Mike Baldwin, NBA reporter
NBA Insider: Youth is not an excuse any more
Young roster: Thunder hopes to become the Portland of the Heartland
By Mike Baldwin
Comments 
33
Published: November 8, 2009
Young, young, young. Lose, lose, lose.
That was
Denver coach
George Karl’s reaction last season when asked about general manager
Sam Presti’s long-term plan for the Thunder.
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More Info
Roaring 20s
The NBA’s five youngest starting lineups
Team, Avg. age
1. New Jersey, 22.8
2. Thunder, 23.0
3. Memphis, 23.6
4. Chicago, 24.2
5. Minnesota, 24.2
The NBA’s five youngest rosters
Team, Avg. age
1. Memphis, 24.7
2. Thunder, 24.9
3. Sacramento, 25.0
4. Portland, 25.0
5. Utah, 25.2
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Karl confessed his was a coach’s perspective, that a coach, or two, often gets fired before a young team matures into a contender.
Oklahoma City definitely is young. The Thunder has the second youngest roster and second youngest starting five.
At times last season, beaten down by a 3-29 start, this young team appeared to concede it had a lot to learn, using youth as an excuse for late-game mistakes that led to winnable games turning into losses.
That mindset has changed, according to
Kevin Durant, who said assistant coach
Mo Cheeks has stressed winning now, not pointing to the future.
"He’s been in this league a long time. A great thing he told us is when people say potential, that’s always a bad word,” Durant said. "Even though we’re young, we never blame our losses on being young. We’ll never do that.”
Portland is a perfect example. The Trail Blazers have the fourth youngest roster, eighth youngest starting lineup. They earned a No. 4 seed last season.
After a couple of growing-pains seasons, Portland finished 41-41 two years ago at about the same stage as the current Thunder roster, then improved to 54 wins last season. But there are no guarantees a young team will emulate Portland’s plan.
The
LA Clippers and the
Dallas Mavericks had young rosters and were viewed as teams on the rise. They never rose.
Dallas’ three J’s (
Jason Kidd,
Jamal Mashburn and
Jim Jackson) fizzled after three seasons. Egos, immaturity and injuries poisoned the mix, leading to new ownership bulldozing the roster.
Earlier this decade, the Clippers had
Lamar Odom,
Elton Brand,
Corey Maggette,
Michael Olowokandi and
Chris Kaman. That group never won more than 39 games. Odom is with the
Lakers, Brand is with the Sixers, Maggette is with
Golden State and Olowokandi was a bust. Kaman is only one left.
While there are no guarantees, the Thunder’s young roster should stay together for a long time, capable of evolving into the Portland of the Heartland.
"I’d rather be young, young, young and have talented young guys — that if they develop the right way they’re going to get better — than have veteran guys who don’t care and continue to play because they have a good salary,” said Thunder coach
Scott Brooks.
"What we have to do is focus on getting better. Our guys are doing that. They’re coachable. They get along and challenge each other every day in practice. It’s a great opportunity I have and a great opportunity for our guys.”
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Personally, I think the misfits are going to struggle hitting a 35 game winning season and am more likely thinking 30 (at a very long stretch)....
But the Thunder has done exactly what it is supposed to do, pound the walking wounded, pounce on the weak, peel off victories any way it can.
It’s what helps bad teams blossom to playoff bound.
Paul don't drag Darnell down to your level.
Mike, admit it and face facts, this team sucks and will never see close to a 40 game winning season this year. Remember the old phrase "it's better to be lucky rather than good"?? It certainly applies to the dumpster picked misfits wearing the okaysee uniform...
By the way all my previous posts in this comment section except my first one are sarcastic. Just wanted to have some fun with Paul and the boys, but they don't seem to want to play along.
More and more questions will arise about whether or not Scotty boy is the right choice as head coach........
Durunt will burn out by New Years at this rate, and he'll have his agent working overtime to get him the hell out of this dirtpatch....
Vote to become a "Big League City". Cut all the experienced players while mumbling "clearing cap space" and "those are Seattle players". Load up on draft picks while mumbling "building for the future". Roll the dice in the draft. The now doesn't matter; the future is exciting! More high drafts picks are on the way!
I'm thinking they might lose again today.
She needs to come along and blow sunshine up you dunder fans a**es and talk about what a "young", "learning", "growing" team the dunder is.
She'll be parroting they're a "young" team and "growing" even when they're drawing social security and retirement....
"(we've sold-out almost every game for 40 years, and we will sell-out all or nearly all of the home games this year)"-----Hah ! These pathetic misfits couldn't even sell out half their home games in their inaugural year and this year is starting out even worse..even with the reduced capacity Ford.....
If this kid brother is thinking okaysee sucks (it does) or oklahoma sh***y as he put it, with having his brother as a popular figure around okaysee, then you know durunt is thinking the same thing in private (irregardless of what he claims in the public eye)......
He's gone as soon as the opportunity comes along....
Maybe Clay will get the message, you guys will get hoarse from all the booing (and no cheering), and maybe you'll get to see something 5 years down the orad from the misfits Clay and Sam dumpster pick this next year or so.
Say "bye-bye" to durunt, if you think he's gonna stick around past his contract. He's either lying about "wanting to stay in okaysee my whole career", or he's lying about "anything less than the playoffs this year is a failure"....
The biggest problem with Coach Scott Brooks so far this season is the fact that the other teams are sitting on the Thunder's plays. Durant has hands in his face most of the time.
Another problem is the fact Westbrook doesn't see the other 4 players on the floor when he is doing his dribble drive to the basket. Cheeks is working with him and he either will develop or learn to play two guard. Not so sure that Harden might not be a better NBA point guard.
Collison most likely will be moved when his contract runs out or at the trade deadline.
Thabo is here to stay. Hopefully, he will be the backup wing player that brings defense to the floor. Harden and Durant are scorers that will put up points. Neither will be great defenders but Durant can block some shots. Don't ask for more from them on defense.
Etan Thomas is a bench/role player that can give quality minutes and defense. A good defenses will stop him. Kristic is injury prone and is an outside shooting big man that can give some minutes and create matchup problems. Most nights he will show a lack of skills on defense. Tonight, expect big numbers from Howard who had 30,20 with 10 blocks in less than 40 minutes last season at the Ford Center.
Ollie is a veteran back up that calms down the team. Livingston is a question mark.
That's the Thunder, 35 wins and NBA entertainment.