Scary part about what you said is that we haven't even seen James in his prime yet I think if both are healthy, T-Mac is better than James and will be until James becomes somewhat defensively adequate. Seeing as 100% guaranteed health was the the key prerequisite, T-mac would manage just fine in the NBA without being the size of a PF. T-Mac is injured. Last season he proved he was the best SF in the league. Just like Hakeem proved he was the best center in the league against Admiral, a Cavs/Rockets playoff series would be great to watch and go a long way in proving who was better. We saw what T-Mac did to LeBron this season, he made him look absolutley foolish on some possessions. When James becomes a beast defensively (and it's only a matter of time). He will be far and away the best player in the league.
I love half of the pro-Kobe posts: "Kobe is way better and if you can't see that then ..." Please elaborate rather than stating your opinion as a fact. Anybody watch Colbert? In all "truthiness," it feels like Kobe is better. But if you look at it closer, its not so clear cut. Right now, I'd take Kobe simply for health reasons. But if they were both healthy, I'd take TMac. I beleive TMac has the ability to be a better player IF you can light a fire under him. Kobe gets more respect simply because he is 1.) Playing in Los Angeles 2.) Played w/ the best player on the planet named Shaq to piggy back to three rings. No Shaq = no rings for Kobe.
I hope Cleveland gets its team straight for next year and make it to the Finals. Then LeBron can play a hopefully healthy McGrady and we will see who's the real 'king'. I think McGrady's talent and desire to show that he is truly great would come out in that series. McGrady seems to be pretty relaxed unless he has some real motivation. That's when he really comes out and can dominate anyone.
i totally agree with this statement. i love t-mac, but it's true. if t-mac played like he did against dallas in the first round last season he would be a monster!
I think you guys should stop saying: "if tmac was healthy". We all know that he's not healthy anymore.
You can't say one is better than the other. TMac is more versatile...Kobe is the better scorer and defender...TMac's the better shooter and passer... I do like Kobe's competitive drive more than TMac's... But, honestly, you can't say one is greater than the other...It's fair to say they're both of equal value...
I have some personal experience about back problem. Some bones of my spine are not at the right position. I can go to therapy once a while and the doctors help to put them back. But then I have to take care because they have a tendency to go back to the wrong position again. It can happen just because I don't sit in proper posture coz I sit in front of the computer all the time. Right now the problem is very minor since it doesn't seem to affect anything, just my shoulder and back are sore once a while. But doctors said it'll give me hell when I get old if I don't deal with it properly (well doctors always say that). Of course I don't play any professional sport, so I don't know exactly how a heavy sport can make it worse. What I try to say, back problems don't go away. It's only a matter of how well it can be managed. So, an injured TMac is what we have now, still a highly valuable asset, but not as great as he once was. It's up to Rockets management to make the best out of him. We can only pray.
Kobe emulating MJ's mannerism is another argument, but I am using it as a fact that any player who gets mentioned in the same sentence as MJ means that person's game is at whole another level. Now, I am not claiming to know every source in the world, but you see Kobe and MJ being compared on like ESPN, radio, papers, etc. alot and I just never came across TMAC in those sources. I just think it says alot be compared to the greats and it means you are greater than your current competition if they are not getting the same recognition. Not saying its an absolute test to compare all players in the world, but just an added dimension to the whole Kobe-TMAC debate.
Talent wise, as much as i hate kobe, i have to say kobe is a better player though T-mac and Kobe play differently. But I still pick T-mac as a better team player. You put kobe in any team, he will still get his stats but his team efficiency will drop as he dont trust his teammates as of now. Hopefully, after this year humilation by the suns in the game 7, kobe will learn to be a better team player.
T-mac's career is not over. it is idiotic to even suggest that. i'll give tracy a full year to asses if his injury will be a chronic thing. before his injury, tracy could do everything kobe does and better. hopefully once he gets his back in order, he will revert to being that player. according to POP there is no tougher cover then tracy.
In overall talent, I would take TMac. Because of back injuries and fear of aggrevating his back, TMac can't be as aggressive, and resorts to his jumper much more often. If TMac didn't have back problems, Kobe's lack of passing ability and court vision would easily place him behind McGrady.
its a far and away dream - but how good would it be to see a cleveland houston finals series. just get someone different in there. unfortunately of course, we're likely stuck with detroit and san antonio for at least the next 2 or 3 seasons.
