NYT: Is Age Tipping the Balance in the N.B.A.?
January 12th, 2012 by Mike Kurylo | @KnickerBlogger | Comments | Permalink |
Mike Kurylo in the New York Times:
A simple explanation for the shift in balance among these teams is age. Six of Dallas’ top eight players (ranked by minutes played) are 32 or older. Of the Celtics’ top eight, six are 31 or older. Comparatively, the Sixers (Elton Brand) and Knicks (Mike Bibby) each have one player over 30 in the eight-man rotation, and both teams have made improvements from last year.
Mike Kurylo is the founder and editor of KnickerBlogger.net. His book on the 2012 Knicks, "We’ll Always Have Linsanity," is on sale now. Follow him on twitter (@KnickerBlogger).
Shump Shump
Do you think they just went over the cliff, so to speak, or it’s the compressed schedule?
little from column a, little from colum b.
By that I mean “Nice work. Nice work” So why aren’t the Wizards 7-2?
Wilbon’s piece on Rubio would be better if he used advanced stats rather than raw numbers.
terrible article, sorry. you wildly overestimate NY, there’s a reason Memphis is favored by 4.5 points.
Well, he’d have to know some advanced stats first.
:)
Mike, I’m glad you underscored the aging out of some of these elite teams. God, it happens in every sport. The old Knicks and Clyde sadly comes to mind. This factor is clearly relevant now with, as pointed out, the short schedule and lack of preparation. Although, perhaps the reduction in training and preseason wear may ultimately accrue to the benefit of some of the older players. Wouldn’t that be strange? Even though the Knicks aren’t all oldsters like some of the players on teams you cited, Coach better be careful about playing time for Stat and Chandler. On another note, it’s pretty cool seeing your name next to a NY Times article. Kudos. Mike, keep up the great work.
Apologies for the tardiness on this, but nice work, Mike. Give it a few more months, and we’ll BE the old gray lady. Or something.