SD2042 wrote:Rag, one issue with Stro is that he wouldn't be able too well into the Spurs half court style. The Spurs style doesn't rely on a lot of athleticism. Which means fewer transition points and lobs to the basket plays. Now teams like Denver, New Orleans, Washington, GSW, and Detroit could be considerations for Stro to fit the team profile.
SD, I don't think your argument has a whole lot of weight considering that the Spurs other bigs have been guys like Rasho Nesterovic, Fabricio Oberto, Nazr Muhammad, Francisco Elson, Robert Horry, Matt Bonner and even the aged David Robinson... none of whom are or were better back to the basket players than Stromile is.
What Stromile lacks in jump shooting he more than makes up for with his slashing ability and ability to pressure opposing defenses and get to the foul line... which seems to me to be a bit of a weakness for the Spurs. The Spurs could really use Swift's aggressiveness.
Defensively, he would be a great complement to Duncan and can help protect the paint if opposing teams use Duncan's man to set picks in the high pick and roll.
SD, remember from his Memphis days, it was almost always Swift's man who would be setting the picks, and the Grizzlies defense behind Swift (Warrick, Miller, Gasol) would get exposed for not playing D in the paint behind Swift when his man was setting picks. Same situation Duncan and the Spurs were in vs LA.
lukeridenour wrote:whats his contract like? i mean if all it took was 2nd round pick, barring a bad contract, that sounds good to me.
rag-time, you seem to feel that there are no smart question marks, since i dont watch stro i'll trust you on that one. but i do have to wonder why it was so hard for him to get playing time on mem, houston, and now the nets. do you feel that he is simply misused?
Swift is in the last year of the deal he signed with Houston. I think it's somewhere around 6 mil. After this season he's unrestricted (contract year
)
I do think Stromile was misused everywhere he's been, to say the least.
In Memphis, he was often used at Center while the bigger Pau Gasol was used at PF. Often times opposing teams would have their matchups correct, but then the Griz would switch it and put Swift on the center.
Being constantly used at Center has limited Swift's effectiveness as a back to the basket player, but he does very well in situations where he's not at a size disadvantage (which is rare)
He's always been an effective slasher and finisher but he doesn't get a lot of touches... because he's just not on the floor enough.
I disagree with SD, and having watched Stromile in Houston I thought he totaly outplayed the starting PF, Juwan Howard. Stromile won in many key statistical categories despite far fewer minutes.
Swift's ability to attack opposing defenses was a perfect complement to Yao. JVG's strategy of surrounding Yao with shooters didn't work, because it's a boring offensive strategy and because shooters usually aren't good athletic defenders, and in particular the players on the 05/06 Rockets squad that got so many minutes, such as Juwan Howard and David Wesley, who were horrible defensively.
Swift and Yao played very well together. In fact, I would argue that Swift made Yao better, in that Swift's aggressive style may have rubbed off on Yao. Yao's numbers took a significant jump the year Swift joined the team.
Beyond being misused, though, I think the biggest problem Swift has had is that his coaches have just not been able to relate to him.
Also, because of the strong hip-hop aesthetic that's seen in Swift's playing style, I think there has been a lack of respect for him. All of the players chosen to play over Swift have not had the same hip-hop persona, but Swift has shown when given the chance that he's better than the players who his coaches have favored.