Pau goes out and West gets a chance to showboat Stro at starting pf pumping up his trade value. It looks the trade got just a little worse.
I have to disagree. Stro was a "No-Show" in a lot of games. I don't think basing your opinion in his one season with a injury-plagued Rocket squad is very fair to Stro, but when you look at his history and his work-ethics over those past seasons, you can't help but look at the guy's potential and wonder what is wrong with him. True he wasn't a starter on the Rockets squad or in the later seasons as a Griz, but he did not end up on the bench right away. A lot of coaches base there line-ups on work-ethic and practices and while I wasn't there for the practices, I'm willing to bet my money that Stro was not the most hard-working player in practice based on his work-ethics. Can't blame Van Gundy for this one! Or else you would have to blame all his previous coaches. Good-bye to Stro. Glad management realized they made a mistake and corrected it.
Stro was actually a decent bench player for us. However the price we paid was just too much. We dont want a starter priced person sitting on our benches until his contract expires, obscuring management's decisions in other player trading options. I must admit however, that Swift, should have a more decent season with the rockets as compared to last year thanks to putbacks from ming and tracy. Anyways just wish him all the best, hopefully rudy gay dont turn out to be a super star and hakim is not ready except for the dunk contest. Just hope that stro wont make the same mistakes which he did in rockets last season, ie not able to step up
Athletic players are like pretty women: Somebody will always think the best of them and take a chance on them, no matter how bad their record. Five years from now, when Swift has five more disappointing seasons under his belt, fan bulletin boards around the league will still be posting threads about how they should give Swift a chance. I've seen enough.
Essentially, they are a wash. Different styles but nearly identical stats. Juwan and Stro have NO upside ...what you see is what you get. As such, Stro's contract is tradable ...Juwan's isn't. Result: Stro's gone.
Stro plays his best ball at the 5 and is absolutely clueless at the 4. That said his "best ball" doesn't come out very often. Swift always looked like he was thinking too much out there and I'm not to sure about his motivation/professionalism.
After seven years in the league, anyone thinking that a former #2 pick in the draft who has failed to establish themself as an everyday starting player is not a monumental "bust" is only asking for heartbreak.
Stromile needs to go to a team that just rolls the ball out and says play.(IN OTHER WORDS....CALL THE HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS!)When it comes to running an offense or figuring out where he's supposed to be on the floor Swift is lost....He's a guy loaded with athletic ability that doesn't know how to tie his shoes.
One last thing.....I am honestly convinced that Stro thought he was going to get a free ride to the Finals while collecting an easy check.
He may not have lived up to the hype, but who on the Rockets is a better PF? No one He may not be very good but he gave you more defense, rebounding, and size that Juwan does. And Hayes is too undersized to be a starter. Despite his flaws, he was the best power forward on the team last year and he was given away for nothing
Based on last year Stro wins the rebounding per 48 minutes 10.4 to Juwan's 10.1 so you really should say they are equally poor rebounders for a power forward. Stro did give more shot blocking despite having a huge drop last year.
Uh, Juwan Howard is better defensively (at least more consistent), rebounds better and is the same height but heavier. Juwan Howard and Stromile are a wash by most standards ...except contract size. This is why Stro is gone and Juwan is still here. One was tradable and therefore had to go.
As stated by JVG in an interview... Potential and athleticism mean nothing unless they translate to productivity on the court. (not verbatim but you get the point)
i always had high hopes for stro since he days at LSU. I wanted him on the rockets for a couple of years and was happy when they finally got him. But i said the same thing many others are. He needs a chance, he should play more, etc. But the bottom line is that he isnt a good basketball player. He gets by on raw athleticism alone. he is the ultimate tease. his athleticism could make him a top 10 player, but thats wishful thinking. I've learned my lesson with swift. Its been 7 years for petes sake, if he was going to do something he would have done it already. But i wish him luck regardless. He will put up decent stats and people will look at those and say "we shouldnt have got rid of him" BUT the stats dont show his countless bonehead plays he makes.
ummm didnt stro have a chance last year with yao and tmac out? there is a reason why stro was only playing like 20 mpg and head was playing like 35 mpg. you try to figure it out.
