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This guy had four years to unseat Lorenzen Wright from the starting lineup.
Four.
Lorenzen Wright.
Looks like he got another chance to frustrate another coaching staff if nothing else. At least the Rockets didn't overpay.
About as easy as it is to go 13-5 in a little more than half a season of baseball.
This guy had four years to unseat Lorenzen Wright from the starting lineup.
Four.
Lorenzen Wright.
Looks like he got another chance to frustrate another coaching staff if nothing else. At least the Rockets didn't overpay.
Projected starting lineup for next year for the Rockets (if everything goes as I hope):
PG: Damon Stoudamire (older, still likes to burn blunts, but best option for him to win and play)
SG: David Wesley
SF: T-Mac- Most explosive offensive player in the league
PF: Swift- Will benefit with being next to T-Mac and Yao and he does play defense and blocks shots, very long which Rockets do not have
C: Yao- everyone says he sucks because he is overhyped, Dude is going into his fourth year in the league and he may not have matured like Duncan but it takes big men a while longer to develop, he still forces double teams which opens up the court
Bench:
Bob Sura: solid backup
Mike James: I think he will be gone in maybe a sign and trade with Portland, I heard him and T-Mac have complications
Scott Padget: not sure if they will resign him but a good shooter in spots
Jon Barry: if they resign him, good locker room guy also
Mutombo: I think they will resign him, he is a viable backup center
Would they take Bruce?Mike James: I think he will be gone in maybe a sign and trade with Portland, I heard him and T-Mac have complications
Tmac owns Bruce
Leave it to Rocket fan to miss the joke.
Duncan for Howard is a joke...Bowen for Mike James?
ive seen worse trades go down then that....
I want to know why 25 year old Stromile Swift, who has actually put up numbers and played in the NBA is so criticized on here but Oberto is praised and Scola is a freaking god according to a bunch of people on here. y V was right during the draft in saying that people here break down all the US players faults and make them known, but we don't do so much with the International players. I would much rather have a 25 year old Swift at 5-6 mil a year than a 30 year old Oberto at 2-3 mil a year.
He was a #2 pick who hasn't lived up to expectations or dislodged Lo Wright as a starter, that's why.I want to know why 25 year old Stromile Swift, who has actually put up numbers and played in the NBA is so criticized on here
As I said, the Rockets are paying about as much as they should for him.
If the Rockets do get Damon Stoudemire at the point I might be a little worried. As it stands they still don't have a quality PG running the show and that was enough to handcuff them for most of the season. Swift is a step up from whatever their rotation at PF was last year (Howard, Padgett, Baker, Weatherspoon?). He's a of an athlete and JVG will probably use that with Yao's size to really clog up some lanes. But he doesn't add much offensive punch to a team whose offense was annemic at best. The other scouting thing I've heard is that he's a great big man in terms of getting out and running the floor, which the Rockets don't like to do. He's a good pickup but doesn't exactly fit like a glove.
I am holding out that this guy only played 1 year at LSU. Has not gotten the right amount of work in yet and can blossom into that type of player that a lot of young players have become after putting in their initial time in the league. Or he may have peaked already and just be a 10-13 point and 5-7 reb/ per game type of player.
I'm a bit more of this mind -- It's not like he's had ty coaching the past few years.Or he may have peaked already and just be a 10-13 point and 5-7 reb/ per game type of player.
Well, Swift makes sense on the Rockets. He fills a need. Oberto fills a need on the Spurs.
Of course, the Spurs' needs are much less than the Rockets' needs.
It's true that he's had good coaching but, at least under Hubie, that system spread the ball around better than any other team in the league so there's another layer of uncertainty to this guy.
Now thats some bull ..The rockets have a steal, Swift has 20, 10 and 2 type potential and is cheaper then Rasho
MLE is a bargain price for a 6'10 player of his caliber...i cant think of a better value FA signing this summer then Swifts deal..maybe reef but its a toss up
He has had good coaching, but I think Memphis is just a mess. Jason Williams is a headcase, Bonzi was a former Trailblazer (nuff said), Pau has not improved since his rookie year. I swore he was not backing up Lorenzen Wright, he was behind Gasol, who is a better player right now. The way they used to run 5 in and 5 out just seems like a bad way for him to mature to the player he can be. He will get his chance now and hopefully he flourishes. I like how he signed for less to get a chance to play for a winner for at least the next 5-6 years.
Players after five years in the league only have a chance to become more consistent versions of what they already are. They aren't going to explode into something new.
Swift has come out of an organization with a great player development structure, and he's plateaued. Jerry West simply let him go and started over with somebody else. If he'd come out of a crummy organization like Toronto or New York, your hypothesis might be more credible.
Defining a player just by his stat line is kind of a rotisserie way of looking at the game anyway. There are many ways to get 10 pts and 7 rebs. In Swift's case, it's basically just athleticism, which is fine for Houston, because that's what they were lacking up front. The Rockets are getting a smaller Kelvin Cato with worse positional defense and a little better jump shot, basically. Hopefully he's more motivated.
This is still a good pickup for the Rockets, not the "best of the free agent period" like some are saying, but helpful nonetheless.
How is Memphis a great player development structure? No one has truely blossomed in that organization. Pau Gasol has not gotten any better since his rookie year. Jason Williams lost his flair that got him the name. Bonzi was a of a lot better in Portland than there. Shane Battier has no produced like a top ten pick should. I go the other way on this one. I think they have a system where they have too many players in there and it hurts individual talent from flourishing.
Tell me the last time a young bigman who just come off a season averaging 18 and 9 signed a long term deal for the MLE?This is still a good pickup for the Rockets, not the "best of the free agent period" like some are saying, but helpful nonetheless.
