I have been pleasantly surprised with Howard's play the first 3 games of the preseason. He has been knocking down jumpers, making excellent passes to Yao and others, and pulling down rebounds consistently. BUT, Howard's biggest weakness may be his defense. While Howard's defense is not bad, it is positional defense meaning if a player beats him to a spot on the floor, there is almost no way he can recover. Whether it is due to a lack of athletic ability at this point of his career or whatever the reason, his defense is average at best and is that the type of defense we need next to Yao? I have seen many people on the site listing Juwan as the starting PF which is perfectly understandable but at the same time I believe Swift should start at the position. That brings me to Stromile Swift. When we signed him this offseason, I personally believed that at some point he would definitely take over the starting spot at PF. While the Pre-season game against San Antonio was just that, Pre-season, I saw the qualities in a PF that I want next to Yao. The ability to defend his own player at the PF spot. If he is beaten to a spot on the floor, which will most likely happen a lot with the PF's he'll be facing in the West, he has the athletic ability and arm length to block or at least challenge his man's shot. Then we have the ability to come from the weakside and plain swat the crap out of Yao's man's shot and assist Yao with everything. He has the ability to score as evidenced when the Rockets started going to him later in the game vs. San Antonio. I'm not completely sold on his ability to hit the mid-range jumper yet but I believe his form is solid and many of his Rocket teammates have said that he can knock that shot down consistently. My biggest concern is, you guessed it, his rebounding. I can't remember how many rebounds he had vs. San Antonio but I don't believe it was over 5. This concerns me a bit but his positives FAR, and I mean far, outweigh his negatives. So that brings me to the question of the hour: So far during this EVENTFUL pre-season (Luther head playing excellent, Lonnie Baxter playing like a Clarence Weatherspoon with skills, Yao's improvement, TMac being Tmac) who do YOU believe should start at the PF position?
My heart says yes to Stromile starting. But my mind says no to Juwon coming off the bench, simply because, last year he showed he was much more effective when starting.
I don't know who should start, but I know who will start. It will be Howard at least for the first month or so. His IQ is far superior and his passing is excellent. What he lacks in athleticism, he makes up in veteran leadership, shooting ability, smarts, experience and familiarity with the system. Swift will give us another dimension off the bench until he becomes familiar with our playbook at which point he will become a starter.
IMO whoever helps Yao on foul trouble should start. If SS can help Yao stay longer on the floor by playing better defence (stopping guys from running into Yao) or absorbing some fouls, then he should start. Anyway, our PF spot suddenly becomes a strong position this year, don't you love it!
Honestly this whole off season I was hoping we'd get Swift and once we did I didn't even think twice about picking him as the starter over Juwan. Well, then the preseason started and Juwan has really impressed me by not missing a beat from where he left off last year. It's so nice to have a guy that can hit the 15 foot jumper as consistantly as he does. He never plays out of his ability either and makes very few mistakes. I believe Juwan deserves to keep his position as starter, but on certain nights I still think that Stromile should get the majority of the minutes due to his ability to guard the more athletic 4's of the league. So my final answer is Juwan.
i think we should start swift with yao and have howard come off the bence with deke...swifts strengths help even out with yaos weaknesses and we can use howards offense with dekes defense off the bench
The better player should start. If it's true that Swift isn't in good shape right now, JH must be the starter. After Swift gets in shape, learns the flow of the offense when Yao & T-Mac are in the game and plays better than JH, make the switch. Hopefully this won't take a long time. I'm very disappointed if this talk of Swift not being in good shape is true but we have the whole season ahead of us.
SS worthy of my heart. JH worthy of my head. And since I never head to Vegas with my heart... I pick Juwon. RR
I think it's JH's job to lose. He is still very effective and has proven chemistry with the starting squad. He's already used to starting and has shown he is more effective when he does start, while Stro is used to coming off the bench. He will be our future starting PF but for now I say go with JH as long as he is still showing this kind of production.
After seeing SS play the spurs.. it makes my decision a bit harder... SS has moves from the post and is a monster around the basket for almost instant points with a good pass near the rim. He kept up with tmac on the break, once, before he got exhausted... that brings me to think he is not ready conditional wise to play starters minutes yet. We don't need our starting PF tired before Yao lol. Juwan has been impressive and I wish we had 6 spots on a starting line up to start both... i will reserve my vote until tonights game t see how swift and juwan play again. This is going to be an excellent season... just wow.
I'm glad I don't have to make this call. Juwan has been playing well, but Stro looked really good against SA. What we haven't seen is Stro and Yao playing, in top form, together. Until we have, I would have retain judgement, but I was pleasantly surprised with Stro's offense the other night. With all the positive signs I would still have to agree with TMac's statement that they have a way to go yet.
No doubt, I say start SS. Rafer is probably better at covering guards up to help protect Yao, but still I would start SS over J-Howard simply cause of last year, where Yao always seemed to be in foul trouble when J-Howard was on the floor with him.
You go with the status quo, when we were at our best, and thats with JH starting. Given Swift's history, I think its best to let him earn a starting position instead of handing it to him. Quite frankly, I like the steel curtain of Deke and Swift coming off the bench together.
Stro has to earn the start in my opinion. Juan has been great starting for us and he's efficient. He does what's asked of him and he can create his on shot easily. I would love to have Stro eventually take the position, but for right now.....Juan is right for the job.
Having Stro and Deke coming off the bench seems a bit redundant. I much prefer Yao/Stro and Howard/Deke to compliment each other, than the alternative. Then again, it would make our bench have one of the best defensive duo's in the league w/ Stro/Deke. (in theory at any rate)
In the few minutes I watched the game, Stro got his shot blocked once, and stripped once, against SA's second unit. I'm not impressed YET.
