Haislip are all going to be 29. Manu will be 32. And Finley and Theo Ratliff will both be 36. Any bench minutes those guys get will keep the average age up there. And you know those guys are going to get some minutes between them.

So guess what, class? Even adjusted for playing time, this year's team will only play slightly younger than last year's, unless Blair takes over the starting C position. And by slightly, I mean maybe 6 months - at the most. And if Blair struggles, it could easily play older than last year's team - even adjusted for playing time.

I think this could be a championship team, I really do. But it's not a youth movement, like a lot of people have been saying. Sorry, it just isn't. Maybe the numbers don't tell the whole story, but age is a math function. They guys' ages are what they are. If you want to argue a different point, go ahead - just don't try and put me on the other side of it.

.

The facts are, the Spurs are a younger team, modestly so, than they were last season. They didn't continue to get older, so they changed that trend.

Many of the things you say are true, although the condescending tone will not accomplish anything other than make you temporarily feel better. If you are just playing, then ...<courtesy laugh>.

It's difficult to project minutes for 2009-10 because of the unknowns of injuries and performance. However, the top 5 minutes/game players Parker, Duncan, Mason, Finley and Ginobili in 2008-09 will likely be the same with the exception of the 36 year old Finley being supplanted by the 29 year old Jefferson in the min/game department. The top 2 Bigs in after Duncan last season were Bonner and Thomas. There stands a decent chance Thomas (36 yrs. old last year) and Bonner (28 last year) will be replaced in minutes by McDyess (35 yrs. old) and Blair (20) this season.

So tweak your numbers a bit and the Spurs top 9 players in min/game may actually drop below 30 years old average age. Less of Finley and Bonner and more of Hill, Hairston and Blair is the order of the day.

[DMX7]

Bowen is not going to be on this team. LET IT GO, good god.

[Riverwalkman]

Last year our starting 5 at the end of the season was Duncan, Parker, Mason, Finley, and Bonner. They had an average age of 30.02 years. This year, our starting 5 is very likely to be Duncan, Parker, Mason, Jefferson, and McDyess. And their average age would be 30.67 years.

Statistically the average age of our starting 5 is older, but: 1.Apparently the replacement of Finley by Jefferson brings athletics and defense, which can be shown from the average stats. 2.McDyess is older than Bonner, but by this move Spurs inside got quicker and tougher, which can not be shown from the average stats. So my opinion is that we aren't getting younger, but definitely we are getting better, more athletics, more energy.

I also hope Hill and Blair get decent minutes and play impact roles, that will make team even "younger".

[GSH]

Its too bad we aren't as young as the Bobcats or the Warriors, those teams are the best and will likely we winning the next 5 or 6 championships.

Ohhh, snap

Many of the things you say are true, although the condescending tone will not accomplish anything... If you are just playing, then ...<courtesy laugh>.

Yeah, a condescending tone is probably counter-productive. Probably a good thing to keep in mind. If you were just being ironic about your own comments, then... <courtesy oops> And BTW - "not getting older" is not a youth movement.

You still don't get it. The top 5 minutes guys will not be the same, with the exception of Finley. They will all be a year older. They don't get to stay the same because they are the same players. Damn! Could you keep saying that for 2 years? For 5 years? So, what... do you think 1 year doesn't count? That's like saying individual bites of a candy bar don't count, so candy bars have no calories. Age and miles shouldn't be a factor for Parker and Jefferson. But they damned well will be for McDyess, Duncan, and Manu.

But none of that is really the point of the thread. Right after the draft, quite a few people were talking potential FA's or trades, and how they would "play into the Spurs' youth movement". I just pointed out that no big youth movement materialized, and the Spurs will once again have (probably) the oldest team in the league. And the usual bunch of argumentative jackasses want try to put words in someone else's mouth, and then tell them why they are wrong.

There is no ing youth movement. We will probably still struggle on the second night of back-to-backs. We'll give up more fast break points, alley-oops, etc. than we get. And there will be nights when we will struggle with young, athletic teams that aren't nearly as good, just because they happen to be "on" that night. And all the same home-trolls will be whining about how we didn't get younger, we don't play above the rim, and we lose games in transition.

And they'll all be back on the bandwagon about the time the Spurs are winning the WCF.

[Buddy Holly]

Some of you have an amazing grasp of the ing obvious. (If the older guys aren't playing many minutes, those minutes will be played by - gasp - younger guys. Gee... you think?) But I wonder if any of you are big enough to admit when you're wrong? How about this then:

Last year our starting 5 at the end of the season was Duncan, Parker, Mason, Finley, and Bonner. They had an average age of 30.02 years. This year, our starting 5 is very likely to be Duncan, Parker, Mason, Jefferson, and McDyess. And their average age would be 30.67 years. That's right, nuts. Our starting 5 this season will probably be older than last years'. And, like it or not, the starters get the lion's share of the minutes. And if we happen to start Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, Jefferson, and McDyess? Their average age would be 31.30. That's a very plausible starting 5, that would be well more than a year older than last seasons starting lineup!

