Is nobody reading the OP? CCR is talking about "new" as in amount of time with the team, not youngest in age.
I believe that up until now this was the youngest team ever to make the playoffs: During the 2008–09 season, after much waiting, Greg Oden debuted with the Blazers, playing in 61 games. Portland also added some international flavor to the team with the arrival of Spanish swingman Rudy Fernández, a member of the Spanish national basketball team. French-native Nicolas Batum emerged as a skilled defensive forward who was inserted into the starting lineup as a rookie. Roy appeared in his second straight All-Star Game, and Rudy Fernandez competed in the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest during NBA All- Star Weekend. Roy had a career-high 52 points against the Phoenix Suns and game-winning shots against the Houston Rockets and New York Knicks.[87][88][89][90] The Blazers clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2003 and achieved a 54–28 record, their first winning record since the 2002–03 season.[91] As the fourth seed and holding home court advantage, the Trail Blazers played the fifth-seeded Houston Rockets in the 2009 Playoffs, losing the playoff series 4 games to 2. Many credit Portland's loss in the first round due to the team's young age and inexperience. However, the 2008–09 season was notable for the inspiring team chemistry on and off the court, the potential for a young, energetic group in the upcoming seasons, and for bringing respect back to the franchise – attributes that fans had been missing for over a decade. wiki If memory serves me correct their average age was ~24.4. The rockets before the trade are in the under 24 years category.
Even that team, while very young, had a fairly established roster. 7th+ year with team: None 6th year with team: Outlaw 5th year with team: Przybilla 4th year with team: Webster 3rd year with team: Roy, Aldridge, S. Rodriguez 2nd year with team: Blake, Frye 1st year with team: Fernandez, Batum, Bayless, Oden, Ruffin In comparison, here's what the Rockets look like... 3rd+ year with team: None 2nd year with team: Parsons, Smith 1st year with team: Lin, Asik, Harden, Delfino, Garcia, Robinson, White, Jones, Motiejunas, Anderson, Beverly, Honeycutt For anyone confused, this is the point I was trying to make in my original post. "A New Age" was in reference to the Rockets slogan this season ("age" as in era, time period, etc.), not the actual age of the players.
Parsons was here at the beginning of 2011-2012, Smith was picked up midway through. So Parsons is the longest tenured Rocket.
Portland did it with several young players recently out of HS pulling down their average. And they had LMA.
His name is Maximus Decimus Moreydius, commander of the Houston Rockets, General of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, loyal servant to the true emperor, Leslie Alexander. Father to a vetoed trade, husband to BS basketball reasons. And he will have his vengeance, in this life or the next. [photoshop goes here]
Darnell Mauri has lived up to his reputation. I've never before seen a team gel together so quickly. The chemistry between our core players will continue to build, and with them all being young hardworking guys, the sky is the limit
Little known fact: Daryl Morris is a fraternal triplet with Marcus and Markieff Morris. His nickname is Daryl "Dook" Morris. His next move will be to trade himself to Phoenix.
Common mistake, but it's actually jell, not gel. Spoiler <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rNlSv4SUYWo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
We got a little older with Garcia, in fact Garcia will be our oldest player. But he is just a salary dump who will help us this season but won't stick around the next.
well...expansion teams get players through expansion drafts and usually end up with previously injured players needing second chances and the rest are other teams scraps or crazy salaries...the difference here is we had strong/solid assets to flip into new players, so the rockets started with a baseline of a strong core and value that were flipped for players unlike an expansion team. But otherwise the chemistry issue is a real question. Morey has done an excellent job bringing in seemingly disparate parts--Lin a 'flash in the pan', previous backup in Asik, a 6th man in Harden, tony douglass cast away, Delfino cast away, a star in the D-League in Smith--and got them to congeal quite nicely. Its great to see the chemistry between Parsons-Lin-Harden and the rest of the team. I think it helps that they are 'boys' and hangout frequently. So all in all it "makes sense" that the team is doing well but then it is pretty fricking amazing and makes no sense whatsoever that they are doing so well. Maybe Morey has a sabermetric for 'chemistry' or he's able to gauge which pheromones and synapses gel with other types to make a solid team. :grin: The fact that they've played together for only half a season is amazing and reveals that this team has so much more upside & ceiling..makes you realizing blowing up the team was the right thing to do!
gee thanks Dorio Mauro, now we have our works cut out, that we must scramble to prepare yet more highlight reels in anticipation of the return of four former Rockets to Toyota Centre in march -signed, highlights team, media department ;p
Pretty sure the thunder were the youngest team or top 5 in the league last year and they made the finals.
