Official Game Thread:Jazz @ Nets (66)

[Serpo]

Diops one of the worst offensive players in the league thatswhy .
His career high is 10 points and he's in the league for quite a while ...

Boone's been playing great most of the time since he's been the s5 , don't see why Diop should be in the s5 right now.

[Birth of the Cool]

Why is Diop not starting?

I actually like Diop as the starting 5 BUT only paired with Krstic. Diop's toughness / defense hides Krstic's & Nets overall softness on D and Krstic's scoring ability will allow the offense to work smoothly with Diop's lack of offensive skills.

It also allows the potential of Marcus & Boone having more minutes on the floor together which at least offensively works well as they have good chemistry.

That being said, Boone has played well the past two games after an awful stretch & being called out by RJ so he's happily proven me wrong.

[rag-time4]

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Despite the negatives people are saying about Swift this game, he had a pretty good game. Yes, he made 2 dumb mistakes. But he made up for it the following consequtive possessions. He dove for a steal on Deron, and defended a high pick on roll on Korver that led to his TO.

The other positives - crucial minutes that led us to play big and keep Boozer from dominating the boards in the 1st half. Swift had 3 "tapped" rebounds that all led to fastbreak buckets. He changed shots from the wings that beat ours, and moved well without the ball, which allowed 1on1 driving lanes for our slashers.

Point is, playing big definately allowed us more opportunites on both ends. It's only a matter of more consistent minutes, until his teammates start knowing how to reward. Vince missed a lob that would of gave him an open dunk. And he missed his FTs. Don't worry, he's going to have a breakout game soon enough.

I just saw the mistakes... first he got mad about getting fouled and not getting the call, then on the next play on the other end was careless with his feet after getting the uncontested defensive board.

He's gotta have more poise than that but it's nice to see that he's playing with his heart. I think on the first one he got mad and lost control, then he got rattled about it and lost focus on that board.

But I agree overall he had a good game. Also in the first half, he caused a few missed shots in the paint : 1 by Brewer, 1 by Boozer, because of his defense.

ViNNNsanity, I saw that missed lob from VC .... one thing that I saw that i didn't like from VC was that he often didn't pass to Stromile when Stromile was all alone under the basket and VC had a passing lane. VC did get to the line himself though... so ok... but he shouldn't be freezing Stomile out like that. Share the ball and help Stromile get a rhythm going. The role of the superstar is supposed to be to make the other players better, right?

Stromile can finish around the rim if nothing else, but he can't do that if he doesn't get the ball. Utah also doesn't have anyone who can really defend him in the low post so he should have gotten more touches on offense, but oh well. At least he played.

By the way, does anyone know why Hassell didn't play in this game?

[ViNNNsanity]

I saw that, too. His teammates are going to notice him more. He definately puts himself in good position to score. About Hassel, he's a consistent midrange shooter and plays average-to-better than average defense. I like him over Boki, but I think Frank just doesn't know how to use him. Whenever he's on the floor he's playing PF so it really doesn't work out well.

[Serpo]

. I like him over Boki, .

For what reason , their about the same lenght and Swift isn't a defensive wall either , he only a better shot blocker while Boki's playing more intense . On offense Boki's a good ( although streaky ) outside shooter that can drive to the basket and will hit his free throws when he's fouled .

. Swift on the other hand is a bad free throw shooter , he has a very inconsistent midrange jumper that he loves too much and hasn't shown much of a post game either .

He looks lost on the court.

[stro4swift]

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For what reason , their about the same lenght and Swift isn't a defensive wall either , he only a better shot blocker while Boki's playing more intense . On offense Boki's a good ( although streaky ) outside shooter that can drive to the basket and will hit his free throws when he's fouled .

. Swift on the other hand is a bad free throw shooter , he has a very inconsistent midrange jumper that he loves too much and hasn't shown much of a post game either .

He looks lost on the court.

I think that ViNNNsanity was saying that he liked Hassell over Boki, not Swift. Anyway, Stro may not be that good of a defender but Boki should not be playing the 4 even if he's more intense.

Swift is not a bad free throw shooter, he's shooting 70% from the line in his career. If he's bad, I dare you to come up with a word to describe Boone's FT shooting.

[Serpo]

Swift shot very poor with NJ from the Line ....

