Juwon. He always seems to be at the right place on defense, make the right move on offense, Stromile will make the spectacular play occasionally, but it's going to take him a while to be as consistent as Juwon.
Juwon's got a lot of things going for him right now. He knows the offense. He's been making some terrific entry passes to Yao, and the ball movement in general has been very crisp when he's been in the game. Stro has a very complementary game with Yao and T-mac, and has much more upside on both ends of the floor. But for the beginning of the season, I think it's more important to be solid, so Juwon will probably get the nod. Later in the season, once Stro gets comfortable with everything, and everyone then I imagine he will start.
Honestly, I don't care. We have the luxury of two power forwards that are both starting quality. I'll trust JVG to figure out what is best for the Rockets in that situation. I suspect who he'll start from game to game may vary depending on match ups. However, I'd sure like to see if Stromile can really reduce the number of fouls Yao gets. I think he could, and if that's the case, it sure would be nice if Yao no longer got in foul trouble in the first quarter. That'd be a seriously powerful case for Swift as our starter.
I would like to see Yao and SS play together first before picking who would start. I personally think Howard would be better coming off the bench and giving the rockets some offense. I think the strategy for the rockets this summer was to surround Yao with as many athletes as possible. With SS and T-Mac you sandwich Yao with to freakish athletes.
These two guys have a very different game. Why not decide who the strater will be based on the other team's lineup - who gives us what we need most against the other team? Other than that, I'd say Stro has to earn it.
At the beginning of the season, start Howard, and as Swift progressively gathers more confidence and better conditioning, start him, and push Howard back as a solid backup. Otherwise, give Swift the first few starts, and see how he fairs. If not so well, then revert back to Howard, and carry on with what was described above.
24 posts before the right answer. How the hell do we know yet? Let's see some different combinations on the floor and see what works. On paper, Stro is a better fit with Yao than JH, but the game isn't played on paper.
Howard played all last season before his injury and managed something like 5 rebounds a game along with almost nothin in blocks. Given the fact that he is actually getting older and coming off knee surgery, I really don't see how he could improve on those numbers at all, no matter what we see in the preseason. We need to shore up the Defense, and protect Yao on that end, and I'm afraid JHo just aint gonna cut it. As for his scoring ability, well just bring him in when Yao is out, that way there is always an inside presence.
I totally agree with this. The starting line up is more of an ego thing than anything else. We should pick our PF based on likely matchups and where we are in the game. Overall, until Swift shows me a realiable jumper, I would like to evenutally see Juwon getting more minutes with Deke to allow us to get a credible post options/second scorer when Yao is out. I think that when Yao is out, Tracy and Juwon should be on the floor, and when Tracy is out Yao and DA should be in. That should allow us to keep good offensive pop throughout the game. Gotta love that we have a lineup controversy rather than a "who the hell deserves to start?"
Only half-true, which is you know what. Juwan's season averages factor in the early part of the season. You know, the time he was benched in favor of MoT and didn't see significant starter's minutes. Look at his production as the season went on. He fit in, improved defensively, took more mid-range shots, and grabbed more boards. His averages for his last two months of play were a decent 13pts and 7reb in 31 minutes. The great thing about Juwan is that he's very consistent. He'll bring those every night. Swift is less certain. We haven't even seen him play with Yao yet, and Yao's inconsistent himself. We'll have to see them play for at least a few games to guage how effective they'll be together. Swift showed some nice post moves in the last game, but he'll have no place in the paint when Yao's on the floor. He's also got to demonstrate the ability to hit the mid-range shot consistently. And right now he doesn't rebound more than Juwan nor have as much stamina, surprisingly. The starting spot is still up for grabs.
Two conditions for SS to start. We need to get Yao and SS on the court at the same time to see what this pairing can do. If they are Batman and Robin out there then we should consider starting SS, SS must however improve his conditioning and be able to get back in transition before he can start over Juwan.
I think you need to look at who provides better balance (offensive and defensively)... who protects Yao better defensively. And who provides more offense when Yao and TMac are off the court. Its still early to know for sure, but at this point I think Swift is better at protecting Yao and I think Howard provides more offense when Yao is off the court (both as a passer and a shooter).
I don't care how Juwan has looked in a few preseason games. He is a bad defender and we need to get Stro as many minutes as possible. Howard can take on MoT's old role of scoring off the bench, which is one of the things he is good at. Juwan is a good match to Dike, and Stro should be a good match to Yao.
