As of the first game of the season (October 30 - ironically, Mo Taylor's birthday), the average age of the current team is... 25.69 If you subtract Walt Williams and Matt Bullard, the average age is... 24.45 DAMN, that is YOUNG!!!
That is young! When teams like the Spurs, Jazz, Blazers start losing their greats, the Rockets will all be hitting their prime playing age. I see the Rockets, Mavs, and Clippers as the teams of the future in the west.
No, I doubt it's an excuse because this team is good enough to make the playoffs. What mah man Jeff is tryin to say is that they have alot of maturing to do which will make then an even better team with years to come! If the Rockets make the play-offs this year and keep everyone together (unlike the T'wolves of 97) I say we are a contender with a few tweaks and 3 years time.
Ya, but i wish that Mobley was younger, around Francis' age. He's like 27, and only played for 3 seasons. That means that he was 24 when he came into the league. Can somebody tell me why he was 2 years older than regular senior rookies?
Mobley turns 27 on Sept. 1, I had no idea he was that much older either, I thought he was like 24 or 25. He must've played ju-co ball for a few years but I really don't know why. He might have graduated late from high school also.
Nice observation, Jeff. The one thing I'm really interested in finding out is whether or not Eddie Griffin will bulk up in the next 2-5 years. We may be looking at the heir-apparent to Olajuwon and don't even know it. The guy has the defensive intimidation to block shots from the weak side. He's seemingly got a sweet jumper out to about 18 feet, which, for whatever reason wasn't hitting all the time during the Cali league and the RMR. He can run with Franchise, Mobley, and Shandon on the break. Add about 30 pounds to his frame and he could be a force in this age of the doughnut teams. I don't know how good his one-on-one/man-to-man defense is, though. Can't wait till the season starts....
Jeff, I did this calculation (without Hakeem) a while back and came up with close to 26! Dayum! I thought the Rockets would be the youngest team, but the Bulls beat them appx. 24 (Unless they signed some older people, I really haven't kept track) Thinking 3 years ago, we had one of the oldest teams, now its the complete opposite. Its scary how any team can do a 180ยบ in a acouple years time (Bulls)
The bulls with their current rosters (per NBA.COM) 23.94!!!!! Bottles and cribs for the bulls! And if they didn't have this guys, Fred Hoiberg, whoever he is and probably won't be on the roster next year. 23.125! The Clip Joint is 24.76
The Rockets are very young, but is that good or bad? The question is, can they beat the upper tier teams in the west? For that matter, before evryone puts them in the playoffs, can they beat the Clippers now? Odom, Brand, and Olowakandi is better than the frontline we have. When the Clipps throw in Miles, Maggette, Dooling, and McGinnis, they have very good atheletes whom the Rockets lost 3 of 4 to without Brand. I don't see any team the Rockets made up ground on in the west.
Mobley was a freshman at URi same year as me(93-94) he was red shirted for one year, and therefore went pro after his 5th year in school. he much like myself will be turning 27 soon. no juco, nothin weird. just red shirted like most super skinny kids in collage. also everyone at URI takes at least 5 years to graduate, and another 5 after that to sober up peace
I guarantee the Rockets have made up ground on Minnesota and Phoenix, and will still be ahead of the Clippers, Sonics and Nuggets. Minnesota doesn't have a center either. I can easily see Houston and Denver slipping in, and the Timberwolves and Suns falling to the wayside. Both teams frontcourts aren't any better then the Rockets (in fact the Rockets are better then Phoenix's), I think Houston's backcourt is better, and Houston is much deeper then Phoenix and Minnesota.
Its not about the age as much as it is about being competive despite their youth. That's what is exciting about the Rockets - the thought that they were a good team last year with an incredibly young core, and unless something goes horribly wrong this year, will be even younger (replace Dream with Griffin) and better. That's why the Bulls don't even figure into the equation. It doesn't take any genius to pick up young guys - the genius is in molding them into a winning team. To me of all the teams in the NBA, perhaps only the Clippers can boast as good a young core of talent.
First of having a team this young as good is they are now is very exciting. We get to watch this core of players continue to get better for a very long time. The Clippers front line might not include Odem. Odem played the point at the end of last season and Miles played the 3. I see the front court looking more like Miles, Brand and Olowakandi. Now lets compare: Miles - Griffin/Taylor ? Who knows how this will stack up. Taylor is a better scorer than Miles as of right now. Maybe Miles will pass up Taylor this year. I think Griffin will be a better rebounder and shot blocker. Brand - Griffin/Taylor edge to Brand. Brand is a proven 20 - 10 man in the NBA. I still think Taylor is a more desirable option on offense and I think Griffin will eventually be better than Brand on the boards and blocking shots Kandi - Cato ? Cato IMO is a lot more talented then Kandi but Kandi is bigger and does not get injured. In one game where both players are at their best I think Cato dominates Kandi. Now lets see if we can motivate Cato and keep him on the floor. I have Griffin and Taylor as enterchangabel because I think Rudy T will start them both and play them where they match up best. Griff could be more of a traditional P/F on defense with Mo holding that roll on offense or vice versa.
