Predict the Eastern Conference Standings

[hands11]

I think we would agree that scheme and coach matter. Defense is a team thing. There are players you just can't stop one-on-one. Wall on a fast break is one of them. Teams play defense. After that, talent makes a difference. I think the Wiz have the better defensive talent.

So lets lock the Wizards up against some of these teams. I'll start with the Bucks

Lets start with the fact that the Wizards beat MIL at the end the season while they were fighting for a playoff spot. 121-112 Nene didn't even start. They started, Wall, Craw, Chris S, Ves and Keveen.

Randy vs Scott. - Scott is clearly the more know quantity but I have a ton of faith in Randy. From the time Randy took over the Wizards, the team was different. Randy is the right fit for this group and the players went to upper management to support his return. He is the right mix of toughness, experience and X's and O's. The Wizards want to play for Randy. Randy is focused on D and they produced. That is something this team hasn't had in a long time. Randy is his first year of a two year contract and he had the balls to do it his way even when he was just an interim coach. Randy is going to prove to be a very good coach for this team. Scott has more establish history but I wouldn't give him any advantage over Randy.

Glass said Skiles would not necessarily receive an extension before next season. Skiles has a year left on his contract, which was extended in 2010. So if MIL isn't getting it done, they could end up playing for a lame duck coach. That is a factor. I couldn't end up being a huge factor.

Skiles is 146-166 in four seasons with the Bucks. He led Milwaukee to a 46-win season and made the playoffs in 2009-2010, where the Bucks lost to the Atlanta Hawks. They have missed the postseason two straight seasons since then. The pressure is on.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/78791 ... agent-says

They went 3-7 to finish the year while trying to make the playoffs. They beat Det, NJ and Toronto.

Adding Dalembert should definitely help there defense. He is a Skiles kind of guy. But lets not forget the Wizards added Okafor

They added Dalembert, John Henson, and Doron Lamb
Wiz added Okafor, Beal, Trevor A

I think it is going to be a heated battle between these teams. MIL has the more proven coach and team but Wizards have made lots of changes that are not reflected in their record last year. Nene is not some no name. Neither is Okafor or Trevor A. Wall is coming into his 3rd year and he is a massive talent who never had a stable team to run with. They played 3 rookie last year and started two when they beat them late in the season. Beal is also a massive talent but he hasn't even played a game. Booker, Ves, Kevin Seraphin. The Wiz are far from lacking talent.

I understand that most people are going to work from last years record and the more know quantity. I'm fine with that. I don't expect people to be lining up projecting the Wizards as better then MIL. But they can be. It is in their reach. And it isn't even a stretch that it can happen.

The Wiz are going to get up in people grill on defensive. That is going to set the tone for the team. They will get out on the break and you can't ask for much better then Wall in doing that. Nene, Kevin and Okafor are their post scoring along with slashers/rebounders like Ves and Booker. Book even added some range last year. Crawford has handles and will create in half court along with Wall. The weakness is catch and shoot but they added Beal, Trevor A and Webster to help there. Even Singleton has some catch and shoot that should have gotten better since his rookie year.

Both team has talent and depth. Both have defensive coaches. Both have vets. MIK gets the nod their with established vets but the Wiz have the #3 pick level rookie talent to go along with 2nd, 3rd year talent that should be coming into their own.

The Wiz should be the better defensive team. And much better on the perimeter D. They also have the better post scorers. They should also be better on the fast break. Mik has the better pure shooters. There is lies the question. How much can Beal, Trevor A and Webster help close that gap and how much does it need to get closed to give the Wiz the W ?

[hands11]

What I'm surprised about, however, is that he hasn't seem to wear on the team. His reputation has been that he's a good coach and can implement an excellent defensive system but that, after a few seasons, the players start to turn on him.

Do we know this to be true? Are we certain that Skiles isn't starting to wear on his team?

Skiles had 2 excellent seasons in Phoenix and then was fired 51 games into his third season (despite playing .500 ball). He had 4 good years in Chicago (first season was bad, but had dramatic improvement thereafter) but was unceremoniously fired just 25 games into his 5th season after a 9-16 start.

This is his 5th season in Milwaukee. What happens if they start slow? What if Ellis' no-D reputation clashes with Skiles? How do they fare without Bogut's leadership? If they start out 9-16, does Skiles get fired again?