I'll agree with some of what you said, especially about Juwon coming on later in the season. His main problem is he's never been a good defender. How many times did we see quicker PFs get around Juwon, forcing Yao to slide over and cover for Juwon, leading to cheap fouls? Stro can average 7 rebounds a game easily, and he won't have a problem defending the quicker PFs. As for Stro's offense, his game doesn't come from set plays, which is actually an asset. We have TMac and Yao as our focus on set plays, and Stro is a good garbage/Alley-Oop guy. When Juwon's in there with yao, anything you run for Juwon means that yao has to watch form a distance otherwise he crowds the paint; this effectively takes him out of the play. When Stro is in there, the play goes to Yao inside and Stro is MUCH better at cleaning up than Juwon is due to his atheltic ability. I don't believe its a stamina issue with Stro, he's a new guy on the team and has been injured. More likely, JVG is just easing him into the game, and besides he's only played one game
Sticking with howard to start for the first half, and Stro to eventually take over. After watching him I will hold what I have. Stro has great ability, but a pension for not playing hurt from what I could tell. Maybe it is too early to make an assessment like that, but he just couldn't get over that knock to the jaw. He was holdin' it like my 9 year old.
Until preseason started, I would have voted for Swift. But after seeing how well Howard has been playing, I've gotta vote for him. But it's a tough choice. I've been very impressed with both of them.
What about Baxter? If he keeps playing the way he's playing and does it against stepped up competition, he could make Howard (or possibly Swift) expendable. I think he's going to do that. He's at the right age with experience and has been knocked around this league long enough that he knows how things work and he's a hard worker and he's got post skills. The only thing he doesn't have is great length. Who cares. Baxter has the best nose for the ball and is the best rebounder on this team. Mark it down. He just has that instinct for finding and grabbing the basketball. Watch him when the shot goes up, how he gets position. So, I really think that down the road a little ways, barring injury, that a decision is going to be made between Stro and Juwon. If Stro does indeed come around, and becomes a fit next to Yao, then I would look for Juwon to be moved eventually along with another expiring for and upgrade at the 2 and maybe a young big man to play behind Yao after Deke retires. On the other hand, if Stro doesn't get in shape, continues to lag on change of posession, he could wind up in Van Gundy's doghouse real quick and then it will only be a matter of time before he's traded out of here. His contract is a nice enough fit that the Rockets can move him. Personally, I'm disappointed that he is out of shape. For a player that supposedly wanted to play here so badly, and took less than "market value" to play here, why would you come in out of shape when it is the most important time to make a good impression on your coach and teammates? It just shows a lack of maturity on Stromile's part if you ask me. I love his athleticism and his play when he is motivated, but this team ain't got time for babies that have to be codled and motivated on a daily basis. JVG won't put up with it. If he don't work out, maybe we could move him to Indy for Artest??? (Yeah, I know, pipe dream. Dream on.) As far as matchups, it makes most sense skillwise for Yao and Stro to be on the floor together and Juwon and Deke to be on the floor together. One shotblocker and one post player on each unit just means scoring and defensive balance. Plus, I'd like to see more of Baxter. It looks like to me more and more that our 2 weakest links last year are now going to be strengths, that being the 4 and the 1. Now our weakest link seems to be at the SG, where all the big money went to last year. With the rule changes favoring the quicker perimeter players and eliminating all hand checking from the perimeter, a premium is being placed on quick guard that can drive and shoot the 3 ball. We need that 6'4" to 6'6" SG that can shoot it, and is quick enough to drive and move their feet on defense without the handcheck. The player that can slow down Ginobilli slightly and give our interior defense a chance. Right now, Ginobilli and his ability to dribble drive and penetrate is the difference maker for the Spurs that separate them from everybody else. We may be able to use our wealth of talent at the 4 position to upgrade the critical 2 position on this team. I hope all 3 play out of their minds until at least the trading deadline.
At this point, Howard is the better choice. As someone has pointed out, Juwan is very consistent. I have yet seen that from Swift. Stro will have to show that he can produce consistently. In general, you want you starters to be good all around guys, and your bench players to be specialists. Howard is the better all around player at this point. I am pretty sure JVG will start Howard at the start of the season. Howard is a career starter. Swift is a career backup so far. I don't think JVG will take the risk of starting an unproven guy over a solid veteran unless Howard underperforms or he sees something really special in Stromile. Having said that, I won't be surprised if Swift starts in some games where defensive quickness is crucial at the 4.
