I brought this up in another thread, but wanted to post it here:
I'm afraid there's more to this "age issue'" that is rearing it's ugly head again. Take last season for example. The Spurs struggles in back-to-back games were very evident during the regular season and into the playoffs. Once the playoffs started, the Spurs did very well in against the Suns, in closing them out in 5 games. Obviously, the Spurs were THE better team. However, one thing that worked in the Spurs favor was a favorable schedule that allowed for sufficient rest. The NBA schedule makers allowed 3 days off between each of the first 3 games of the series. By that time, the Spurs were up 3-0 and the series was just about over. The one game the Spurs lost, a Game 4 blowout in Phoenix 105-86, came after just 1 day of rest, and normal travel in between.
As the team went deeper into the playoffs, we saw the Spurs struggle against the younger, quicker Hornets. The Spurs were literally outrebounded and outhustled in virtually every game, getting blown out in both Games 1,2 & 5 by 19, 18 & 22 points, respectively. Games 2 & 5 were played with just one day in between contests. Ultimately, the Spurs asserted themselves in the series and edged out the inexperienced Hornets in an epic Game 7, on the road. One thing that worked in the Spurs favor was the Game 7 schedule. The Spurs drew 4 days of rest in between, as Game 6 was played on Thurs 5/15, while Game 7 was played on Monday 5/19.
It was in the WCF, versus the Fakers, where we again saw the how the team was affected by an extremely, unfavorable schedule, and a Manu injury. All of which factored into their undoing. You may recall that games were played on an unprecedented "every-other-day" schedule, starting 5/21 thru 5/29. That schedule, along with aircraft issues leaving the New Orleans airport, worked against the Spurs in Game 1. Despite that fact, the Spurs were in just about every game, except Game 2, where they were blown out 101-71. Overall, the team seemed slow, sluggish and tired. While I still have no doubt the Spurs were every bit as good as the Fakers, it just seemed as though the tight series schedule was a hidden opponent that worked against the Spurs, every bit as much as Manu's injury.
My point to all this is we're now into another season and we're still seeing evidence as to how the schedule often can work against an older team, whose key contributing players, have logged so many minutes (regular season and playoffs) over the past 5-7 seasons. It's not so much the age as it is the mileage on the bodies of Duncan, Manu, Parker, Bowen and Finley. They've played a lot of basketball and at some point, diminished returns will be realized. This is a point that Sir Charles Barkley has harped on since last season and one that I agree with.
The good news is Pop got the message over the offseason and finally injected some youth onto the roster. All of which means that Pop is in a much better position to counter the effects and manage minutes than ever before. Of course, it's way too early to realize or judge the benefits of that movement. However, I firmly believe the big key to offsetting this issue will be the ability of Pop to allow that core of younger players to develop and contribute on a consistent basis -even if it means living with some mistakes here and there. Historically Pop has proven to be a guru in managing the minutes of his star players. Now, he's going to have to trust the the younger guys enough to give them minutes too. Especially during B2B games and long road trips.
Obviously, the good health of the Big Three, the overall team talent level, and experience will ensure the team will remain in contention. However, developing that core of young, bench players will help the Spurs better combat both the younger, quicker opponents, and an intense playoff schedule.
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