The "who's better?" thread

How could anyone count out the Mavs? They're the defending chumps with cores intact maybe even better with Butler back healthy. Even thought they're to be one year older, they still should be on the top of most peoples' power ranks untill they're dethroned. Seems to me Dirk and cos aren't still getting enough respect around.

I did not count them out. I just said, if the momentum shifts it would be much harder for the Mavs to defend the title...
But Mavs - because of their age - could really suffer if the lockout consumes a big part of next season.

Mavs - because of their age - could really suffer if the lockout consumes a big part of next season.

That's what I was gonna say. I think the Celtics can make a push for the ring if that happens.

I did not count them out. I just said, if the momentum shifts it would be much harder for the Mavs to defend the title...
But Mavs - because of their age - could really suffer if the lockout consumes a big part of next season.

The average age of the Lakers' roster is practically the same as the Mavs', so they'd be in the same boat if we're going by that assumption.

Mavs - because of their age - could really suffer if the lockout consumes a big part of next season.

That's what I was gonna say. I think the Celtics can make a push for the ring if that happens.

...the Mavs are too old, so the Celtics have a shot? What?

They're the defending chumps ..... Seems to me Dirk and cos aren't still getting enough respect around.

Hmmm.

I did not count them out. I just said, if the momentum shifts it would be much harder for the Mavs to defend the title...
But Mavs - because of their age - could really suffer if the lockout consumes a big part of next season.

The average age of the Lakers' roster is practically the same as the Mavs', so they'd be in the same boat if we're going by that assumption.

You're right. So it would be on the Heat or maybe even Thunder, Grizzlies or Bulls.

But Mavs - because of their age - could really suffer if the lockout consumes a big part of next season.

What caused you to come to that conclusion? If there's anything that helps old people, it's a lot of rest. Just ask the Celtics.

Guess the Mavs will stay the underdogs until we win like 5 championships.

But Mavs - because of their age - could really suffer if the lockout consumes a big part of next season.

What caused you to come to that conclusion? If there's anything that helps old people, it's a lot of rest. Just ask the Celtics.

Just wanted to post that.

Teams considerably older than the Mavs and Lakers have still won championships. I guess we can't rule out age catching up to them and being their downfall but consider also that a lockout abbreviated season would leave an older team with fresher legs come the Playoffs.

However, if you look at the last lockout, teams played their 50 games in the space of 12 weeks. Which averages out to more than 4 games a week (Yay Maths!) and some weeks they played 5 times. That's a pretty brutal schedule, even with the reduced amount of travel. By the time that May rolls around, teams are probably still going to be every bit as banged up as they would normally.

Perhaps but even then the Spurs won the title that year as the third oldest team in the league with the average age of the roster being 30.444, a little behind Houston (30.516) and Miami (30.58).

But Mavs - because of their age - could really suffer if the lockout consumes a big part of next season.

What caused you to come to that conclusion? If there's anything that helps old people, it's a lot of rest. Just ask the Celtics.

It is not about the age of a team in general. But how age and - the lockout caused - lack of routine stick togehter. "Old" people depend much on routine. If you don't play, you may lose some of it. I was also just refering to a quote from Dirk Nowitzki who said, the older you get, the harder it is to get back to rythm.
I surely agree that older players benefit from some extended holidays but not at cost of pre season preparation.
Want an other example, so think about MJ coming back from his first retirement. You couldn't say he was pysically not in shape, but he clearly lacked some NBA routine his comeback season...

Michael Jordan scored 55 pts. in his 5th game from his first comback. 32 pts. the game before that. What's your point again?

Michael Jordan scored 55 pts. in his 5th game from his first comback. 32 pts. the game before that. What's your point again?

Cherrypicking. Things like that http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFs16GWXT_w happened plus he got much better the following season.

Kobe scored 81. Case closed.

Michael Jordan scored 55 pts. in his 5th game from his first comback. 32 pts. the game before that. What's your point again?

Cherrypicking. Things like that http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFs16GWXT_w happened plus he got much better the following season.

"You're cherrypicking! Look at this one play I found instead!"

What?

Michael Jordan scored 55 pts. in his 5th game from his first comback. 32 pts. the game before that. What's your point again?

Cherrypicking. Things like that http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFs16GWXT_w happened plus he got much better the following season.

"You're cherrypicking! Look at this one play I found instead!"

What?

It wasn't only one play. He seemed a little bit fresher, slightly quicker and he shot a lot better the next season.

1994-95 26.9 PPG; .411 FG% .801 FT%
vs.
1995-96 30.4 PPG; .495 FG% .834 FT%

Forget about FT but 3,5 ppg more and nearly 50 % from the field compared to just about 40 % aren't nothing. So it wasn't just one play.

But Mavs - because of their age - could really suffer if the lockout consumes a big part of next season.

What caused you to come to that conclusion? If there's anything that helps old people, it's a lot of rest. Just ask the Celtics.

It is not about the age of a team in general. But how age and - the lockout caused - lack of routine stick togehter. "Old" people depend much on routine. If you don't play, you may lose some of it. I was also just refering to a quote from Dirk Nowitzki who said, the older you get, the harder it is to get back to rythm.
I surely agree that older players benefit from some extended holidays but not at cost of pre season preparation.
Want an other example, so think about MJ coming back from his first retirement. You couldn't say he was pysically not in shape, but he clearly lacked some NBA routine his comeback season...

But again, the Spurs won the championship in the lockout abbreviated 1999 season despite being the third oldest team in the league (and older than the current Mavericks), plus they had a few new faces in their core rotation on top of that. At the end of the day, none of those factors stood in the way of them winning it all. If the talent is there and they stay healthy and in shape, I don't think it will really be an issue.

But again, the Spurs won the championship in the lockout abbreviated 1999 season despite being the third oldest team in the league (and older than the current Mavericks), plus they had a few new faces in their core rotation on top of that. At the end of the day, none of those factors stood in the way of them winning it all. If the talent is there and they stay healthy and in shape, I don't think it will really be an issue.

We'll see. As I already said, I refered to a quote from Nowitzki which in a way reminded me of MJs return. I have to admit, I clearly forgot about the Spurs in '99...

Sure, nothing is guaranteed. But it is worth noting that the one and only time a lockout has caused a stoppage and change to the schedule like the one we may be facing this time around, it was one of the oldest teams in the league that ended up winning the championship.

I agree, statistically we have no sufficiant information. Let's just hope the lockout does not consume a big part of the season and theese discussion might be obsolete...