I've never been a big fan of Stromile, but for what he brings and his potential the MLE is the perfect deal. I won't say it's a bargain, though it is cheap compared to the free agency rates today. Unbelieveable job, CD! Let's clean up that backcourt a little bit and this team is set! I can't believe we got our PF without giving up any tradeable assets.
If you look at the production of Griffin, the guy we all thought was going to be our PF of the future, in Swift we get a guy who posesses a lot of the same upside without being a loose canyon. Last year both players averaged 21.3 minutes per game. Here is how it broke down. Griffin - 7.5 pt / 6.5 reb / .8 Asst / 1.69 blks / .33 stl / .79 TO / 1.7 Foul / 38.7 % FG - 32.8% 3-pt Swift - 10.1 pt / 4.6 reb / .7 Asst / 1.53 blks / .68 stl / 1.52 TO / 3 Foul / 44.9% FG - 0% 3-pt The numbers are pretty similar. However Swift does not live on the 3 point line. Griffin shot 204 3-pointers last season. Swift has shot only 17 3 pointers his entire career. Swift appears to be foul prone. But he shoots a better FG% and has a better FT % also.
griffin is the overall better player but swift fits our needs better. i'm glad to have swift but still upset we gave away EG for nothing.
Eddie is an apt comparison for Swift. Both are long, athletic shotblockers, who don't seem to rebound as well as they ought to and are generally underachievers. Both are better team defenders than one-on-one.
I'm with ya, pgabriel. I'm not sold on Swift, either, but you can't beat the price. And let's not forget that while Swift may not ever be all that great, we don't really need him to be. As long as he can be a solid contributor, that's good enough. T-Mac will be great, and if Yao decides to be great, Swift will be more than adequate. P.S. "Sledgehammer" rocked.
Wow, the Rockets are going to have the best interior defense. There will be no rest for players wanting to drive it to the basket. Yao, Mutumbo, and Swift are all big time shot blockers!!!
Very happy to see Houston get the man they were after. Should be interesting to see How Swift goes with the extra minutes, At that price you really can't complain.
He is foul prone, but with Howard sharing the power forward duties, Swift must not stop being agressive!! I agree with you on that. Last year the only other shot blocking threat came from Mutumbo, Yao's replacement. Like you said, now Yao doesn't have to feel he is the only was there to block all the shots. I really like Swift playing next to Yao and McGrady
I've got a lot of thoughts. I'm not too happy with this. But for the price, I'll keep quiet and watch.
great news. swift for mle. it's no wonder the stars attract players. with yao there came tmac. with the 1, 2 punch there comes swift. hope he'll be a real contributor.
Let me say for the record that I have never been a Swift fan. That said, getting him for the MLE is a bonified steal. Outstanding work by our GM. Swift will make us better, I just didn't want to overpay for him. I am very pleased.