I'm not so sure about that. Shaq was in him prime and he probably could have won a championship or two with any decent teammates and one other stud around him (such as TMac ). Under about any situation, Kobe wasn't winning one of those rings w/out Shaq. If Shaq and Kobe were the 1st and 2nd best in the league, Shaq held the #1 spot for sure.
Until I see T-Mac have the same killer instinct and will that Kobe has, he is NOT the better player. Everyone has skills in the NBA. Its about who wants it more and who is willing to do more to get it. T-Mac might actually be more physically gifted than anyone else in the NBA. The mind sets the difference. The minutes Hakeem saw an blood, you knew you were in trouble if you were the opponent. Same for Jordan. Same for Magic. Same for Isiah. Same for Kobe. I haven't seen T-Mac be that type of player just yet. Or Lebron for that matter. But he is still only 15 so...
LOL, you people make me laugh. All of you Kobe people. Killer instinct? LOL! Tell me what that has done for him? Won him an MVP? a title without Shaq? I bet alot of you think his facial expressions and yelling is aggressiveness. Ask San Antonio if Tmac has a killer instinct. Ask Dirk if he has it. I dont want to hear it. Kobe surely showed us his monster instinct in game 7. Truth is he won one scoring title, and thats because he shot over 2000 times this season (which is unheard of), and he still wasnt the most efficient, nor did he have the best season of all of his peers. This thread has become a joke because you folks refuse to tell the truth. Who wants it more.... dont make me laugh again. Its funny in a year Tmac is injured you come out like roaches, but last year when Tmac was on it, leading the team, played better defense than Kobe had more team success you people were nowhere around. [Here you go. First, Kobe's stats. http://82games.com/04LAL6C.HTM Look at the opponent counterpart production - the PER number. 15 is average. Kobe's SG opponents are slightly above average at 15.3. And here's TMac's stats http://82games.com/04HOU11C.HTM 13.2 at SG, 13.4 at SF. The table at the top shows how much he plays each position.] Kobe h asnt done anything tmac or AI or even freaking lebron hasnt done post shaq besides shoot more, and if scoring more points off of more than 1000 + more shots than lebron took is better then you people are blind. Tmac at his best has come top 3 in player efficiency, something Kobe has yet to do ONCE. Top 3 in MVP voting, something Kobe has yet to do ONCE. I dont want to hear about an overrated defender who gambles and gets burned and blames his teammates for ever loss while taking the credit from them when they win. He cares about noone but Kobe. He got his scoring title then he threw his mates under the bus in game 7. Thats very pathetic. Who cares though right? He is kobe afterall. He has 3 rings....LOL, so does Dickey Simpkins. Tmac is a better jumpshooter than Kobe is, he can afford to take them (he was just hurt this season, but we saw what he looked like in the summer preinjury) Tmac is a smarter less emotional player who trusts his teammates and the system, rather than wanting to be the hero and always trying to prove something. Isnt it strange kobe after 3 rings and 10 years is still trying to prove something. Like who cares just play the freaking game. Its not all about you and you can't take it. You fans calling people haters and defend him no matter what are the reason he gets flack. He's not above reproach, and no he's not perfect. As it stands the only guys destined to be all time greats at least in this current era are Duncan and Shaq daddy. beyond that Kobe is another swingman who is very good, and hasnt done anything any other star player has with no help.
I understand why you say that because it "feels" like Kobe is more of a competitor but I'm not sold on that idea yet. Lets take a closer look. Jordan or Hakeem never scored 1 point in a Game 7 of playoff series. Do you think Jordan or Hakeem would have had public fueds with the best player on the team if winning was what was important? When Kobe competes ...he competes hard. But he simply checks out of reality too much. TMac has a mellow disposition and often people assume you aren't working hard. I ran track growing up and my running style was so smooth that people assumed I wasn't working hard but internally... I was dying! Sometimes I would like to see more fire in him but you can't lead the league in scoring 2 years straight on a crappy team where you get triple teamed every possession if you aren't a competitor. The jury is still out if TMac is just a smooth operator or if he is actually not working as hard as he can. I say it's hard to be a professional anything (esp a top tier guy) and be a slacker.