This is why I said that Atlanta, Milwaukee, Philly and Chicago may all be better than us, but they all have major question marks as well. Atlanta is just a Horford or Smith injury away from being mediocre. Philly is heavily dependent on Bynum, and Bynum is a bit of a headcase who could clash with the ornery Collins. (He is also injury prone.) Chicago lost much of their depth and their star player, and may just decide to tank rather than fight so hard to win games ugly with their D. Milwaukee could unravel quickly if Skiles loses the team. I wouldn't bet on all four of these teams struggling, but I think it's likely that one will. If two of them struggle, then the Wizards could make the playoffs.

Now we are starting to look under the camels tent.

A lot has focused on the rosters but teams are more then just the roster that starts the year.

On the other side, I see very little chance of the Wizards team blowing up. There is no Gil issue to work through or even a coach on the ledge. The Wizards house is sound. Think about that for a second. Its been a long time since we could say that.

[Dat2U]

Regarding Chicago, I just got a hunch that were not going to see Rose for most of the season. And if he does come back, its going to take him a while before he begins approaching the player he once was. I could also see management holding his return back and erring on the side of caution. Kirk Hinrich (who's been in a steady decline for the last half decade) is not going to cut it as a short term replacement either. They've got a real old and marginal backcourt without Rose and Loul Deng's efficiency fell off a cliff when forced to carry the load offensively. I think it will be only a matter of time before the losses start to pile up. The offense is going to be pretty brutal to watch. I'm wondering if their front office is also seeing this season as an opportunity to retool on the fly by positioning themselves for a high draft pick and then amnestying Boozer next off-season. A recovered Rose, Joakim Noah, a high draft pick, Taj Gibson and plenty of cap flexibility may not be a bad way to go.

[closg00]

Regarding Chicago, I just got a hunch that were not going to see Rose for most of the season. And if he does come back, its going to take him a while before he begins approaching the player he once was. I could also see management holding his return back and erring on the side of caution. Kirk Hinrich (who's been in a steady decline for the last half decade) is not going to cut it as a short term replacement either. They've got a real old and marginal backcourt without Rose and Loul Deng's efficiency fell off a cliff when forced to carry the load offensively. I think it will be only a matter of time before the losses start to pile up. The offense is going to be pretty brutal to watch. I'm wondering if their front office is also seeing this season as an opportunity to retool on the fly by positioning themselves for a high draft pick and then amnestying Boozer next off-season. A recovered Rose, Joakim Noah, a high draft pick, Taj Gibson and plenty of cap flexibility may not be a bad way to go.

There should be the 2nd rule named after Gilbert Arenas. The mis-management of Gilbert's knee injury set the example in the sports world on how not to handle a serious injury to an athlete, especially a franchise player.

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

Now that we've signed Gary Coleman, er I mean Webster, can I revise my prediction to second in the East and guaranteed appearance in the ECFs?

[AnotherFinn]

Interesting to see lot of you have Brooklyn quite high. Is Joe Johnson and Reggie Evans really going to add more than 10 wins?

Williams-Humphries-Lopez won 1 from 5 games at the start of the season (16.4 pace)
Williams-Humphries-Wallace won 6 from 16 games at the end of the season (30.75 pace)

So why is everyone so high on them? I would think they are more likely fighting for 8th spot than 4-6 spot (then again I have predicted Wizards winning 35 last 2 years... )

[nate33]

Interesting to see lot of you have Brooklyn quite high. Is Joe Johnson and Reggie Evans really going to add more than 10 wins?

Williams-Humphries-Lopez won 1 from 5 games at the start of the season (16.4 pace)
Williams-Humphries-Wallace won 6 from 16 games at the end of the season (30.75 pace)

So why is everyone so high on them? I would think they are more likely fighting for 8th spot than 4-6 spot (then again I have predicted Wizards winning 35 last 2 years... )

If Williams-Humphries-Wallace won 6 of 16 even though they knew full well that they were eliminated from the playoffs, then I'm betting that the trio could win 8 of 16 if the games mattered. Add Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez to the trio and the outlook looks better still.

The bottom line is that they have a top 5 PG and a top 5-7 SG. Their SF is probably still above average (among starters) and their center is as well. Their PF is a below average starter but he's still a legit starting-caliber player. It's not like he belongs on the bench. If they're healthy and mesh together well, they could conceivably be the 2nd best team in the East. My guess is that they'll have some chemistry issues early, and probably some injury issues (compounded by their lack of depth) which will knock them down a bit, but they'll still finish with at least 45 wins.

