We help the opposing team to stop T-Mac as well as Yao if there is one player on the floor that can't make an open jumper. We had many roster moves that affected our scoring. After the roster was done tweaking, our offense routinely scored high points with JH hitting that outside shot. Swift is OK, but not ideal. Don't expect him to play solid man to man D like Kato. Kato had the athleticism, the bulk and the size. Swift has only athleticism. Swift is like a skinny sf playing pf.
Uh, what's wrong with signing Swift then trading for a 1, 2, or 3? Memphis isn't going to do us any favors, and my guess is they're not looking to do any favors for Swift either. Panda- You haven't seen Swift much, have you? He's got a pretty solid PF frame. Good enough that Memphis forced him to play 5. He's a lot more slithery than Cato and a lot quicker. A guy like Swift can make dive plays to the basket. Padgett, Weatherspoon, and Bowen can't.
Swift didn't impress me much with his bulk, and frame isn't bulk. At 6'9" and 230 lbs, Swift needs more size as well as bulk to be like Kato on man to man D. I'm not sure Swift can reach Kato's defensive impact.
IMO, Stromile Swift will never be more than a borderline starter at best. The guy just doesn't have dedication and excellence in his makeup. At this point in his career, his main goal is to get the payday. When he gets it this summer, his motivation to improve will evaporate. Swift will never be anything more than a Robert Horry who can't shoot or play lockdown defense. This role was being filled very well by JH before he went down. It just took a while this season for him the find his place. Well said. Remember when we "outscored" Dallas and won there despite "not playing any defense"? (JVG's own words). Remember the winning streak where we won at Phoenix by outscoring them 41-17 in the 4th quarter? The reason people were calling us championship contenders was because our offense was good enough to punish weak defensive teams like Phoemix and Dallas. Losing JH destroyed our offensive chemistry. Some of it was recovered late in the regular season but in a 7 game playoffs series, weakness get exposed. We CANNOT base our outlook for next year based exactly on what happened in the Dallas series because we didn't have a valuable starting player (JH). His poor play was not the reason we lost, it was his absense and the way it blew up our offensive chemistry. It seemed like all we had on offense against the Mavs was T-Mac's greatness and the pick and roll.
Well, you probably know by now that he's athletic, 6'9" and all that jazz. But what he isn't is a good defender -- when he blocks shots, he doesn't attack the ball and is more on using his athleticism - ala the Birdman and Steven Hunter. He's also stupid and doesn't have any other methods of scoring other than throwing it down. If you can get him for the MLE, great. If not, don't bother. Trust me.
I stand by my belief that any PF who can jump at all will grab 10+ rebounds a game simply standing next to Yao.
The problem, of course, being that w/that line-up...you get all sorts of other liabilities. It isn't just a matter of having 4 other guys who can hit a jump shot - but having the right guy who can hit a jump shot. Namely, a guy who's 6'8 or taller and big and burley and who wants to play near the paint, but not camping out under the basket. I think you're really underestimating Howard's worth in hitting that 16 footer.
Swift's jump shooting in 2003-04 was 52% jump shots making 38.6% of those. Let's contrast that to Abdur-Rahim...2004-05 - 54% jump shots @ 41.5%. In 2003-04 SAR was - 52% jumps shots @ 35.0%. Seems like looking at one year doesn't give the whole picture. Another thing to observe about the 03-04 stats...81% of Swifts jumpers were assisted compared to 72% SAR's. IMO, Abdur-Rahim is slightly more a 1on1 player for his points. (For perspective...Juwan's 04-05...71% J's @ 42.3% w 78% assisted). 2004-05 was a down year for Swift. Personnally, I think he responded better to Hubie than Fratello. Case in point...in 2003-04 Swift was in the NBA Top 50 in per 48 minute stats in points and blocks. He was not in any 48mpg category in 04-05. Beyond all the stats is that Swift plays barely 21 mpg at C when he's really a PF. It requires some use of the imagination but Swift @ PF opposite Yao is much more effective than Swift @C opposite Gasol.
You sir are an idiot. I am not sure where this Stromile is stupid thing came from. He is not stupid. Also, he is a pretty good defender. He blocks shots on and off the ball. He can also has a much better than average jumpshot and can drive. He would be much better for your team than SAR and Marshall because Yao is slow to get back on defense and Stro will get back and you still have a shotblocker back there. SAR seems good until he sees he is not getting his shots then he is going to make trouble. SAR wants to score.
Sorry, Memphis, I normally like your posts and I think you are a pretty solid, unbiased poster for a non-Rockets fan on a Rockets message board, but this just struck me as funny.
Swift is pretty nice. He puts up good numbers, but forget that, If he wants, he can easily get 10 boards a game. And he has the ability to do so. And to stick around with even big 3's and small 5's. That is why he'd be a pretty nice pickup
MemphisX, team chemistry is another reason why we should keep JH for next year. I'm not sure if either Swift or SAR will fit in. There is a reason why players like Jim Jackson & SAR never find a home. And if Swift gets fat and happy with his big payday, JVG and the players here will lose respect for him in a hurry, like what happened in Memphis this past season. Nobody on the Grizz wore armbands for Swift.
woah woah, JJ and SAR are 2 different people man, JJ was being such a b**** about playing in N'awlins. Something Sar would never do, Abdurraheem played every day in VAncuver, ATL, and freaking Portland when he was healthy. The guy is a good team player. Bring him in ANY day.
And I think you're really underestimating the importance of having a second shotblocker/rebounder like Cato or Swift on the floor with Yao.
Memphis should be more interested in expiring contracts the most teams and we might be able to pick-up Stro + JasWill or Bonzi for Somebody + expirings. It is all theory of course. We have a lot of holes to fill. They have a lot of bloated contracts. Stro is gone for them, and all they can do is minimize the loss, maybe to our profit. And I agree he can probably do lots of things our committee of half-4's can not do.
Why didn't Cato? Or Eddie Griffin? Or Mo Taylor? Mo has some ups. Last I checked, SAR didn't complain about having to play the 3 next to Zach Randolph until the offseason last year, and even then it was because the team had more success during the season with Darius Miles at SF. Also, in Atlanta he never complained about all of the shots that Big Dog Robinson was taking from him, and even went so far as to complain when management traded Robinson, one of the most universally disliked players in the league by his teammates. I really do think that SAR desperately wants to start winning, and he's proven a hell of a lot more than Stromile Swift has in the past 5 years.
Originally posted by haven While a shotblocker is nice, the offense really got going when JH starting hitting that jumper opening space for Yao. While I don't care for Webber, I like his game and it would be a perfect fit for Yao. A guy who can hit a free throw jumper or pass when Yao flashes to the post would help eleviate the congestion around Yao. A shotblocker ussually has to be in the paint to score and two in the paint on offense is ussually a bad thing. Unless this shot blocker can hit a 17' shot, you can sag in Yao's lap. If it was as easy as a shotblocker, Yao and Deke would be on the floor at the same time and that's why the Ratliff's of the world won't do. Someone with a game like Webber's former teammate Brad Miller would be the perfect compliment as he would still be servicable defensively and keep defenders out of Yao's lap. If we want rebounding, have Yao stop chasing pick and rolls let the guards do it. He'll be out of position less and may actually be near the basket to block shots. It's sad our guards are so slow afoot that our 7'6" center is a better option than letting them fight around the pick.
But Curry and Jermaine O'Neal came straight out of high-school, Stromile didn't, which makes a huge difference when viewing his progression. He played against college competition, which should give him the advantage. At this point, it's probably his work ethic that's keeping him from being better. Stuart
