I couldn't believe it either... I was very excited to see it.. it didn't feel like a preseason game at all. I kept bursting out of my room to see if my family saw the play (and it turns out they are watching reality tv ) but Swift was amazing. We have legit players all throughout the line-up now.
The toughness and conditioning issues are a problem for now. The conditioning will work itself out; we all know what kind of shape JVG wants his players in. Toughness? Well, we'll see. You have to think, though, that from a toughness standpoint it's probably more conducive to have role models on your team like TMac, Sura, Pat Ewing, etc than to have a role model like... Pau Gasol.
How come Tmac can come out with a knee to the stomach, but it's a problem for Swift with an Mutumbo elbow to the jaw?
I agree that people are prejudging Stro a little bit, however it's JVG who came out and said that Stro has to improve his conditioning and toughness. Stro asked to come out, T-Mac was kept out by JVG, he wanted to play
I don't have a problem with a player who is conservative about playing with injuries as long as it doesn't get ridiculous. We are in the preseason now, and I think the team should be extremely conservative about injuries since there are no consequences right now for a win or loss. Hopefully Swift will WANT to play more than he ever has before. Now that he is on a contender, he should want to be in there to make a difference.... to move from the 3rd seed to the 2nd seed or to win game 5 at home instead of going back and playing game 6 away. Mental toughness is a slightly different matter in my opinion. We don't want him giving up early or contributing to a lack of effort while he is on the floor.
I'm really worried about Swift's attitude. Your first game as a Rocket, with a coach as demanding as JVG, and you dog it up and down the court??? Swift is definately athletic, I'm just hoping we don't have another case of Cato!
Cato under JVG was pretty damn good. Swift is better than Cato, ergo Swift will be really damn good under JVG.
Swift has some serious lift. Tim could'nt believe that his jump shot was block! Wlcome to Houston Mr. Swift!
Maybe even use Yao as trade bait for some quality guard? Then we can have a line-up similar to Sun had last year
I really hope you're right! I was at the game and there were several times when Swift was the last guy back on defense and offense. Maybe part conditioning, I hope.
Of course it was conditioning. This is his first game action of the season. Do you really think he would have the nerve to just half-ass it for no reason?
I remember one of the quotes coming out of training camp was Tmac saying something to the effect of, "I'm in the best shape of my life. Yao too." and then the reporter asked about Stro, and T-mac said, "We'll get him there." So it's obvious that his conditioning just isn't there yet.
This sounds about right. He was out a month with an ankle sprain and said the same things and this was while we had Pau out also.
glass jaw? a hockey mouthguard will fix that. going by stromile's interviews it doesn't seem like he'll be shouting out instructions anyway.
No, I don't think it was intentional, however; I do think it might be part of who he is a as a player. Time will tell I suppose.
I love what I saw from Stro yesterday...he definitely brings the energy and athleticism that we've been lacking at that 4 spot...this offense will have so much potential with the acrobatics of TMac, Skip, and Stro...I'm curious as to who would end up becoming the starter, but judging from how the way things look now, I'm guessing that Howard will start unless Stro gets his conditioning to where it needs to be...
Exactly.....playing behind a whiny p***y like Gasol has probably not been much of an inspiring experience for Swift his first few seasons.......and it will likely take at least a few weeks for him to get the flashbacks of Gasol's effeminate disposition and douchebag habits completely out of his head....we should expect more of a Ben Wallace-esque type Stromile by say December
I dont worry about Stro's toughness. We know we've got tough people on this team that wouldnt quit even if play on one leg, aka Sura. Our two super stars have very good work ethics, especially for Tmac he looked to be changed after getting here. So this kind of vibe will not allow Stro to slack off. If he does, he loses his minutes.
I, personally, am not too concerned with Stro. I'm sure he under estimated what training camp under JVG was going to be like. He's just under conditioned, and will soon get to where he needs to be in order to play max minutes.
