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Out with the New, in with the Old
03/07/07
by DJ

I was watching thinking the other day about the Rookie/Sophomore challenge and wondered what it would be like if the oldest players in the league played the youngest players in the league. It would be a 35 and older team against the Rooks. In one game, I think the older guys would win, and in a 5 or 7 game series, I’m putting my money on the older guys as well. So I researched and found that there are 18 guys in the league older than 35 (Shaq turns March 6 so I’m counting him). Then I picked 15 and wondered if they would do better than the youngest teams in the NBA, Portland and Boston. For the record, the previous oldest teams were San Antonio (no surprise), and the Suns, which came to me as a big surprise because they are so uptempo and high scoring. So this shows you with the right combination of talent and player selection, being successful at with an older team could be successful. Granted this 35 and older team would be considerably older, and this scenario could be interesting if they 1) played in the East and 2) just had to play one season like this together. But it’s fun to think about it. Who would make the All-Star Team, would anyone make any All-NBA Teams? Would there be any off the court problems? Since the roster is at 15, the remaining three could be sent down to the D-League, since depth at this age would be very important. So here’s the roster with ages:

G Darrell Armstrong (38);
F/C PJ Brown (37);
F Bruce Bowen (35);
G/F Brent Barry (35);
F Robert Horry (36);
SF Doug Christie (36);
PG Lindsey Hunter (36);
G/F Eric Piatkowski (36);
SG Sam Cassell (37);
SF Eddie Jones (35);
C Alonzo Mourning (35);
C Shaquille O’Neil (35);
PG Gary Payton (38);
C Dikemebe Mutombo (40);
and G David Wesley (36).

My D-League reserves are C Dale Davis (37), C Bo Outlaw (35), F/C and Aaron Williams (35).

This team would win between 48-55 games playing in the East, and about 40 games in the West. They would have Shaq as an All-Star Candidate and probably any number of guys as 6th Man of the Year nominees. They have so many strengths and only two glaring weaknesses.

STRENGTHS:

1. Versatility. I would employ a rotation of starting lineups, ensuring that no played more than 60 games a year and no more than 25-30 minutes a night when they played. They next game they would be a sub and used as needed. Like a mixture of how pitchers are rotated and how hockey shifts work. Let’s say Barry went off one night and scored 25. The next night he would be one of the first subs off the bench and if he is still hot play him, and if not then you have options to rest him because he wont start again until two games later anyways so he can be fresh. Vets can do this and still be effective because they are mature. A sample of three different starting lineups over three games could be Game 1: Payton, Barry, Bowen, Brown, Shaq Game 2: Armstrong, Cassell, Christie, Piatkowski, Zo Game 3: Hunter, Wesley, Jones, Horry, Deke. The better thing is that just like in NBA Live when you could use situational lineups. For example, my Defensive lineup would be Payton/Hunter, Armstrong, Bowen, Zo, Deke. My Three Point Lineup would be Barry, Cassell, Piatkowski, Jones, Horry. My Big/Rebounding Lineup would be Barry, Christie, Horry, Zo, Shaq. My Small/Fast Lineup would be Armstrong, Hunter/Payton, Christie, Brown, Zo. I could go on. The possibilities are endless.

2. Depth (read above again)

3. Experience. Rings earned. Games played. Playoff savvy.

4. The will to win. These guys wouldn’t settle for not making the playoffs and would take being old as a challenge and have a chip on their shoulders. And they would D up when they had to. It would be like a throwback to when guys played hard D, knocked you on your ass in the lane, and it was normal. This team would be involved in zero fights, and if they did, it would be a real fight.

WEAKNESSES:

1. Inside scoring. The only guy with inside scoring is Shaq. Zo is good for an occasional dunk or two, and PJ Brown can is the only one with any sort of limited range.

2. Honestly I think we need some more glue guys like Wesley. Of everyone he would have the least amount of minutes but I would make him captain of this team.

3. Injuries would probably mount, and practices would be hard with no youth to get the guys going. There would be like 4 dunks per week in practice and lay-up line combined. Practices would get testy because, well that’s how old people are.

4. Three point shooting. It’s there with Barry and to a certain point Bowen and Piatkowski, but the rest can be shaky.

5. Who would take the big shot? This would be a problem. Cassell? Big Shot Bob? Shaq?

That team would be a good team. Seriously, would any GM be SO bad off having that team? I wonder how many would trade their team right now for a year to have that team. If they lost, it wouldn’t be your fault. Financially, if they were all together, you would have at least 2 or 3 expiring contracts for two or three years in a row for deals and draft position. Not bad. Not great, but not worse than some teams whom a) don’t have a pick this decade because of bad deals or b) have terrible picks and can’t draft anyway. Which brings me to this point. After researching these guys, they were either a first round pick with the lowest being Cassell (’93, 1st Rd, # 24 Rockets) OR undrafted. Nothing in between. That’s strange to me, and shows the value of 1st Round picks. So why do so many teams throw them away? So if I were GM’s, I would package away my 2nd Round picks for guys, and do my homework on undrafted free agents (UFAs) and get them for two years and at a cheaper price I might add. Like this year, there will be s whole bunch of UFA with value. Worst case scenario is he goes down to the D-League, best case is he blows up and after two years he wants to leave so you package him with an expiring contract to get a mid-late 1st Rounder, trade him around the deadline, or become a third team in a deal which can be very valuable. And all this for doing some homework on an UFA who you could give the league minimum for two years. But maybe this just makes too much sense.

I wonder what the team name would be? I will leave that up to you HippoNation. Email your best name in to us for this team. The winner gets a shoutout in my next RRR….

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