Stromile has been very dissappointing, but it is clear to me the more I see of him that he is not really a structured offense kind of player. He thrives more in an uptemp style of play where there are fast breaks, transition baskets, and early offense. He came to exactly the wrong team for that, if the Rockets would push the ball more they would get a lot more out of Stro, IMHO. He would get more involved and he might reach his potential, getting the Rockets to theirs as a team. Right now, Stro is sucking, but I believe it is more about being a round peg in a square hole rather than him lacking abilities. Heck in Memphis he put up more than here.... DD
It's always appeared to me that JVG is trying to get this team to run, but the guards never push it up. I've seen his arms waving like a windmill many times motioning for the team to run it. A healthy Sura and Rafer would have meant a world of difference.
i couldn't agree more. he would be excellent on a team like phoenix. i believe we can be that type of team but not with van gundy calling the shots.
I know im in the minority, but im going to atleast give the all-star break for stro. Alot of players have struggled to initially pick up JVG's system. I'm not holding my breath for stro, but im gonna give him till atleast the all-star break.
He might fair better with another team, but not by much! The guy is a good athlete, but not a quality basketball player. Have no clue on the court after five(?) years in the league? That pretty much tells the whole story.
He's 6'9" and an athletic freak, yet when he gets the ball on the block and faces up, he couldn't score on a cardboard cut-out more than 50% of the time. That has nothing to do with a system.
Last year he averaged 19 and 8.5 rebounds per 40 minutes. Hell, two years ago he averaged 19 and 10 per 40, with a 19.7 PER. This year? 16 and 7 per 40, with a 14 PER. What happened? Brown and Fratello called a lot of plays too. Brown's teams were fast, tenth-fastest in the NBA during their 50-win season, while last year's team was the 5th-slowest in the NBA. This year's Rockets team is the 3rd-slowest. I just thought there would be enough loose balls and extra passes for Stro to average 15 and 7 in about 30 mpg.
our team is riddled with injuries to our point guards. we couldnt run the break if our lives depended on it. Stromile needs an uptempo style yes but who says we cant run one ? Just because we have yao doesnt mean its walk the ball up the floor 24-7. Sometimes it gets to me that everyone on this forum bashes on players after every loss. We should pass judgement if we had a full and healthy staff and we were heading in the same type of direction. Our guards need to be healthy and consistent, tmac needs to be 100% and our other role players need to assert themselves with their own niche. Stro and Yao need to learn how to use their gifts in all aspects of the game. Then and only then we will be a more well rounded team and push deep into the play offs. Until then we can speculate and bash till the cows come home.
Stro is a garbage man Like Cedric Ceballos . . . you DO NOT run plays for them you let them get their points where ever hey can His defense should be organized chaos Obviously as DaDakota said this is the wrong team for that JVG prefers a structured micromanaged game Every Defensive set Every offensive set planned to the last detail . . . if ONE person is off by a second they whole thing may blow up unfortunately . . his philosophy reminds me of The old Jazz in that . . they were a well oiled machine 60 wins etc consistantly but come play off time. . .they did not have that EXTRA GEAR every other team had and it kept them from a championship what happens when the well oil machine is no so well oiled? I think we see it now .. . the injuries are KILLING Us Stro not knowing/caring about the sets is KILLING US As I stated this team is too T-Mac dependent T-mac is off. .we lose Stro ain't helping We will make the playoffs so we have to make sure YAO and T-mac are healthy and motivated so we can go far We need a 3rd consistant scorer to show up j-howard, L-head, someone!! Rocket River
It isn't JVG's system, it's Stro. If you look at his yearly stats, he's not that far off this season. This is his SIXTH year in the NBA and it's not JVG's fault the guy is a bust. Quit making excuses for him.
Read before you post He's questioning Stro's ability to fit in the system. Stro doesn't really have a shot or any post moves for that matter. How much can he do in a half court offense? Stro NEEDS to run and fastbreak. Alley Oops, quick passes before the defense settles for the dunks, putbacks etc.
If all we needed was a guy who could run and jump in transition, then we should just re-sign roderick rhodes, wherever the hell he is. Or even better, Eighth Wonder from the And 1 tour or one of the Harlem Globetrotters (though knowing our luck we're probably looking to bring in a couple of Washington Generals instead). Sure, Stro can't do those things, but the only reason why he's in the league and has been somewhat of a valued commodity is the perception that he could be able to do those things (at the very least, score inside and rebound, if only on garbage plays) if properly taught. JVG is finding out what his other coaches did with regard to that, I suppose.
The way this offense is structured, there really is only room for two types of players, creators (Yao, Mcgrady) and shot up shooters (Howard, Wesley, etc.). Swift really doesn't fit in either role. Right now he's being put in a position where he's just given the ball and expected to create a shot for himself. This is something he hasn't been asked to do his entire career. I think he really would benefit from Alston's return. He needs that distributing point guard to create scoring opportunities for him, like he had in Memphis with JWill. Defensively, Swift is used to playing a more helter skelter style of defense in Memphis where the players look to force turnovers, there is a lot of switching on defense, and he's free to roam more. Here, there's not a lot of switching on defense and the players hardly ever force any turnovers. Here, the players are simply expected to play great man-to-man defense and Swift is a poor man to man defender. He's used to being more of a roamer on defense. Just look at his shotblocking numbers. It's taken a huge nosedive.
