Suns.com has a great interview with Stromile Swift posted yesterday. Here's part of the interview followed by the link. Enjoy!
Suns.com: What are your thoughts on coming to play in Phoenix?
Stromile Swift: It’s a lot different than living in New Jersey. When I left it was 20-something degrees. When I got here, it was 80. As far as joining the team, I’m excited and happy to be here. I’m looking forward to helping us make a push into the playoffs.
Suns.com: Do you have any good memories about playing here in the past?
Swift: About four or five years ago, when I was playing for the Grizzlies, we played the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the playoffs. We had some pretty good games, some pretty close games. They swept us that series, but it was a pretty good experience for me and I enjoyed playing here.
Suns.com: How do you feel you’ll be able to help the team?
Swift: The team is already athletic. I think I can bring a little more of that to the team with my shotblocking, my ability to get up and down the floor and using my presence to change the game. I believe I can make an impact doing that.
Suns.com: Do you have any existing relationships with any of the guys on the team? Don’t you have an LSU connection with Shaq?
Swift: I met Shaq when I was 19 years-old and it was my first year in college. We’ve been cool ever since. When I was in college, he used to come back when he was going back to school and we used to play pick-up. So we had a chance to hang out a little bit.
Suns.com: Do you have any funny Shaq stories?
Swift: He’s been like that forever. There are so many I can’t really think of one off of the top of my head.
Suns.com: Having played with Brook Lopez in New Jersey and now having played a little bit with Robin Lopez here, what are some of the similarities and differences that you’ve noticed between the two players?
Swift: I was just telling everyone the other day that they look so much alike, they sound alike it’s amazing. Just being around them, they’re the same, but they’re different. I think Robin is a little bit quieter than Brook. Brook is kind of outgoing and jokes around more than Robin.
Suns.com: How about their respective games?
Swift: Brook might be a little more polished offensively, but Robin plays really hard, rebounds the ball and is aggressive. I think they will both turn out to be pretty good players.
Suns.com: You’re known for having made hand signals after you dunk. What was the meaning behind that?
Swift: It’s been a while since I’ve done that. It started back in high school. A couple of guys on my team used to do it. I started to get more exposure and I started to go off to different camps where I played on TV. So the guys back home told me that if I got a dunk or something I should throw up a sign to represent my hometown. Ever since I started doing that, it started catching on and once I got to college at LSU, I started doing it and the fans started doing it. I just kept it going from there.
Suns.com: So it doesn’t mean anything particularly symbolic?
Swift: No.
Suns.com: What is the best basketball moment of your life?
Swift: Probably playing in my first game in the NBA. We were playing against Seattle and I knew I was there - but I couldn’t believe that I was there. I was playing against Patrick Ewing that year that he played in Seattle. My adrenaline was going, I was pumped, I was ready to go out there and play and I think I scored about 16 points in my first preseason game. So it was a pretty good experience for me.
Suns.com: Was there a certain player that you looked up to growing up?
Swift: I really started getting serious about basketball in seventh or eighth grade. I used to watch Shaq and Chris Jackson (now Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf) at LSU. Ever since then I’ve really been psyched about playing and after seeing them, I really wanted to go to LSU. As a pro, I think my favorite player was Hakeem Olajuwon.
http://www.nba.com/suns/news/oneonone_swift_090309.html
I hope Stromile is a member of the Suns next season. Him and Amare playing together would be really fun to watch because they're both so athletic.
