The starting PF job in Memphis is gift-wrapped for him. As with Eddie Griffin, I'm sure the Stro-lovers will remind us what a mistake we made if/when he has his first 20 point game. The proof will be the 82 game season and rest assured he will be the same Stro we all know. http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/grizzlies/article/0,1426,MCA_475_5000006,00.html Grizzlies counting on Stromile 'Mr. Potential' Swift to be 'Mr. Asset' The Grizzlies are counting on Stromile Swift's return to take up some of the void left by the injury to Pau Gasol. The Griz front office sounds optimistic. Swift failed to perform as expected for the Houston Rockets in his brief stint there, but the Grizzlies see a renewed sense of commitment from the power forward to play up to his potential. There are moments when Stromile P. Swift performs with great promise. Then there are times when his skills seem to perish. The bottom line for the Grizzlies is that -- this time -- the P. stands for perpetrator, someone who finally will do unto the game what the game's talent evaluators have long expected based on those God-given tools. In perhaps one of the NBA's most extreme cases of deja vu, Swift is about two weeks away from beginning a second stint with the Grizzlies. Swift also must ready himself for arguably the biggest encore of his career. All-Star forward Pau Gasol is hurt -- lost for about four months because of left foot surgery. Circumstances again make it easy for Swift to play the hero -- with only a starting job and sweet opportunity as pylons along a road toward redemption following his one-year, forgetful hiatus with the Houston Rockets. The issue this season, similar to Swift's five previous with the Grizzlies, is not what he can do, but how often he will do it. This time, the Griz aren't looking for flashes. They need flavor at power forward and the organization is counting on more than a pinch of Swift. The organization is counting on Swift to appear seasoned his seventh time around the NBA block if it has a chance to remain afloat in the Western Conference without Gasol. "Everyone looks at him and says here's a guy who has been around (six seasons), but look at his age. That's the intriguing thing," Griz president Jerry West said. "He gets stronger every year. When he was here with us the first time, I saw a player that's versatile. "At times you wanted him to do more because of the potential. But in reality he did what he did. He helped us win games a lot of the time. You'd be surprised at how may people would like to have him (in a trade)." The Griz re-acquired Swift when they shipped Shane Battier to Houston and also received the rights to eighth overall pick Rudy Gay. West made clear his resolve to hold onto Swift recently, emphasizing a couple conversations he's had with the 6-9 jumping jack over the past month. Despite his critics, Swift returns with the nightly ability to score in the lane, grab double-digit rebounds and protect the basket with his athleticism and length. "We had two really nice talks," West said. "In my talks with him, he seemed to be excited to be back. I talked about the opportunity for him to have the ball in his hands. I told him how important it was to come and be ready to start the season strong. He's going to get a lot of touches, so I would think he'd have to feel good about that." Swift's agent, Andy Miller, sounded equally as optimistic and characterized Swift's mindset as constructive. "Since the initial shock of being traded, any conversation I've had with Stro has been very positive," Miller said. "There aren't any negative feelings. It's a good opportunity for him to re-establish himself. We thought that before Gasol's injury. That won't change his approach. The second time around with the Grizzlies and the familiarity should make it a better transition." The Rockets quickly stamped return to sender on Swift after signing him to a five-year, $30 million free-agent deal last summer. He showed little improvement from his first five NBA seasons. For much of the season, Swift was in and out of the lineup because of various injuries and ailments. When he was healthy, he didn't contribute as much as the Rockets hoped he would when they signed him. A Dec. 21, 2005, Houston Chronicle headline read: "It's time for Swift to shine." Just two days later, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy summed up Swift with a familiar tone. "He's had a careerlong battle, like a lot of players in this league, to be an everyday player versus a sometimes player," Van Gundy said. "I don't think starting or coming off the bench will impact that. Like most guys, if they want to make a break-through, they have to make a conscious decision about their intensity, preparation and focus. I think he's going to try to do that." Swift went to the Rockets hoping that a chance with a second team would allow him to take his play to a greater level. But he wasn't reliable. Beyond the numbers, he reportedly fought bouts of inattentiveness, switching too late defensively or moving too late to get to loose balls. On other occasions, when he is more alert and energetic, his quickness was an asset. Now, the hope in Memphis is that asset becomes Swift's middle name. "How many players can change the course of a game?," West said. "When Stro is playing at the top of his game, he affects the game. He'll block shots. He'll get the crowd going with a dunk when you least expect it. Getting Stro back is important for us." -- Ronald Tillery: 529-2353
This article is too funny. Stromile Swift, savior of the Grizz! I'm starting to feel much better about this trade.