[I_Like_Dirt]

On the other side, I see very little chance of the Wizards team blowing up. There is no Gil issue to work through or even a coach on the ledge. The Wizards house is sound. Think about that for a second. Its been a long time since we could say that.

The Wizards house is definitely sound but not really any moreso than those other teams. Just as the Hawks are toast if Horford or Smith, the Wizards are absolutely toast if John Wall gets hurt for any significant stretch. Wall is the key to the Wizards. He needs to be healthy and improved for them to challenge for the playoffs. Some of that improvement comes with new coaching and better team play around him. And regardless of whether or not they wind up the better team or not this coming season, I'd rather be the Wizards betting on Wall and Beal's eventual development than the Bucks betting on Jennings and Ellis.

[pancakes3]

Miami, Boston, Indy, Knicks, Nyets, Sixers, and Bulls are all locks for the playoffs imo leaving us to duke it out with the Bucks and Hawks for that last spot.

The points of contention: Sixers and Bulls.

Sixers: A front line of Bynum, Kwame, and Hawes is a VERY good one and Lavoy Allen looks to be taj gibson-esque in their play. In their backcourt, Jrue is one of the most underrated PG's in the game. Pair Jrue up with Wright, Young, and/or Richardson and you have a the makings of an above average offense to go along with a top 3 defense.

Bulls: WIthout Rose and Watson, the offense seems to be rudderless. However, I think Hinrich with Nate Robinson backing him up will do just good enough of a job to keep it all from falling apart. The defense is there, and they looked scrappy as all hell last year against the sixers after losing Rose and Noah. I think the team will respond well and get into the playoffs in anticipation of Rose and actually have a pretty cinderella season. Be prepared to have Bill Simmons write the phrase "Ewing Theory" about 10,000x in the next 8 months though.

[rockymac52]

Interesting to see lot of you have Brooklyn quite high. Is Joe Johnson and Reggie Evans really going to add more than 10 wins?

Williams-Humphries-Lopez won 1 from 5 games at the start of the season (16.4 pace)
Williams-Humphries-Wallace won 6 from 16 games at the end of the season (30.75 pace)

So why is everyone so high on them? I would think they are more likely fighting for 8th spot than 4-6 spot (then again I have predicted Wizards winning 35 last 2 years... )

If Williams-Humphries-Wallace won 6 of 16 even though they knew full well that they were eliminated from the playoffs, then I'm betting that the trio could win 8 of 16 if the games mattered. Add Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez to the trio and the outlook looks better still.

The bottom line is that they have a top 5 PG and a top 5-7 SG. Their SF is probably still above average (among starters) and their center is as well. Their PF is a below average starter but he's still a legit starting-caliber player. It's not like he belongs on the bench. If they're healthy and mesh together well, they could conceivably be the 2nd best team in the East. My guess is that they'll have some chemistry issues early, and probably some injury issues (compounded by their lack of depth) which will knock them down a bit, but they'll still finish with at least 45 wins.

I agree with AnotherFinn. The Nets are incredibly overrated at the moment. A large part of that is surely their move to Brooklyn, both from an excitement standpoint and from a New York media standpoint.

At first glance, it looks like they have a great team. Like you said Nate, they have a very complete starting 5, perhaps one of the best 1-5 in the entire league. Then on the bench they have MarShon, Evans, Watson, and Stackhouse (joke). Not exactly a deep bench, but there's a couple quality guys on there.

But then there's the sad reality that they just aren't that good as a whole. It's understandable that maybe they weren't quite as bad as they appeared to be last season (with Wallace on board and Lopez healthy), because it's definitely hard to play 100% when your team's record is so awful and you're already out of the playoffs. But come on, these are NBA players, all they know how to do is compete at the highest level. I don't buy them winning that many more games down the stretch had they been in contention for a playoff spot. One or two more wins, sure, but anything more than that is pure optimism.

But then let's look at what they added. Other than a couple okayyy bench players, the main addition is obviously Joe Johnson. Even though Johnson has been hated on by everyone and their mother for the past few years because of his massive contract, the fact remains that he's still a damn good player. Like you said Nate, a top 5-7 SG seems pretty accurate. There's no doubt he's good. So he should add something of value to this team, without a doubt. But how much can one player realistically add to any team? Obviously if you're a real bad team and you add a good player you have more room to grow in the Wins column than an already great team adding a similarly good player does (see: Lakers), but it's pretty much unheard of for one player to add something like 15 wins to a team's record.