And if you bring up Boone look up his numbers month by month and you'll see that it has gotten better and better every month . He started with like 18% and is around 70% in March .
And even if he misses some free throws he's clearly earned his minutes this season with the way he played so far.

That shows me he's working hard to get better , thats something Swift missed his whole career significant improvement .

And i ask you if the game is on the line who you put in ?

A player that hit his shots and has been reliable in the past or Swift that is still new and hasn't shown anything to impress . Even if it's not his best position you can't leave the better player on the bench.

Harris , VC , RJ and Boone are no brainers anyway .

[halfHAVOC]

heres teh RJ game winner youtubed.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Y9aURK2CZjM

[kamaze]

I was hyped to see Swift improve playing with Kidd unfortunately he's proving what people said about him. He's got a low bball I.Q. probably why he blames coaches.

[rag-time4]

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For what reason , their about the same lenght and Swift isn't a defensive wall either , he only a better shot blocker while Boki's playing more intense . On offense Boki's a good ( although streaky ) outside shooter that can drive to the basket and will hit his free throws when he's fouled .

. Swift on the other hand is a bad free throw shooter , he has a very inconsistent midrange jumper that he loves too much and hasn't shown much of a post game either .

He looks lost on the court.

Serpo, what exactly do you mean by the last line? It doesn't make much sense to me...

As for the inconsistent jumper and lack of a post up game, how many touches has he gotten?

Krstic has certainly had games where he shoots poorly, and he's regarded as an excelent shooter...

And as for the post up game, keep in mind matchups. Against Utah in the 1st quarter, Stromile got 1 post up touch on the first half that I remember, and he put a nice move on Boozer and got a great look at the basket but failed to finish. Stromile dominated him on the glass, and also forced a couple misses (1 by Brewer, 1 by Boozer) in that 1st qarter.

I don't remember if Boone was on the court or not, but I know that Coach Frank put Stromile Swift in the game for defensive purposes on the Jazz' last shot, and the move worked as Stromile forced the Jazz to throw the pass into the corner for a contested three. Seems like great D by Swift to me... And nice to see some love and respect shown to Stromile. Jeff Van Gundy used to bench him for Ryan Bowen in those situations in Houston and it almost always backfired.

Anyway Serpo, what do you mean by saying that Swift "looks lost"?

Seems to me he's doing a good job on the glass, he's blocking shots, and he's making himself available for fiishes around the basket. His +/- numbers have overall been outstanding.

http://www.82games.com/0708/0708NJN.HTM

And also, as far as improving his game... he has improved his footwork in the post, and he seems a bit more steady and consistent in that regard then when he first came into the league.... but he still sometimes gets into trouble when coaches force him to post up against players who are way bigger, like Yao Ming, for example. In those types of matchups, Swift needs to get the ball further from the basket with room and space to create offense by himself, but those opportunities are few and far between.

Also, another mprovement is that Stromile is much more willing to pass now. I think he's shown from day 1 with the Nets, certainly, that he's willing to pass to teammates when they have good looks and are open around the basket.

If I knew how to produce youtube videos I would love to make a mix of Stromile dishing the ball for nice assists, and I'm sorry that his fans who produce youtube mixes focus on his dunks and blocks, but a mix of his assists would show that far from being lost, he has great court vision and a good feel for the psychological side of the game.

[Serpo]

With lost i mean i looks like he don't really has a clue what he is supposed to do in the court .

[MrDollarBills]

With lost i mean i looks like he don't really has a clue what he is supposed to do in the court .

Just like everyone else

With Sean playing like a foul machine, I don't see any problem with Stro getting PT as long as he's out there hustling on both ends of the floor and running with Devin when he forces the issue.

[EFF]

Stro's a little bigger than i remember him being. At least his wingspan looks pretty ridiculous. If he got a little more aggressive he'd be so useful.

[ViNNNsanity]

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For what reason , their about the same lenght and Swift isn't a defensive wall either , he only a better shot blocker while Boki's playing more intense . On offense Boki's a good ( although streaky ) outside shooter that can drive to the basket and will hit his free throws when he's fouled .

. Swift on the other hand is a bad free throw shooter , he has a very inconsistent midrange jumper that he loves too much and hasn't shown much of a post game either .

He looks lost on the court.