Troy Murphy , Randolf etc had huge deals last year. Dalembert wants the max, Curry and Chandler want big money. Swift for MLE is a steal
Ag, we also punked them without Duncan and one of those losses to H-Town was due to a freakish fluke 30 second meltdown which will probably never happen again in franchise history.
Having said that, the Rockets are tough and you are correct in saying that they can match the Spurs' defensive intensity on any given night. At this extremely early, non-existent stage of analysis of next year's playoffs, though, I still have a tough time seeing Houston go the distance with the Spurs in a 7 game series.
I forgot to throw in Luther Head, who could develop into a good backup pg or sg. As a rook he could bring energy and give good spot minutes. I like his as a player that was taken late in the first round.
With the physical talent in that organization, it's hard to figure how they're even a playoff team. And yet they have been.
If you look at Gasol, his problem is that he can't stay healthy. His minutes are down from his rookie year, yet he still maintains a similar level of production when he does play. That sounds to me like a more efficient player, even with the injury problems.
Jason Williams lost his "flair" because Hubie Brown was teaching him discipline. Hubie was the only guy who ever could reach JWill. JWill loved Hubie and responded to him. It was working. JWill was finally becoming a mature basketball player and harnessing his considerbale talent in a constructive way rather than just making highlight plays. See, as a Rocket fan you buy into all the cheap, tawdry, flashy parts of the game, like Jason Williams making unnecessary trick moves that don't help his team. Now, Mike Fratello has lost Jason Williams and he's gone back to the immature troublemaker.
The drop in Wells' production has a lot to do with minutes. Bonzi had that career year in 2000-01 when he replaced Steve Smith as a starter, largely because he could post up smaller guards at will because nobody dared switch off Scottie Pippen or Rasheed. His Memphis production has been comparable to or better than his later years in Portland, once Scottie got old and he longer had that protection. Mike Fratello also lost Bonzi Wells, though a lot of that is Wells' fault because he's a head case. Jerry West was able to get away with a few head cases on his team with Hubie Brown around, because players revered Brown as the this all-knowing shaman. Fratello doesn't have that respect.
Shane Battier has produced just fine for his talent level. He is an absolutely solid fundamental player on both ends of the floor who makes his teammates better, and I would love it if the Spurs could get their hands on him. As a Rocket fan, you have no feel for players who do things that don't show up on the stat sheet. If the media weren't telling you that Bruce Bowen is a great defender, you'd have no idea how he's managing to start for the champions.
Of course Battier can't start on the Grizzlies because of James Posey, who went from a marginal player in Houston to a borderline star in Memphis. But nobody blossoms in Memphis, right? If only those Grizzlies could get the most out of their players...
One thing that may frustrate and confuse you as a Rocket fan fixated on individual talent is how as JVG and Dawson build the team, Yao's stats WON'T go up, and McGrady's may actually go DOWN. Hint: Tim Duncan could average 28 points a game if he wanted to do it, and Manu Ginobili could average about 23.
Umm, Swift averaged 10 and 4.5, not 18 and 9. Wow, he's only been a Rocket for hours, and you're already inflating him into twice the player he is.
Shareef to NJ is a bigger signing than Swift to Houston.
Don't get me wrong, Swift fills a hole the Rockets had. They needed more athleticism and more rebounding, and Swift provides those things. But he's a role player, not a star. He blocks shots, but isn't much in man-to-man or team defense. He's an explosive leaper, and has a relatively reliable short jumper, but has few low-post moves, doesn't pass well, and can't shoot past about 12 feet. He's a GREAT rebounder. But you're overrating him. His inconsistency is going to drive JVG CRAZY.
Add his game to Juwan Howard's, and you have a complete player. A platoon of the two of them is better than what most teams have. And in the crazy overinflated world of NBA big men, maybe he is something of a bargain. But Stromile freaking Swift is not this coup de grace acquisition that makes the Rockets an NBA power like you frontrunning Houston fans are telling yourselves.
You have a very good argument here, but you discount it all with cheap shots at Rockets fans. Seems like Fratello lost a lot of players here and he is apart of that great structure they have. Jason Williams was not as good as he was hyped up to be agreed, but can you tell me that he is any better now than he was in his days in Sac. The system that Memphis has is a good college system, but as you can see from their production, it doesnt get them past the first round or into the top tier of the West. What are you talking about the physical talent they have in there? Gasol is supposed to be a seven foot stud, but never flourished after his great first year and continues to be the same player. Efficient? Put on weight and get steadier and healthy, damn that. Jason Williams has the quickness and shooting and passing touch to be an all star. Bonzi Wells is still a big guard with talented guys around him, not producing as much. James Posey played damn well in Houston and has gotten better in Memphis but don't mistake him for almost being at a star level. Battier was the leader of a great Duke progam and was selected #6 I believe. Now I can't go check nba draft sites cause its blocked at work, but I dare to bet there were a lot more players there that would blossom a lot more. Someone in there liked Battier and thought he could be more than he is to take him that high. Your stats are impressive and yes I know TD could avg. more, but the Rockets don't have the same type of talent around their two stars as the Spurs do. This Swift move is definitely a step in the right direction. You may read a lot of articles that make you feel like an expert, but I am guessing you don't play the game as much as I do, so take your time before you call out Rockets fans as not knowing true team basketball.
I'm not ever going to be polite to Rockets fans. Ever. There is no team or fan base I hate more, including the Lakers.You may read a lot of articles that make you feel like an expert, but I am guessing you don't play the game as much as I do, so take your time before you call out Rockets fans as not knowing true team basketball.
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