Story on Stromile Swift by Dave D'Alessandro

[rag-time4]

This article just came out today, thought I would share.

article linky

[G_MoNeY]

I posted comment in the actual article. Here's C&P..

Sad story, my prayers go out to Stromile during this extremely difficult time. GREAT article though Dave, it's rare we get to hear this side of the story in a professional athletes life. Very humbling, kids who look up to athletes as role models develop the idea that these guys are not normal people and are "superheroes" in a sense...stories like this remind all of us how alike these people are with the rest of the world. They're not invincible and they feel pain just like all of us. Great read.

[S.I.C. GM]

Great article.

Sad Story.

if he wants to stay next year for a lot less money, I have no problem as long as we can get rid of Najera's contract too.

[Preludepunk27]

Yeah I feel bad. I had a buddy lose a father last year and he's still a wreck over it.

Stro deserves a spot someplace in the NBA. He will get a contract. Not 6 million a year, but he'll get a team to sign him to at least a 2 year deal with a 3rd year option. He needs to be on a team like Phoenix or Golden State though. Hopefully he can find a spot on a team with a system in place that will benefit him.

[jerseyjac]

its always a tough situation...no matter who the person is...some handle it better than others, some grieve harder than others...time is the only healer...I recently had a friend lose both his mother and father in the last year and a half...and he's going to be married in May, younger than Swift...life can come in between anything and everything...you just have to try and move at your own pace...Some companies, like the one I work for, have unlimted grieving time fr a family member and its great how the Nets are trying to support him in any way possible...life is bigger than your job, hopefully anyone in this situation can fight through these rough times to maintain their career...and it seems that Swift is going to be moving in that direction over the next couple of months...my prayers are with him and his family...

[rag-time4]

Yeah I feel bad. I had a buddy lose a father last year and he's still a wreck over it.

Stro deserves a spot someplace in the NBA. He will get a contract. Not 6 million a year, but he'll get a team to sign him to at least a 2 year deal with a 3rd year option. He needs to be on a team like Phoenix or Golden State though. Hopefully he can find a spot on a team with a system in place that will benefit him.

He's shown that he can play well in slow and fast paced systems. When he replaced an injured Pau Gasol for Fratellos's 04/05 Grizzlies, the team did very well, consistently beating the opponent in rebounding with Swift starting, which was never the case with Gasol starting.

The only reason he hasn't had as much statistical success playing for slower teams in recent years is that his touches have been down. The thing about faster paced teams is that there are more shot attempts to go around, so he will have more of a chance to get shots and do his thing. It's got nothing to do with actually having higher quality of play in a faster paced system, because that's simply not the case.

In Houston, he was behind Juwan Howard, the quintessential half-court player, but Stromile out produced him all across the board, with a better shooting percentage, more free throw attempts per game, more blocks, more steals, all in fewer minutes, and all despite the fact that Juwan was a starter and got more minutes with Yao and T-Mac than Stromile did.

With the Nets, it seems like Coach Frank doesn't have a quick trigger finger when it comes to pulling Stromile out of games, but the problem is just that he doesn't get into the games enough. The key is just finding a team with a coach that will actually get Stromile on the court and let him play. The pace the team plays at is totally inconsequential, other than the effect it will have on Stromile's touches.