[外電] Aging NBA team can still contend for and win titles
Source: http://www.star-telegram.com/287/story/1480656.html
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Aging NBA team can still contend for and win titles
Posted on Fri, Jul. 10, 2009 / By JAN HUBBARD
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When he was a delightfully rebellious 20-year-old swashbuckling guitarist,
Pete Townshend wrote the lyrics:
"Hope I die before I get old."
At the time, he was angry at an older person who had insulted him and chose
to use his band, The Who, to answer back.
The lyrics slightly change in the NBA, where the mantra is: "Hope I win a
title before my team gets old."
Old is an issue in the NBA and certainly a subject that will be visited often
in Dallas Mavericks circles during the next few years.
Instead of giving up on the current nucleus and starting over, the Mavericks
chose to chase their championship dream with age rather than youth when they
re-signed Jason Kidd, who will be 37 when the 2010 title is decided next
June, and traded for Shawn Marion, who will be 32 at that point.
Add those players to Dirk Nowitzki (who will be 31 in June), Jason Terry (32)
and Josh Howard (30), and you have a nucleus of players who are young off the
court and old on it.
If it is any consolation, however, the Mavericks are not alone. Almost
without exception, teams that hope to contend for the 2010 title have sought
older players through trades and free agency.
San Antonio wase the one team that got younger by sending two players who
were 37 and one who was 34 to Milwaukee for Richard Jefferson, who is 29.
It would have been difficult, however, for the Spurs to get older. In June,
Tim Duncan will be 34 and Manu Ginobili will be 32. Tony Parker will be 28,
but that is offset by Michael Finley, who will be 37.
Take a look at the other contenders, the other players they added and their
June 2010 ages:
Celtics: Added Rasheed Wallace (35) to a nucleus of Kevin Garnett and Ray
Allen (both 34) and Paul Pierce (32).
Cavaliers: Traded for Shaquille O’Neal (38).
Magic: Traded for Vince Carter (33).
Lakers: Signed Ron Artest (30) and let Trevor Ariza (24) sign with Houston.
Obviously, young players still will play a huge role in the championship
race. LeBron James will be only 25 during the next title series and Orlando’
s Dwight Howard will be 24.
But as they did in the Devin Harris-Kidd trade, the Mavericks did exactly
what they were supposed to do. It wasn’t perfect. The front office and fans
probably would have been happier with acquiring Dwyane Wade to fill that
scoring need, but he wasn’t exactly available.
The Mavericks did the best they could in terms of competing for a title.
Although it should seem obvious, there are local voices apparently unaware
that only one team can win a title each season. What every team is supposed
to do, however, is try to win a championship.
The Mavericks did that when they traded Harris. They did it again by signing
Kidd and trading for Marion. It doesn’t mean they will win, but they are
making the effort. And that’s what teams are supposed to do.
Harris was not going to put the team into the title series, not at this point
of his career. With Harris as the leading scorer on the team, New Jersey was
14 games worse than .500 last season. Then it traded Carter for younger
players and might not even win 30 games next season. Harris is a solid
player, but, again, he’s not a franchise.
With their latest moves, the Mavericks have improved significantly in one
area — rebounding. Last season, they were the league’s fifth-best
rebounding team.
During his career, Marion has been a better rebounder than Nowitzki. Marion
has averaged double-digit rebounds four times and has a career 9.9 average.
Nowitzki has averaged 8.6 and Josh Howard has averaged 6.2.
Kidd led all guards — even Kobe Bryant — in rebounding last season despite
being 35. Would it be surprising to know that the 6-foot-4 Kidd’s career 6.7
rebounding average is better than Michael Jordan’s (6.2)?
The old guys can get to the boards.
And if the Magic does not match the Mavericks’ offer to Marcin Gortat and
the 25-year-old center can play well in extended minutes, he could easily
lead the team in rebounding next season.
The record is mixed on younger and older players winning titles. Jordan was
28 when he won his first and 35 when he won his last. Shaq won one at 29 and
another at 36. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won his first at 24 and his last at 41.
So it does seem that sometimes old can be good — a fact that surely would be
endorsed by the great Pete Townshend, who on his last birthday in May turned
64.
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