http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8755832/page/2/ ASK THE NBA EXPERT By Matt Guokas NBCSports.com contributor Updated: 5:55 p.m. ET July 29, 2005 I think the Rockets feel they have taken a major step by agreeing to a deal with unrestricted free agent forward Stromile Swift. Swift will give the Rockets lift at power forward, he can certainly do a lot of damage inside, and he is an electrifying player at times. I think Swift will be a good compliment to center Yao Ming, and that should help since last year the Rockets were just woeful at power forward. The Rockets have also agreed to terms with forward Ryan Bowen, who played for them last season but became an unrestricted free agent. Bowen doesn't get a lot of minutes, but he does bring hustle and aggressive play onto the court. At point guard Houston remains in pursuit of Damon Stoudamire. It also is trying to re-sign center Dikembe Mutombo and guard Jon Barry. I think Houston made a very good pick in taking guard Luther Head out of Illinois with the 24th overall selection in the NBA draft. Even though Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy has never shown much of a desire to give minutes to young players, Head is a mature player for his age. I like his game, and I think he will provide a nice injection of youth to go with the veteran talent on the Houston roster, but his minutes will depend on how quickly he picks up playing defense in the NBA.
Boring. Nothing we don't already know. I didn't think Juwan Howard was woeful, though. He played pretty well once he was comfortable with the team. Not an all-star, but was/is a good teammate.
Are these writers/"experts" actually paid salaries to write stuff like this?!! Man, talk about "master of the obvious". It's kool though, I won't be a hater
I like Matt Guokas. He was part of the first NBA game I ever attended. He was coaching the Magic, and even though the game was in Orlando, the scoreboard spelled his name wrong. It's a very complimentary analysis, but I guess he hasn't heard about Damon and the "mystery team."
ammm...here is some more expert advice: The Rockets play in the Western Conference and will be competing with the rest of the conference for a chance to play in the finals.
Maybe Swift can make Yao Ming a compliment, but that should be "complement". Guokas, you're out of the spelling game. Carry on .
He didn't say Juwan Howard was woeful - he said that we were woeful in the power-forward position. And he's right. Juwan did a good job when he played, but he wasn't on the floor for 48 minutes. Our reserve forwards weren't very talented, and when Juwan got injured we struggled at the PF position. Aside from Juwan's performance, our PF play was not very good.
