I had sort of forgotten that "it'll make sense later" comment from Lindsay which IIRC came on a radio talk show. However, let's recall a few other factors at the time of the draft... * On a depth chart, Juwan was the starter but we were still not sure if his heart infection was going to be a problem. * After Juwan, Spoon was next on the depth chart. And this was before the new CBA was signed so there was not the suggestion of waiving him for the LTax amnesty. * On a PG depth chart, we had Sura & James. After coming off a healthy stretch including the playoffs, I don't think anyone could have foreseen Sura not being available for 2005-06. * The depth chart at SG was David Wesley and Jon Barry. In retrospect, Wesley and Barry (and even Sura) got pretty old pretty quickly, but after the amazing run into the playoffs who could have predicted that rapid an "aging" process? Even if we want to say that part of the Dallas series loss was directly related to the Rockets being were worn out, I'd still suggest that a PF depth chart featuring Spoon and Scott Padgett was more daunting than the PG/SG positions. IOW, IMHO we'd have been better served to stockpile a David Lee type player behind a questionable Howard and an unproductive Spoon than to select any under-sized tweener. Ultimately, this type of discussion eventually pivots upon drafting for need vs drafting the best available. So I'll re-state my original position....#24 is a risk so draft big rather than small. I'm not dissing Luther Head...just posing a viable option for a team with a late 1st round pick. Especially since Luther only rose to that level after an excellent pre-draft camp. (FWIW, David Lee also played well in the Chicago camp). Which leads us to Stromile... I don't want to hi-jack this thread so I'll be brief as possible. I'm likely the last one still on the Stro bandwagon. IMVHO, we are not using Swift's talents very well. Cases in point... Swift is usually up court quickly in transition and has established low box position. Alston is not forcing tempo and seldom gets the ball into Swift before the defense has a chance to set. On the surface, it appears that Alston's transition tempo lags that of Swift. Secondly, the sum total of plays for Swift consists of a high PnR. While I admit Stro doesn't set a very good screen, we also have to observe how infrequently those same guards get Yao the ball when he is rolling off of a high screen. What we are basically seeing is a half-court set with under 14 seconds on the shot clock and Swift ISO'd in the low block. While I'm not a member of the Fire Gundy Club, there surely ought to be more ways to involve Swift and Howard in the offense than low block ISO's and FT line jumpers.
Nice post in which I pretty much agree with all except your take on Stro. He was an established bust before we brought him in and remains so. Establishing low post position has never been a Stro priority as he seems to prefer going over the back by "outjumping" them because he is "an athletic beast." He does get up the court quickly though, because he is "an athletic..." I have been pleased with Luther's progress. He needs to shoot 1,000 jumpers a day during the off-season.
I agree, and if we can get McGrady back and acquire a guard or two who know how to pass (Ronnie Brewer?), he would be more effective. But despite all the criticism he gets here on his offensive game, the guy still shoots close to 50% from the field. He isn't a strong offensive player by any means, but I think the main reason JVG plays Howard over Swift is defense. Howard appears to make less mistakes on that end.
Rodrick Rhodes was the shizzle. Or so we hoped. 6'7" PG. Too bad he was an uncoachable a-hole with a jump shot that made Clyde Drexler's look like World B. Free's.
I do agree that there have been many plays where Stro had his man pinned down low and Rafer didn't throw it over the top to him. It reminds me a little bit of the treatment Yao got his first year with Steve and Cat. He'd get position and they would dribble over to the other side. I saw this as late as the Portland game last week. The thing is, we aren't gonna run a lot of plays for Swift. Why should we? At least not with Yao and TMac healthy. But we should be better at getting the ball into a 6'9" jumping jack that has his man pinned basically almost under the bucket. Of course that goes for Yao too. As much improvement as we have seen, and we have seen a lot of improvement, we still don't get the ball in to him efficiently enough. Although the last couple weeks, I think Rafer, Luther, and Bogans are understanding that the whole offense revolves around Yao and they should rotate in sync with Yao and swing the ball as Yao is swinging across the paint. It's obvious our offense still has a long ways to go.
Doesn't stop NBA.com from listing him tenth on <a href="http://www.nba.com/rookie_rankings/">their Rookie Rankings</a>.
Although statistics sometimes lie to us,data always show something to us. If you've taken a close look at his performance, you'll find that this guy started a little nervous but was gradually becoming more confident. Notice that at the beginning, he got those layups but never dunked them. In fact, he can jump. Once he frees his mind, he'll get stronger. While next season, his defence should be improved to get a regular bench position.