Last year they were on pace to finish 28-54 (rounded up, for their benefit). Now a lot of those games were before they traded for Wallace, and even more of those games were without Lopez because of his injury. So it's conceivable that even without Johnson, their record this season would be considerably better. Let's say it would have made them 36-48, adding 8 whole wins to their record. That's pretty generous in my opinion. Their record could have very well been exactly the same, even with those two for a full season. But let's say they added 8 wins for now. That puts them likely around 9th or 10th in the East. Now let's add Joe Johnson to the mix. And let's say he adds another 8 wins all by himself (again, pretty damn generous). Now they're 44-40. Decent record overall, but that's a 5, 6, or 7 seed in the East most likely. I'm sorry but that just doesn't impress me that much, considering all the hype they're getting. Is it a big improvement in one season? Hell yeah it is. Good for them. Maybe they can build on that in the future. But enough of this talk about them being one of the best teams in the East. That's garbage. I wouldn't be shocked at all if they ended up with an 8 or 9 seed this season. They're a little above average, that's all.

[Ruzious]

I have no feel for Chicago and Joizy - sorry, Bwooklyn. I know someone mentioned Brewer being an over-looked player the Bulls will miss, and I agree with that. Chicago won without Rose because of their defensive talent and mindset, imo - and I think Brewer was a major part of that. He'll be one of those players - who you look back on and see - he was always on teams that played well. I could see Chi free-falling even though they have a top-notch coach. Plus they lost Asik - another defensive stalwart. Ya gotta wonder about their depth - especially depending on players like Noah and Boozer who have had injury problems in the past - and Rip Hamilton being old.

The Nets - with Deron Williams on a decent veteran team, it's hard to be bad, but it seems like such a patch-work lineup - and I don't see their bigs as winning type players. They could slip just out of the playoffs if the chemistry is bad - I just can't get a feel for them one way or the other.

I also don't care for New York - or the Knicks, for that matter. Though they do have Ronnie Brewer; they also have his antithesis - JR Smith - so the good is cancelled out. If they hadn't re-signed Smith, I'd rate them a sure playoff team. There's not going to be harmony there - teammates will complain about Melo and JR not being team players, and they'll be right.

[I_Like_Dirt]

For people who think the Nets aren't much better than last season, they tanked so hard last season it was incredible. Whether you like them or not, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez make a huge difference to what is a thin team at the best of times - many of the minutes they'll be taking will come at the expense of players like Sundiata Gaines, Jordan Williams and Johan Petro. Lopez and Johnson don't even have to be very good to be huge upgrades over those kinds of players.

But even after they traded their pick, I think the magnitude of their tank is still lost on people. Just take a look at their last game against the Raptors. The Raptors were sitting Bargnani, Derozan, Calderon, Bayless (not usually a consideration but Calderon was also out), Amir Johnson and Linas Kleiza. Those guys aren't very good, but then you realize the Raptors were stuck with an incredibly thin roster that resulted in dynamos like Ben Uzoh, Alan Anderson, Gary Forbes and Solomon Alabi playing over 40 minutes in the final game and they still won by 31 despite the Nets having been playing on 2 days rest. Deshawn Stevenson is still in the league and shot 0-for-4 in 20 minutes and managed to be a -32 for those 20 minutes. The Nets hit lows last season that very few tanks ever hit. You can bet they won't have games like that this upcoming season. Given the state of the eastern conference, I find it pretty hard to see them missing the playoffs.

[hands11]

On the other side, I see very little chance of the Wizards team blowing up. There is no Gil issue to work through or even a coach on the ledge. The Wizards house is sound. Think about that for a second. Its been a long time since we could say that.

The Wizards house is definitely sound but not really any moreso than those other teams. Just as the Hawks are toast if Horford or Smith, the Wizards are absolutely toast if John Wall gets hurt for any significant stretch. Wall is the key to the Wizards. He needs to be healthy and improved for them to challenge for the playoffs. Some of that improvement comes with new coaching and better team play around him. And regardless of whether or not they wind up the better team or not this coming season, I'd rather be the Wizards betting on Wall and Beal's eventual development than the Bucks betting on Jennings and Ellis.

