Yes, I know he has been a major disappointment. I know he is not refined in any way, nor does he look good in a halfcourt set. With that said, he is the one player that if the team could get going, they could decently weather the storm without Yao. I think JVG should just tell Stromile to stop thinking so much, and just play ball. It may not work, but at this point what other choice does the team have. Wesley is an inconsistent 3pt shooter, Head is a rookie who needs to work on taking something off his 15 foot jumper(it always is long), Howard runs hot/cold, Deke is all defense/putbacks, Bowen is a hustle player , and Moochie/Baxter shouldn't be playing if all was well. The risk is worth the possible reward at this point. For example tonight, Swift had beaten his man down the floor, and Moochie had the ball around midcourt. The Rockets ended up setting up a halfcourt offensive set that failed to score, when I would have liked to see them utilize swift's athleticism. In fact, I think we should look to utilize his athleticism more. I'm talking alley oops like Denver does with K-Mart. On another note, with this team JVG needs to not be so stubborn about not crashing the boards. That makes it increasingly hard for a team already limited on scoring ability.
I agree also. He tries to do too much when he's out there. You can tell he's thinking too much instead of just letting the game come to him.
Swift needs to make strong decisive moves when he's attacking the basket. He's seem tenative when he starts his moves which result in the ball getting stripped and traveling calls. I think he'll turn it around but I think JVG is waiting for Swift to show him consistent effort. From watching the games, some times he's very active, others, it's almost like he's not there.
If/when we are ready to completely give up on the season, fine. But if the Rockets are still trying to win games, they cannot keep putting Goofy on the floor when he kills them. He should be traded or moved to 3rd string behind Baxter. Based on your logic, they should "just let Bowen play right now" because after 20 or 30 games he might start hitting wide open jumpshots. Why is it that some of us are so patient with Goofy? Are some still addicted to his "potential"? He hasn't done anything in 5+ NBA seasons. Why will this year be different? I'll tell you what his upside is: instead of being an 8/4 foul machine, he would be a 10/5 foul machine. He also might average an extra .5 block per game.
we need to let him play so that he can have at least one really good game - so that his trade value rises. at least he'll be worth more, and thus we might get more back in return.
I guess I missed the other times, but it seems like 99% of the time it's like he's not there. Any of you watch UT football? Notice how Vince Young seems to run in slow-motion, yet he gets up the field and makes plays? Well, Stro looks like he's in slow motion when he's playing, except he DOESN'T make plays.
The only thing Swift seems to be good at is dunking the ball. I've noticed he has poor ball handling skills and the way he tries to move when he has the ball can be described as erratic at best. It's like he is making up his post-up move whenever he gets the ball and tries some crazy shot which he cannot make unless it is a dunk. It appears he is best when the play breaks down and he is found open. However, if you run a set play through him, then he may make a good move but almost always misses the shot. I dunno about this guy but my confidence in him is at an all-time low. He's way too erratic. Yea...give him the ball so we can see more erratic play. At least we can determine what position on the bench he deserves.
Well when we get Rafer back, I'd like to see the Rockets run more until they get Yao back Swift would produce much better in an offense like that and we could probably gather up some wins
I completely agree with you, which is why I didn't want the Rockets grabbing Swift. There were better options out there for the type of offense that we run. And I know some of you will want to say for his defense, but he stinks at defense except for blocking shots. And he hasn't even done that very well since he's been here. He's going to have a hard time succeeding in a JVG half-court set offense.
I have no answer for you but remember: this is a place where people continued to defend and make excuses for Eddie Griffin even when he was out of the league because he had so much "potential". In fact, some folks would take him back without hesitation today if he was available never mind the fact that he is the primary reason they have no true starting PF to this day. The "story" on Swift coming in was that he had enormous athletic "potential" but was stuck behind Gasol in Memphis and all that he needed was playing time. Well, Yao is out weeks & Mutumbo is old and was hurt and playing time was his for the asking and he still showed nothing. But he still has all that "potential" that 3 veteran coaches have now failed to "unleash" upon the league. I'm with you on this one: at some point what you see with this guy is what you're going to get.
Agreed. And one more thing--potential and athletic ability mean nothing when you have a 0.1 Basketball IQ. And that's about all I'm giving him from what I've seen so far this year.
While Swift has proven that he's not be capable of putting up good numbers consistently for an entire season. He's also proven that he is capable of stepping up for stretches (8-12 games), as shown by his numbers throughout his career when starting (15-18 ppg, 6-7 rpg). At the very least, we need to get him playing at the same level he was playing at in Memphis. At this point, getting his motivation up should be priority #1. Right now, it's got to be at an all time low. He knows he's been a disappointment. The fans know he's been a disappointment. Van Gundy knows he's been a disappointment. It seems as if he’s trying too hard to meet those expectations. He needs to just stop worrying about what people are saying about him and just play. There’s really been only one game where I’ve seen him relaxed and just playing freely and that was his first pre-season game. I guess that was before all the expectations sunk in. The worst thing that could have happened to Swift was when Mcgrady was hyping him up to be an all-star. The expectations were so high that there was no doubt he was going to disappoint. They should have treated him the same way they treated Luther Head.
People are still on the Swift bandwagon? Hey, look on the bright side - at the end of the season, somebody's going to have enough highlights to make a 5 minute video set to gangsta rap. Somebody already stated it - with Yao and Deke out, this is/was his chance to show something. He hasn't shown squat.
The guy is D-U-M-B. Zero basketball IQ. His post moves look like poster child moves. He tries to make every layup a highlight. If I'm JVG, I limit his offense to put-backs and that nice 18ft jump shot he has. In a pinch, I'd rather post-up Baxter. The criminal thing is that this guy was sold to us as a rebounder and shotblocker. But he's never in position for rebounds and he gathers fouls much quicker than blocks. I'd trade him for a 2nd rounder right now, if that was possible. He's built like an NBA player, no doubt, but basketball just isn't his sport. I hope that watching Swift makes people on this board appreciate Juwan Howard more. Here's a guy with zero hops, but he's smooth down there on the block, and that makes the difference.
Neither Howard nor Swift is the answer. What we need is a top secret genetic experiment to mold them together into one guy. Swift's physical talent combined with Howard's brain would be quite a power forward.
Yeah, if we could combine that with the fierceness and tenacity of a player like Reggie Evans, and get all that for $5-$6 mill per, then we'd have something. Based on what I've seen, I don't think Swift has a snowball's chance in Hades of being a rebounder in this league. Hops won't do it. You gotta have the lead in your seat to be able to root people out and establish and maintain position around the bucket. Swift aint got that. He's light as a feather and he cannot create space for himself.
