Stromile Swift - Juwon Howard Comparison Revisited

I've seen Juwan make a quick entry pass on numerous occasions. Usually when the play is setting up of course but he's another guy who can get the ball to the post quickly. When Stro's out there, a quick pass straight down the lane as Yao spins off a fronting defender isn't an option.

LOL.

 

No, the option is an alley oop for a dunk.

 

you can debate the notion of wanting the PF to make the entry pass all you want but in the rockets system when yao is being fronted on the blocks he slides to the middle to get positioning and the PF is the only one that is able to make that pass in. if he can't do it than yao can't get the ball when he's being fronted because it just doesn't work when they try to lob it up for him inside.

 

yup. I'd rather give Yao the ball when he's flashing across the middle of the lane than try to lob it over for an alley oop.

 

http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gameflow.cgi?date=20060308&game=INDHOU

Howard was -1 for the game, and Stro was 0 in terms of +/-. Doesn't tell us much.

Wesley and Brunson had the worst +/- by far against Indiana. As soon as they left the court in the middle of the third, the Rockets started their run.

 

Sorry, watch more games. When Yao is fronted, he reverses and the ball swings to the top.

BTW, fronting is becoming less and less a problem as Yao is learning how to step around the fronter and receive the ball anyways, especially with the triangle where they park a guy at the top, one on the Wing and swing it real quick, while Yao is stepping around the front and receiving the entry. When Juwan is not in the game, Yao is getting the ball just fine.

 

Can someone do play by play for Juwan? Other than a brief decent stretch in the 3rd quarter it was quiet comical.

 

Agreed. Head and Bogans were the difference tonight. I also knew that although Stro did not play great tonight, he was just as big a factor as Juwan. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that if you examine their +/- numbers with Yao during tonight's game, that Stro would come out ahead. He's done so all year.

 

did you watch the 4th quarter?

 

Swift may not be better yet, but he's definitely going to be better than Howard. He's having trouble learning the system, but he's looked a little better as every game goes by. Swift should/will start next season at PF.

Swift is a pretty good jump shooter as well, so why not give him more playing time than Howard?

Oh yeah, BTW: I would rather have T-Mac throw the entry pass to Yao, because T-Mac doesn't have to do that standing still. That way, if you even think about doubling Yao, you leave someone open. If Yao is so low in the post, only T-Mac's man could fall back to him or Stro's man come double him. That way, you have an open T-Mac and an open Stro (who, if Yao can dump the ball off to correctly, has a wide open dunk that won't miss + highlight reel) . Oh yeah, if anyone misses a shot, you've got Stro + Yao waiting on the board.

 

One more time...

We can only lose about 5-6 more games this season. JVG doesn't have time to expiriment. Our current rotation is playing nearly .800 ball the last 18 games. Lets just stick with what works, please.

 

I'm not even saying Stro is better than Howard. But it can't be brought down to just what happened when. That monster block was a energizer. Our defense really clamped down, and the whole team's energy was lifted. That kind of thing isn't measured by an isoloated play here or there. That energy or lack of it is what has cost us a number of games we lost.

Those kinds of plays lift up a whole team. So it might be greater than stro not being ready for Alston's pass, or any incident that we can point to.

If Stro keeps playing like he did in the 4th Q last night, then I think it helps the Rockets.

 

I don't think I even bothered to mention the blown alley-oops in my post. Thanks.

But if I did, I simply tried to post every play Stro was involved with good or bad.

A little sensitive are you? I simply mentioned every play that Stro was involved with. Juwan missed his fair share. Next game the Juwan plays in cruch time, I'll let you know.

hahhaaha.

Look, I'm not necessarily in favor of playing Juwan more. I know we can do better than him. But the issue here is Stro and everybody keeps wondering why JVG doesn't play Stro more. I'm simply pointing out his mistakes.

All everybody remember's about Stro is his highlights. So here is evidence about why JVG doesn't play Stro as much as you'd like. That's all.

 

Last time I checked, there are a lot of PFs who play 17-20 feet from the basket, and if they can pass, that's a plus. With Yao on the floor, our PF needs to stay out of his way. On offense, our "ideal" PF can pass, hit the jumper, slash and get some rebounds. We need JH to space properly, hit the jumper and pass within the flow of our offense. We need Stro to move around, be active, look for putback & alley-oop opportunities and get some rebounds.

LOL

 

Apostolic3 hit the nail right on the head. A PF in the lane only clutters everythign up. Yesterday in the 4th quarter when Yao was trying to post up, one of our guards (I think it was Skip) had the misfortune of not getting outta the way fast enough. Yao ended up butt-checking him across the court. Now imagine if skinny Stromile gets in the way of Yao 'Crushinator' Ming's 310 pound mass trying to post up. Stro would have to be carried out on a stretcher. Which is why a PF capable of perimeter play and throwing an entry pass is a plus.

LOL

 

Can we just all agree that both JH & Stro contributed to the win last night? Can't we celebrate an inspiring game, at least for a few hours, without trying to shove the "Stro must start" issue down everybody's throats?

Go Juwan! Go Stro! Next year, one of you will be gone (preferably Juwan) and the other (preferably Stro) had better be coming off the bench.

 

If Stro would play with that kinda of energy all game, he would be the indisputable starter on this squad. But Stro just picks and choses his spots which is frustrating.

I don't know about that. We'll see if JVG agrees with you next game. JVG is obviously much smarter than me and he knows what Stro is supposed to be doing. I just reported what I saw.

Looking back at my analysis, Stro allowed about 8 points by the Pacers and resulted in losing about 7 points for the Rockets. I'm not including the points Stro scored but was that one energizing dunk enough to make up that difference?

To be fair, I am not saying that those "points" I mentioned would have translated into an actual result cause you still have to put the ball in the bucket. As we know, teams shoot between 45% generally. I'm just saying his involvement or lack of, affected the outcome in other ways than his dunk and blocked shot.

 

Actually Stro did just that at 2:48 and probably caused Yao to miss a layup. Fortunately the refs called a foul (it should have been on Stro. ) and Yao made his two free throws. Coulda been a 3 point play.

 

You need to do a similar analysis with Juwan (with the same critical eye), to make it worthwhile. It seems like you're assuming that Juwan doesn't make any mistakes, which is wrong.

 

Next time Juwan is playing in crunch time, I promise I'll do the same analysis.

Last night I just deleted the Minny game or I would go back and redo that. I only thought to break down this game because Stro played significant minutes in the 4th. Normally Stro gets pulled and Juwan plays in crunch time.

I'll do it. I'll be curious too what we find.