I wouldn't put it all on Wall exactly like that. I think if Wall can play a consistent year of the better ball we saw from him last year ( no crappy start and mid season drop off like last year), and Beal can step up providing outside shooting ( or any of Trevor A, Martin, Webster, Crawford can help ), then they can get there that way as well.

Now if Wall can do that and add a reliable J and that other group also steps up, then that is when things start getting really interesting.

I think they are pretty set on having a great defensive team, rebounding, post scoring and transition points. With that as their core, they will be in most games and should be a playoff or near playoff team. If those other things happen, they should be a clear playoff team but still and early exit team since they have no team experience in the playoffs.

Because of what I outlined above, I think a playoff hunt is more likely then not. Add some reasonable expectations from a large group of factors and I put them as more likely then not to make at least the 8th seed.

I'll add the entangle that is, they finished strong with Randy was HC after Nene arrived for McGee and Nick. They have sucked for too long. The team is hungry. Wall in his 3rd year is tired of losing. Nene found a new home and a little brother in Kevin. Kevin now believes in himself and credits his HC. Okafor has never had this much talent around him and he wants to get to the playoffs. Randy is hungry having adopted the best team he has had as a head coach. This is his chance to stick around as a HC for years to come. They play awesome D under Randy after the trade. Trevor A learned he isn't a lead dog and now he has a team again. And they added Brady Beal who is a talent and a great kid who is coachable. The team is on the same page and ready to prove itself. They have talent. Everything is lining up for them.

Other teams don't have that edge.

[hands11]

Miami, Boston, Indy, Knicks, Nyets, Sixers, and Bulls are all locks for the playoffs imo leaving us to duke it out with the Bucks and Hawks for that last spot.

The points of contention: Sixers and Bulls.

Sixers: A front line of Bynum, Kwame, and Hawes is a VERY good one and Lavoy Allen looks to be taj gibson-esque in their play. In their backcourt, Jrue is one of the most underrated PG's in the game. Pair Jrue up with Wright, Young, and/or Richardson and you have a the makings of an above average offense to go along with a top 3 defense.

Bulls: WIthout Rose and Watson, the offense seems to be rudderless. However, I think Hinrich with Nate Robinson backing him up will do just good enough of a job to keep it all from falling apart. The defense is there, and they looked scrappy as all hell last year against the sixers after losing Rose and Noah. I think the team will respond well and get into the playoffs in anticipation of Rose and actually have a pretty cinderella season. Be prepared to have Bill Simmons write the phrase "Ewing Theory" about 10,000x in the next 8 months though.

I read Rose is not expected until March. If this is like most of these predicted returns, he won't even play next year as things usually slide.

As for the Sixers, I know everyone is about about Bynam getting added and how dominate he is as a center but they also lost a lot. And the Wizards spanked them last year late in the season while they were fighting for the playoffs, just like they did to the Bucks.

http://espn.go.com/nba/recap?id=320330027

Look how they finished the season. http://espn.go.com/nba/team/schedule/_/ ... phia-76ers

Not impressed.

They lost Elton Brand, Iggy and Lou Williams. All key parts to their team. And Iggy was the heart of that team. So who leads them now. Bynam ? They just lost their leaders and added Bynam, Nick Young and Kwame. Does anyone really think thing are going to go smoothly for Philly. I don't. That team has no core heart. Its basically Evan Turner's team now. Things will most likely not go so smoothly in Philly. Yeah, they added Bynum but even that is not a sure thing. He played well on the Lakers. Lets see what he does without all those other very good players.

So I see a min of three teams the Wizards could be better then. Philly(rudderless), Chicago (tanking), and Mil and of those three, Philly scares me the least.

[Dat2U]

Philly was having a miserable off-season. Then they landed a top 10ish player (when he's healthy). And they still have Hawes to back him up and he was their starting C last season. Along with KB, they've got excellent depth at the C position.

This year is Evan Turner's big opportunity. He was bad fit alongside Iggy. I suspect he'll get the opportunity to show he can be play-making SF. I also believe that's his ideal position, not SG. While he'll likely never live up to his lofty draft status, I don't think he's as bad as the stats say he's been thus far.

I'm not sold on Jrue Holiday as really being a core piece of a team. I haven't seen a ton of improvement since his rookie year. He's still a streaky, relatively inefficient shooter. I think he's a lower end starter quality PG (ex. George Hill and Jeff Teague). I think Philly could upgrade there.

