I can't believe I didn't find out about this til this morning's Sportscenter. I'm glad Van Gundy got his man, but count me as one of those who thinks Swift has underachieved considering is amazing potential. Prove me wrong Swift.
Man, I am looking forward to seeing Swift's bird sign a lot next year following his thunderous dunks!
- Definitely glad we were able to get him for the mid-level exception. - Definitely think he *could* really do some things for this team. - Hopefully he can stop that yelling and, sorry, i can't stand the yelling and the bird sign. He needs to adopt whatever the Rockets do next season even if it's the "3" sign. I know, he doesn't shoot them. - I would love to see Swift, Head, and T-Mac on a fast break...talk about some movers/finishers. Oh yeah, and Yao's behind the back thrown in there. - I won't make bold predictions until I see him play a few games with the squad, but I do think it makes the Rockets a stronger contender. - Just glad the Rockets got what they wanted, and I REALLY hope he fits what the team needs to the bill.
Yet another to reason bury all those anti CD posts eh? Not my first choice, but then again, like the rest, I 'm a rockets fan first and if this is the guy they want, let it roll....T Mac is very happy so I'm happy..pre-season can't get here soon enough
We traded MoT to the, who, the Knicks, right? Did anyone bother to go see what Knicks fans were saying about that trade? I know, I know, Knicks fans have been beat down and demoralized for so long, there is no way they were saying 'Yeah!! Woohoo!! WE GOT MO TAYLOR!! Now we are gonna WIN SUMPIN!!' All this talk about Swift kinda makes me wonder.. WE are all excited about him, and I hope rightly so.. but Memphis fans are probably not that worked up about it, because they seem to have lost any desire to keep him, the same way that we really had no desire to keep Mo around.. I am betting that most griz fans are probably looking at this about the same way that we looked at getting rid of MoT .. 'Yawn.' Not saying that SS and MoT are the same, not at all... just really talking about the fans' perspectives.. big difference, of course, is that we at least got SOMETHING in return for Mo.. some expiring contracts that will probably help us at mid-season.. while Mem got ZIP. Can you say Posey? Take THAT, Griz fans!
Geez, whyyy didn't I log on last night!! It's awesome that T-Mac/JVG/The Rockets got who they wanted. It's also really cool that Swift decided he wanted to play in Houston when he probably could have gotten a bit more cash from a scrub team somewhere. Getting him for the MLE feels pretty good; the JVG/CD dream team does it again. Nevertheless, Swift has a lot to prove, much more than any of the other power forwards that were on the market. His rebounding is going to be a concern, since that's not been a strong point for the Rockets. We've heard that he's a bit dumb, but luckily we have a very smart team and coach that should be able to cover for him. We'll see if he's up to starting and taking on the defensive assignments JVG will demand of him. It's going to be exciting to see what he's able to contribute. Can't wait for those dunks! Only time will tell if this signing is a slam dunk in itself, though.
I hope Malick Badiane gets better during the summer league. If he can join the Rockets this season, the Rockets would really have an athletic frontline.
I can't wait to see Grumpy's sad face in training camp telling the team they haven't done squat and they have to prove they even belong in the Western Conf. blah blah blah I'm sure we will need some time to adjust, we will struggle some and Van Gundy will telling everyone how we must improve- defense, effort, shot selection, execution, rebounding and turnovers. Then by Dec. we will start to adjust, defense will get real sticky, rotation gets set, we start running and executing and baby we are off to the races- 4 spot.
I like this signing at this price. Swift definitely has alot to prove, especially when it comes to rebounding and defense, but his athleticism and ability to make the "Sports Center" play cannot be underestimated. We all remember the game last year when his huge dunk on Yao demoralized the entire Rocket team - we were leading easily at that point (1st quarter) but we kinda lost our edge after that and ended up losing the game. Even though a big dunk like that is just 2 points like any other shot, it can weaken the opposing team's will. Other than McGrady, we really didn't have any other players who could do this - but we do now with Stro. The other good thing is that Stro will have excellent tutors in JVG and his staff and (I think more importantly) JHoward. Next to Duncan, I think JHoward has the best fundamentals of any PF in the NBA. If Howard can impart some of his skills and wisdom to Stro (especially boxing out and hitting that baseline jumper), then we will see huge improvement. That could make the Rockets a very dangerous team. I don't think we're quite at championship level yet - Yao will have to achieve some kind of consistency and we probably need 1-2 role players who consistently perform under pressure (Wesley and, to a lesser extent, Sura really didn't do as much in the playoffs as they did in the regular season). Hopefully, Head will be Cuttino Mobley 2 (with better shot selection) and we'll find a solid backup 3 for McGrady. Then I think we'll be ready to contend.
HELL YES FINALLY SOMETHING EXCITING HAPPENED THIS OFF SEASON. NOW IF ONLY WE CAN GET A PG AND THE ASTROS MAKE A TRADE FOR DUNN AND ILL BE A VERY HAPPY MAN.
Well, I was wrong. I said no way would Swift sign for only our MLE. That after taking the 1 year deal to lose his restricted status, there was no way he'd take less than the most he could get. But he did. I've also had misgivings about him being our choice. With Yao already having consistency problems, we'd ideally want a pf who was consistent. Hopefully, he'll prove me wrong again. He's a Rocket now, and I've got nothing against him (love the name), so I'm rooting for him to overcome all the shortcomings he showed in Memphis.
http://s25.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1I6AC86JVYTYK1CONRY3WDQD3Z Great cap, BTW. Yao/Deke Swift/Howard That's a heck of a frontcourt rotation. Plus playing Swift at center when other teams go small, and we're flying.