I already addressed many points why I think Swift is more ideal for us than Boki in the Nets vs Cavs thread. You gave me nothing worth replying back to you. The fact that you bring up "streaky shooting and an ability to hit a FT," while failing to address any of rag-time4's points as to how Swift can give us more of impact in the post, is exactly why I think it's completely pointless arguing with you.

[Serpo]

He may can but he if you look at his career he never has made an significant impact on any team he was on .

Why should be do it now ? Whats the reasoning ?

[MrDollarBills]

I'd prefer that Boki play most of his minutes at the SF spot, the small ball nonsense IMO really doesn't work and I hate when Frank uses it when the other team has their regular C-PF-SF-SG-PG line up on the floor, Boki can barely stay in front of guys that play his spot what logic is there in playing him against 4's? Also, why play small ball and then slow everything down with halfcourt sets that involve zero cuts or movement?

We can be critical of the players all we want, but the bigger problem lies not within that talent, but within how the talent is used!!!

[rag-time4]

He may can but he if you look at his career he never has made an significant impact on any team he was on .

Why should be do it now ? Whats the reasoning ?

Serpo, I remember a game when Stromile was in Houston, between the Knicks and the Rockets.... it was a Sunday game on ABC.. and Hubie Brown was doing the color commentary with Mike Breen as the play by play...

Hubie Brown coached Stromile for two seasons in Memphis.

During the game, Breen took a shot or two at Swift while he was shooting free throws (Stromile has always had the ability to get to the foul line because of his aggression.....) and Hubie Brown defended Stromile.

Brown said that Swift was a large part of the Grizzlies' success (they won 50 games, shattering the franchise record, and made the playoffs, a remarkable turnaround after having won 28 games the previous season, then a franchise record). Brown argued that it was in large part thanks to the play of both Lorenzen Wright and Stromile Swift at the Center position.

Brown went out of his way to say that Swift specifically did a great job of accepting his role as backup center, which Brown noted is not his natural position, and bringing a consistent effort game in and game out.

Ironically, I remember another instance that season where Brown was a commentator for a Rockets game on ABC, and he criticized Juwan Howard for "not rotating at all" defensively on a particular play. Don't remember what game that was, but it confirmed what I had seen watching the Rockets all season... the supposedly "defense minded" Jeff Van Gundy was giving the bulk of the PF minutes to a player who is not and has never been committed to playing good defense....

Anyway, from the first time I saw him play, I have seen that Stromile can have a huge impact on games when given the opportunity. Nobody can have much of an impact playing 5 minutes a game.

The clearest examples of Swift's impact with the Griz were his stints in the starting lineup when either Pau Gasol or Lorenzen Wright were out.

In 02/03 (Hubie's first season as coach) one of Lorenzen Wright's daughters died tragically, and he missed several games. Stromile started alongside Pau Gasol, and the Griz rattled off a franchise record 6 game winning streak.

In 03/04, Lorenzen missed most of the month of March with a knee injury, and Swift regularly saw 30+ minutes, and the Grizzlies set a record for wins in a month/ best record in a month, and were able to coast into the playoffs.

In 04/05, Gasol missed significant time with an ankle injury, and Stromile stepped into the starting lineup and not only did the team win, but they became a much more solid rebounding team. I remember looking this up before, and if I remember correctly the Griz were only beaten or tied on the offensive glass twice in all the games he started that season.. not bad for a team that was overall near the bottom of the league in rebounding...

[Serpo]

He had good streches but never managed to get it consistently and esspecially not yet for the Nets .

Boki had a great season last year and thatswhy he'll allways get the knock over Swift in crunchtime till he finally gets a good game.

[rag-time4]

He had good streches but never managed to get it consistently and esspecially not yet for the Nets .

Boki had a great season last year and thatswhy he'll allways get the knock over Swift in crunchtime till he finally gets a good game.

My contention is that Swift has had a good stretch every time he's been given good playing time with decent teammates.

Fair enough about Nachbar though! He does have seniority over Stromile on the Nets... but he's going to have to shoot better than he did against Chicago (1/10) ... Poor shooting combined with consistently poor defense is not a recipe for success...

But Stromile has to earn the trust of his teammates and coaches (and Nets fans ) before he gets a more significant role. Hopefully it works out. The Nets still have a chance to make the playoffs!