And before you talk too much about how young our bench players will be, remember that Bonner, Mason, and Haislip are all going to be 29. Manu will be 32. And Finley and Theo Ratliff will both be 36. Any bench minutes those guys get will keep the average age up there. And you know those guys are going to get some minutes between them.

So guess what, class? Even adjusted for playing time, this year's team will only play slightly younger than last year's, unless Blair takes over the starting C position. And by slightly, I mean maybe 6 months - at the most. And if Blair struggles, it could easily play older than last year's team - even adjusted for playing time.

I think this could be a championship team, I really do. But it's not a youth movement, like a lot of people have been saying. Sorry, it just isn't. Maybe the numbers don't tell the whole story, but age is a math function. They guys' ages are what they are. If you want to argue a different point, go ahead - just don't try and put me on the other side of it.

.

Goddamn, who rammed the dildo up your ass?

[Buddy Holly]

Yeah, a condescending tone is probably counter-productive. Probably a good thing to keep in mind. If you were just being ironic about your own comments, then... <courtesy oops> And BTW - "not getting older" is not a youth movement.

You still don't get it. The top 5 minutes guys will not be the same, with the exception of Finley. They will all be a year older. They don't get to stay the same because they are the same players. Damn! Could you keep saying that for 2 years? For 5 years? So, what... do you think 1 year doesn't count? That's like saying individual bites of a candy bar don't count, so candy bars have no calories. Age and miles shouldn't be a factor for Parker and Jefferson. But they damned well will be for McDyess, Duncan, and Manu.

But none of that is really the point of the thread. Right after the draft, quite a few people were talking potential FA's or trades, and how they would "play into the Spurs' youth movement". I just pointed out that no big youth movement materialized, and the Spurs will once again have (probably) the oldest team in the league. And the usual bunch of argumentative jackasses want try to put words in someone else's mouth, and then tell them why they are wrong.

There is no ing youth movement. We will probably still struggle on the second night of back-to-backs. We'll give up more fast break points, alley-oops, etc. than we get. And there will be nights when we will struggle with young, athletic teams that aren't nearly as good, just because they happen to be "on" that night. And all the same home-trolls will be whining about how we didn't get younger, we don't play above the rim, and we lose games in transition.

And they'll all be back on the bandwagon about the time the Spurs are winning the WCF.

You failed the moment you came up with the idea of this thread.

[Solid D]

Yeah, a condescending tone is probably counter-productive. Probably a good thing to keep in mind. If you were just being ironic about your own comments, then... <courtesy oops> And BTW - "not getting older" is not a youth movement.

You still don't get it. The top 5 minutes guys will not be the same, with the exception of Finley. They will all be a year older. They don't get to stay the same because they are the same players. Damn! Could you keep saying that for 2 years? For 5 years? So, what... do you think 1 year doesn't count? That's like saying individual bites of a candy bar don't count, so candy bars have no calories. Age and miles shouldn't be a factor for Parker and Jefferson. But they damned well will be for McDyess, Duncan, and Manu.

But none of that is really the point of the thread. Right after the draft, quite a few people were talking potential FA's or trades, and how they would "play into the Spurs' youth movement". I just pointed out that no big youth movement materialized, and the Spurs will once again have (probably) the oldest team in the league. And the usual bunch of argumentative jackasses want try to put words in someone else's mouth, and then tell them why they are wrong.

There is no ****ing youth movement. We will probably still struggle on the second night of back-to-backs. We'll give up more fast break points, alley-oops, etc. than we get. And there will be nights when we will struggle with young, athletic teams that aren't nearly as good, just because they happen to be "on" that night. And all the same home-trolls will be whining about how we didn't get younger, we don't play above the rim, and we lose games in transition.

And they'll all be back on the bandwagon about the time the Spurs are winning the WCF.

If the Spurs didn't stay the same age and they didn't get older as a team, then common sense says the only other alternative is...they got younger in average age. I did the math with consideration of the 1-year-older reality before I posted: "The facts are, the Spurs are a younger team, modestly so, than they were last season." I had calculated Parker, Duncan, Mason, Ginobili and Finley at one year older, so with Jefferson replacing Finley in the top 5 minutes/game players...the Spurs are modestly younger by .4 years with those 5 players (30 years old on average).

Going on from there, if Bonner, Bowen and Thomas are supplanted by McDyess, Hill and Blair as the 6th, 7th and 8th most minutes/game...then they are under 30 with their top 8 players. That is movement downward in average age. Call it trending younger or whatever, but they will be modestly younger if that happens.

Younger doesn't win championships, though. It takes a balance of age and youth, young tutored by old, to keep a steady flow of success.