Doug Collins is a excellent coach and will get the most out of the vets on the roster. Bynum has no alpha dog in Kobe and doesn't have to share space with another 7-0 footer to clog paint. Collins will ensure Bynum gets all the looks he needs to dominate. As long as Bynum plays 60-65 games or more, I can see them winning 40-45 games next season.

[Ruzious]

I'll go farther than that - If Bynum stays healthy, there's no chance Philly misses the playoffs, and they'll win at least 45 games. I think Jrue is better than a low end starter. He'll benefit from Iggy's absense - just like Turner will. Some people seem to think Iggy's a borderline superstar; he's not. He's a good player who was a lousy fit in Philly, and they're going to be better without him. Another bene of getting Bynum - Thad Young's poor size/rebounding at the PF position won't hurt the team as much. And he's puts up an efficient 18+ PER even with his lack of size.

[closg00]

Jru
Turner
Richardson
Hawes
Bynum

I would bet that Doug Collins will have this group at 5th or 6th in the East. Bynum and Hawes are going to be good together.

[nate33]

Not sure where this observation should go, so I'll just put hit here:

I was glancing at last year's standings and noted how important average age was a to a team's success. Old teams are always good or at least average, young teams generally stink with a few notable exceptions.

The 14 oldest teams last year had an average age exceeding 26.3. Of those 14 teams, 11 of them were what I would consider to be "good". They had an SRS rating exceeding +1.75. Those teams were: Dallas, LAL, Boston, Miami, Atlanta, San Antonio, LAC, Chicago, Denver, Indiana and New York. The other 3 "old teams" were about average (Phoenix, Portland and Orlando). There were no bad teams in the group.

The 16 youngest teams last year had an average age less than 26.3. Of those 16 teams, 3 were good (Memphis, OKC and Philly), 3 were average (Houston, Milwaukee and Utah), and 10 were terrible (Detroit, New Jersey, Cleveland, Toronto, New Orleans, Golden State, Charlotte, Minnesota, Sacramento and Washington).

Washington happened to be the youngest team in the league with an average age of 24.2. (Note, it looks like basketball reference is weighting average age by games played or minutes played somehow. The average age of our roster was certainly higher than 24.2 but that's because of low minute, high age guys like Mo Evans and Brian Cook.)

I say this because the Wizards got considerably older this year. Nene will take McGee's minutes; Okafor will take Blatche's minutes plus some of Vesely's and Booker's; Ariza will take most of Singleton's minutes; and all the returning players are a year older. The only place where we got younger is with Beal taking Young's minutes.

It's just one more reason to believe that the Wizards should fare pretty well next year.

[I_Like_Dirt]

That's actually a good point, nate. I think the biggest reason why older teams are generally more successful is that by a certain age, if a player doesn't know how to play winning basketball, they wind up out of the league. Older teams generally aren't giving minutes to guys in the hopes that they'll eventually learn to play. There are young guys who can play but the draft does a pretty effective job of dispersing those players around the league and young guys who can play are tough to trade for at young ages since their locked into their rookie scale contracts and then restricted free agents. Even if you do trade for one, it's tough to add the assets to load your team up with multiple such players and draft picks guarantee nothing as there aren't that many guys who will learn how to play, let alone can play winning basketball in any given draft. I do think that's a relatively underrated aspect to the Wizards moves this offseason. I also think that age thing applies even more to the Nets who are bringing in a lot of experience who can play rather than inexperience who can't. You can't be a young team forever. You've just got to make sure that when you move to add veterans, that you add the right ones who are going to earn minutes rather than guys like a washed up Eric Williams or other such guys that coaches love but who are past the point where they can play. Nene and Okafor can still play. Ariza was always a bit overrated imo but he isn't exactly replacing Lebron.

[verbal8]

Not sure where this observation should go, so I'll just put hit here:

I was glancing at last year's standings and noted how important average age was a to a team's success. Old teams are always good or at least average, young teams generally stink with a few notable exceptions.

I wonder how average age has correlated with success in general?

I could see last year as being a more extreme effect due to the lock-out.

In general the old vets would have an off-season plan that gets them ready for the season. Some of the younger players may have been playing themselves into shape during the season, either mentally of physically. While the season may have been more intense, the rest before the season was long which may have helped older vets have more time to rest lingering injuries.