Leave the man alone- this has been beaten to death. Beat up Stomile, but support Juwan's no defense, no rebounding. we got him at a bargain price - nothing ventured nothing gained. We gave him away. Shame on Rockets stupidity. It would be interesting to see him play for Phoenix- a more up tempo team. I hope Stromile does well - it was not his fault Mr. Van Gundy could not utilize him
I guess it wasn't his fault Sidney Lowe, Hubie Brown, and Mike Fratello couldn't utilize him either? When 4 coaches, including 3 good ones (Brown, Fratello, JVG) can't get to him, I don't think you should blame the coaches, you should blame the player.
Swift's gonna have a hell of a season coming up with the Grizzlies because he will get the playing time he needs and deserves. He would have performed well for the Rockets if given enough time, but unfortunately he wasn't so we only saw flashes of his ability. I still wish we had Swift. Even though I'm fine with Battier too now.
Yawn. If "given enough time?" The guys has been in the league 6 years. "Potential" simply means you are currently a really bad player.
Memphis, Houston, Hubie, Van Gundy, Fratello, Dawson, West, TMac, Yao, Gasol.. it really doesn't matter what situation Stro is in, whether he is effective or not next year depends solely on whether he gets his head out of his ass after all these years. He really didn't show up ready to play in preseason. Van Gundy commented that he wasn't in shape coming into training camp. It seemed like he thought a simple change of teams would make him into an All Star. Just doesn't work that way. Your coaches and teammates don't make you better unless you take the initiative. We'll see pretty quickly if he's serious about getting better real soon. Let's see if he show up in shape for the training camp this year.
I know he was a Rocket, and we're still working on defending this (passable, could be potent) trade, so I understand the bias. Still, this guy WAS and could be a good player for the Grizz. The year before the Rocket year he averaged 10 points, 4.5 boards and 1.5 blocks in 21 minutes -- those are strong stats. He stunk horribly with the Rockets, the worst efficiency rate since his rookie year, but Stromile still gave you guys more points per minute than Howard did, more rebounds (though not by much), more turnovers (bad), but WAYYYY more blocks than Juwan. Howard may not have hit the lows that Stro did, but he certainly never came close to Swift's peaks. The guy's going to be 27 next year, and if Fratello has half a brain, he'll play him 30+ minutes (depending on foul issues). He'll be fine.
The avid basketball fan understands that Swift is no where near a complete player. He has his strengths (offensive dunk putbacks, face-up dribble step dunk, blocking shots) and weaknesses (defensive box out, jumpshooting, d-rotations), but here in Houston because of the need for perfection in this system, he weaknesses were too much for JVG. I'm not saying I agree or disagree with having Swift or how he was used, because this is JVG's system and I support his system. But while Stro will never be a savior, he surely can be productive in the right circumstance.
All well and good. However, his disappointment at being traded BACK to Grizzville reportedly put the deal in some peril. How will a frigile id like his respond? Will it be his trip to Oz for a heart (and/or [basketball] brain) or make him the biggest dog since the aging of as well as the uglification of Derrick Coleman? Tho I'll bet he puts up great stats v the Rox.
The deal was never in peril. How does someone with a guaranteed contract put a deal in peril? I don't mean to be flip, seriously, it's just that the deal was never in peril. West acted as if Swift had taken a dump in his driveway during the presser that followed the trade, but that was about it -- it was West's fault for not finding something (a pair of second-rounders, a trade exception, Kevin Ollie, ANYTHING!) for Swift when he was playing in back of Pau; and I'm sure it's weird to have him back on. But the bottom line is that, at age 25, Swift gave the Grizz 19 points and 8.5 rebounds (and about three blocks) for every 40 minutes he played with them during his last season there. His crap season with Houston aside, there's little reason to think he won't improve on those per minute numbers this year. And, considering he'll get actual minutes (for the first time since his rookie year, pre-Pau), he should be in line for a great statistical year.
I'm guessing Stro will try to dunk on Yao twice to prove to everyone on this board that the trade was a big mistake.
We had him on a fair price contract. I had never heard before he came to camp out of condidtion. Allowing that-I personally think an athlete had an obligation to come to camp in top form-compare Clyde to Charles BArkley-I'm disappoinbted to hear this. We did not overpay. the man is gone - let it go.... We pay more for Juwan's poor defense, no rebounding and 0 blocks
Stromile P. Swift? I didn't even know he planned to report to camp...? Can we ditch the Swift threads already, seriously!
West is pumping sunshine. His objective is play Swift as many minutes as his fouling allows., pump up his stats, and dump him on the first sucker that falls for it.
