TACOMA, Wash. — Former Tiger Stromile Swift scored 16 points, pulled down six rebounds and blocked three shots in his NBA preseason debut with the Vancouver Grizzlies on Monday night. Vancouver lost the opener in the Tacoma Dome, 96-88, to the Supersonics in what was also Patrick Ewing’s debut with the Seattle.
Vancouver led the game, 53-44, at halftime behind nine points from Swift in seven minutes of play. However, the Grizzlies were outscored 28-16 in the fourth quarter.
The Grizzlies, 1-7 in the preseason last year before struggling to a 22-60 record in the regular season, stayed within five points until the final minute.
After the game, the 6-9, 225-pound rookie stated his goals for his first season in the professional ranks, “I think all rookies have one expectation, and that’s to win rookie of the year.”
Swift finished the game 5-of-7 from the field and 6-of-8 from the free throw line. He added two assists and two turnovers.
Swift was the first-round draft pick of the Grizzlies and the second overall in June after leading LSU to the NCAA Sweet 16. In two seasons in Baton Rouge, he averaged 13.3 points and 6.9 rebound per game. Swift ranks second on LSU’s all-time blocked shots list with 130, trailing only Shaquille O’Neal.
Swift was named Third Team All-American by the AP as a sophomore and was the co-MVP of the SEC as chosen by the AP and a consensus First Team All-SEC choice by the AP and the league’s coaches. He was also named a Second Team All-American by the Basketball Times.
Former Tiger Chris Jackson (1988-90), now Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, did not score in his return game to the NBA after spending two years away from the league and a year out of basketball. He played 11 minutes for the Grizzlies and was 0-of-4 from the field. He added one rebound and one assist.
Abdul-Rauf, 31, who began his eighth season in the NBA on Monday, signed as a free agent on Aug. 19. After adopting the Islamic faith in August of 1991, he officially changed his name in July of 1993.
He averaged 7.3 points per game in 28 games for the Sacramento Kings in the 1997-98 season. Abdul-Rauf once scored 51 points in an NBA game while playing for the Denver Nuggets. He holds the NCAA freshman scoring record with 965 points and 30.2 points per game.
Abdul-Rauf was a two-time consensus SEC Player of the Year, the seventh-leading scorer in LSU history and the second freshman in NCAA history to make the Associated Press’ All-America First Team. He was the Nuggets’ first-round draft pick in 1990 and the third overall.