Maybe starting Stromile Swift is not such a bad idea after all.

That's what I said on another thread. I can't remember which one. I said that Swift should be starting because it's clear he's much more affective as a starter. He has to be in the flow of things early or he gets lost. Juwon is a vet and should be able to handle coming off the bench much better.

 

Had my first close look on Swift's game in the firs 4 games.. The guy has potential but he is still a mule.. Making stupid decisions on the court. Juwan maybe be missing but he's got good shot selection... that's part of the game.
Errors are unacceptable.

Swift missed an easy alley hoop from Barry. That's nota good sign.

 

Besides being a foul machine yesterday (5 in 20 mins), Stro was finally almost equal to JH. I'm just glad he's improving. I don't think he should be shoved into the starting lineup yet. Let him continue improving and he will earn the starter's role. And what does Ryan Bowen have to do with it? Hasn't he been playing SF the last 3 games in Tracy's absence? The mins for the 3 players he lists add up to 60 mpg, not 48.

I can't comment on what happened years ago on the Knicks, but if Camby was outplaying LJ, shame on JVG. But that's not what is happening here. When Stro starts clearly outplaying JH and doesn't get the lions share of floor time, I'll join this chorus.

 

Not sure how accurate this insinuation is. 98-99 was the strike-shortened season and Camby was 24 in his 3rd season. My recollection is that Kurt Thomas played a lot of PF and that moved LJ to SF.

 

Swift had me alternating betweening celebrating and cringing all game. He's so gifted athletically but so amazingly stupid. I don't know how much of it is even due to the fact he hasn't fully adjusted to our system. He just seems to make really dumb decisions. That said, we're losing anyway. We might as well get him adjusted as quickly as possible and pray that once that's over with, the stupid decisions will be drastically reduced.

 

Did you see him everytime he gets doubled? He doesn't know what to do and almost throw the ball away. It seems like his reaction time is a step slow in the time when he gets the ball to the time in which he decided what he wanted to do with it. Its like he's not sure what he wants to do, causing him to be hesitant.

 

I think this might be from over-coaching. The whole team ,I feel is suffering b/c they are trying to think of what JVG want's them to do and not just playing. I understand the team needs to follow thier coaching ,but maybe the coach needs to follow the team a little as well.

 

I don't agree with starting SWift just yet because with offense lacking we need howard's 12 foot jumper in the game to hitr wideopen shots. I top of that Howard is a pretty solid rebounder to. THat being said Swift should get atleast 24 mins a game but so so should howard. I agree with Van Gundy starting Bowen as he has brought energy and defense to the lineup. When Tmac returns things willl be fine. Go Rockets!!!

 

Juwan Howard is not the problem its our back court duo and how the team stops feeding Yao the ball in the 2nd half, especially the 4th quarter.

 

Funny to see this after the Miami game. Swift couldn't have stayed on the court much longer than he did even if JVG wanted him to, he fouls so much. And, Howard shot well and was decent (if not good) on the boards.

 

What is this article talking about, JH numbers are better than SS, so just based on the numbers JH should start and get the lions share of the minutes. Not sure if the writer has seen any of the games this year, but JH knows how to play and SS doesn't. SS tries to get by on his athleticism but offensively he takes stupid shots and looks lost on the defensive rotations. I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt of lack of familiarity with his teammates and JVGs system but I wonder. A player with 5 years experience shouldn't look so raw in any system.

 

Swift will improve in time; he is agonizingly stupid, true....but JVG might need to loosen the reins a bit. We brought Swift in here to form a formidable shot-blocking dynamic duo that keeps opposing players from getting to the rim. We didn't bring Swift in here to stand around with the ball: "Uh, me shoot? Me pass? Where Tracy? Him not here. But him recruited me."

Stro has shown a couple of nifty passes ("nifty"; sigh; showing my age) and I'd like to see more of that from our bigs.

1) Rafer, Head
2) Anderson, Barry
3) T-Mac, Bowen
4) Swift, Howard
5) Yao, Deke

 

Even if we forget about Swift's decision making problem, just look at the numbers the author provides. Swift is much worse than Howard in fg% and rebounding. He gives no evidence as to why JVG should start Swift over Howard other than a reference to JVG's decision years ago.

A better criticism of JVG would be his decision to stick with Wesley rather than giving more time (or even starting) Luther Head.

 

Say what you want about Juwan, but he's a smart veteran. Swift clearly doesn't have the IQ. He often plays slow-footed and looks lost out there.

That said, I think it would be interesting to see more of Jon Barry and Juwan on the floor at the same time. I could see the two of them being strong pair of catalysts to lift the second unit.

 

Howard should be our starter for the time being. Let Stromile gain confidence in himself so he can help the team when he is out there. If you look at his old memphis vids he is really animated when he's out there on the floor. I think that will come once he spends time in the system and under Van Gundy. He might not want to step on anyones toes ya know.