Swift being showcased for a trade!!

[Diesel]

I just wish that we could get a part of it.

http://gomemphis.com/mca/grizzlies/article/0,1426,MCA_475_1474996,00.html

Here's the way I see it. Even though it was a Louisana game, it was showcase time for Swift. He did well too. So well, that I had a new thought.

Nazr/Glover to Orlando

Miller/Declerq/ 1st (Atlanta) to Memphis

Swift/Battier to Atlanta.

If we could trust Hendu to play C then Cut Email and find one more C prospect?... I'd do it. Maybe Harvey is it.

[Gray Mule]

Article wouldn't come up {I tried twice} , said something

about an error- went to the site, but not the article.

Gray Mule

[Diesel]

By Spencer Tirey/AP

Eddie Gill maneuvers around Los Angeles defender Robert Horry. A crowd of 14,672 at Alltel Arena saw the Grizzlies fall to the NBA champs.

AP

Stromile Swift (trying to get past Samaki Walker) was the main man for the Grizzlies on Friday night, scoring 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting in a 95-87 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

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Swift shines, but Griz fall to Lakers

Youngster takes advantage of start

By Ronald Tillery

tillery@gomemphis.com

October 12, 2002

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The crowd came to see one former Louisiana State center. The Grizzlies gave them another.

Partly because Shaquille O'Neal, known too as The Big Aristotle, sat in street clothes, the Griz started Stromile Swift at center.

Just call Swift the big question mark.

Doubt is what seems to follow the 6-9 forward these days.

Has the former No. 2 overall pick improved? Does he really fit into the Grizzlies plans?

Is Swift going to earn quality playing time given rookie Drew Gooden's stellar training camp? Will Swift, who was on the trading block all summer, be a Grizzly by the season opener?

The answer to those inquisitions is legitimately this: Who knows?

But Swift isn't standing still trying to figure it all out.

At least he did not appear immobile Friday night before a crowd of 14,672 in Alltel Arena. Swift clearly was the bright side of the Grizzlies' 95-87 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

"I just feel like I don't have anything to lose," said Swift, who amassed 24 points and nine rebounds in 36 minutes. "I just go out and play and try not to worry about a lot of things."

Instead, Swift is displaying aggressiveness that has been plain to see in each of the Grizzlies three preseason games.

Swift wasted little time asserting himself against the Shaq-less Lakers.

His first basket was a 21-foot jump shot. Moments later, Swift took a rebound off the rim and slammed it back with authority.

From crisp post moves to hard dunks in traffic, this wasn't your sleepy Stromile Swift.

"There's times when we'd like for him to be even more aggressive," Lowe said. "But I've been pleased with him."

Lowe said he had a talk with Swift about maintaining a level of intensity.

"I just told him to work hard," Lowe said. "You should work, work, work until you just feel like you're about to die.

"If you don't push yourself to that point, then you'll never be able to get it. He's getting to the point where even when's he's tired, he doesn't allow that to defeat him."

Even on a good night, Swift plays to a tough crowd: teammates who expect more out of the third-year forward.

Swift stands to lose playing time to Gooden if he doesn't develop consistency in his game.

So far, Gooden's calling card is going all out, all the time. And there is little doubt that Gooden is pushing Swift to play better basketball.

"Drew brings it every day. Stro brought it (Friday night) but that's just one night," point guard Jason Williams said. "You know what I mean? I just think he makes the game so much harder than it really is. But he'll be all right."

Impressive was that most of Swift's solid play came against regulars in the Lakers rotation. Swift saw time opposite Samaki Walker and Robert Horry.

Playing him at center might turn out to be more than just an exhibition game experiment.

"I can play center against some teams," Swift said. "I'm sure they wouldn't put me in there against The Diesel (O'Neal) but I can guard some of the guys off the bench like Samaki. With other teams in the league, I can guard some of their centers. But I'm pretty much comfortable at the four."

Although there were times when Swift made bad decisions to shoot outside his range on the perimeter, he made up for it by giving the Griz a force inside.

On one possession, Swift caught a pass in stride on the baseline. In the same motion, he floated a high-arching shot that fell good over the outreached hands of Walker.

Swift was sharp in making 10-of-17 shot attempts. He regularly attacked the basket with vigor, scoring at times while drawing contact and a foul.

The show of toughness was paramount for Swift, who did not help his cause last week when he couldn't practice because of foot blisters.

"He knows he's capable of doing a lot of things in terms of putting the ball on the floor and facing up," Lowe said. "It's just a matter of gaining confidence."

And simply a matter of gaining on Gooden.

- Ronald Tillery: 529-2353

[capstone21]

The Griz are much higher on Battier then you are giving him credit for.

They would want more for the package they are giving up.

[Blunt91]

I agree withyou Cap.Battier and Swift are former lottery picks with loads of potential. Declerq is a decent backup at best and Mike(spanky) Miller can shoot but is a bad defender unlike Battier who is a pretty good one.Who knows what Memphis would get with our pick.It would be a little to risky to give up a guy who could be a above average starter(Battier) and a athletic young player like Swift.

[Traceman]

It's been obvious since the Grizz drafted Gooden that Swift was the odd man out. EVERYBODY knew this. EVERYBODY knew they were going to showcase him after they failed to trade him this off season. While you were busy insisting that Gasol was a SF, everybody else has been talking about Memphis trying to trade Swift because they have 3 PFs and Swift is #3 on the depth chart.

Why in the world would MEM want Miller/DeClerq and a pick for Swift/Battier? Miller is not an upgrade over Battier and Swift is worth more than DeClerq and a pick.