I was a big fan of Stromile Swift and thought he could really flourish in an up tempo offense. I was happy he signed in Houston, but figured he was in a bad spot for his type of game, a round peg in a square hole under JVG. He is not a banger, or an outside shooter, he is a slasher, and someone who gets out on the wings on the break. Since Tony Barone took over, and inserted Stro into the rotation in the last 3 games his averages are: (stats include tonight's game) points per game - 18 shooting percentage - .583 rebounds per game - 10.67 blocks per game - 2 minutes per game - 33 Stros Stats under Barone I think he has finally reached his potential, and his confidence will grow....this is the kind of offense that Stro needs to play in, and it will keep him motivated on defense. I hope he keeps it up.....except when he plays the Rockets of course. Another case of JVG keeping a good player down. (snicker) DD
Swift have all the physical tools in the world to be a great player, the only thing that is lacking for him is bball iq, and he needs a lot of it... When this season began, he was saying he could not even understand the terminology used by JVG, when he had a WHOLE season to learn it. I guess Tony Barone hired an assistant coach who had been working in kindergarden as interpretor.
Pest--he doesn't need to understand much about bball to learn "run". That was the play-calling today for Barone, supposedly. I do think Swift can succeed in this kind of offense. But I don't think the teams running it will win a championship. So basically I don't think Swift will ever be an above-average player on a championship team, so I'm glad we don't have him anymore. (when Barone took over and said he was gonna run, I picked up Swift in both my fantasy leagues in hopes of this.. freaking good news so far)
I think Stro was just a bad fit in Houston, basketball is not Rocket science, if a guy is open you pass it to him, if the rebound is close to you go get it. If you are open in your comfort range...shoot it. Sometimes coaches over think it......there is a beauty to up and down basketball. Memphis scared me the other night when we barely held them off....they have a lot of talent and now have been freed from the shackles of an overbearing coach..... Sometimes the coach can get in the way...... DD
I indeed think Stro was a bad fit in Houston...JVG couldn't stand the kind of effort he was putting in his system...but even under Fratello he had a tough time. Anyways, I'm glad Barone is willing to run and let Stro and Rudy get a lot of time on the floor...we'll see what happens There's a lot of talent on that team...players like Warrick and Lowry...and if they can get a shot at Oden or even Noah, this team should be scary good in 2 or 3 years. So I'm still putting my hopes for a championship on Houston this season, but I don't think they got the best out of this deal even though Battier is helpful this season...
He's a good fit on a bad team because he's a bad player. So if all he has to do is run and jump on occasion and not bother setting picks or playing defense or passing he can do well - like I said, he's a Harlem Globetrotter in waiting.
4 blocks? In an up and down shootout with the GSW's? Eddie Griffin put that up regularly- and has yet to play defense in his NBA career.
blocking shots doesn't mean you play defense...and stromile sucks...I wanted the guy to be great for us, he wasn't. he's been doing great for 3 games on a terrible team. if he keeps it up, more power to him. he'll never be anything more than a bencher for a championship team. also, were you joking with all of the veiled shots at jvg? cus if you REALLY believe that jvg is our problem...I don't even know what to say to you.
He's an amazing talent, granted. I was happy he came here too but he couldn't produce under Van Gundy. He looks great now. Why? Because he plays on a team that has a fundamental championship winning strategy that has been proven over and over again to be better than solid defense, post play, passing, and excecution on offense. It's called run and gun. More teams should try it because it works for the Suns and because there are plenty of Steve Nash's out there to control that type of game.
IMO, Stro's biggest fault was defensive rebounding. Yes, he had more mental lapses, but was pretty decent at attacking the offensive glass and interior passing. Not saying he's a good or bad player...just saying I think he would have stuck around if he knew how to box out. Every player has qualities and faults, but Swift not boxing out absolutely killed the Rockets. I'm sure Van Gundy hated a lot more things about him, but the defensive rebounding thing is a must for a defensive team like the Rockets.
honestly Stromile would rock if he played for the Suns or the Nets. I was a big supporter of him and wish him the best, hell i even have a Rockets Swift jersey
first off van gundy had nothing to do with stromile sucking. he did the exact same thing last year that he did in every other year of his career. as for his last three games you may call it breaking out but i find it hard to believe that he hasn't had a 3 game strech at some point in his career atleast this good. on top of being a small sample size, samfisher is exactly right, bad player putting up numbers on a bad team.
obviously you're joking but stromiles' numbers, in 3 games mind you, aren't remotely close to yao's totals of last season.
