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Does Harden have the potential to be better than T-Mac in his prime?

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by haiti1804, Dec 20, 2012.

  1. haiti1804

    haiti1804 Member

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    He is already far more efficient then T-mac ever was.He doesn’t really play above the rim, but he is a shockingly good athlete when he has to be. How good can James Harden be in his prime? T-Mac good? Wade good? discuss
     
  2. Orange

    Orange Member

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    He has already been to the nba finals so if your looking for a winner he can already give you a lot more than tmac. As far as individual stats well he just has to have a career 20 ppg to surpass tmac and if harden makes the hall of fame then yes. I think we all know tmac will not make the hall of fame and no one will retire his jersey.
     
  3. Air Langhi

    Air Langhi Contributing Member

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    No I don't think so. In his prime Tmac had a PER of over 30. There is only a handful of guys who have ever done that or can do it.
     
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  4. YaoMing#1

    YaoMing#1 Member

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    Yes and Mac was special hardens just so damn good
     
  5. RedRedemption

    RedRedemption Contributing Member

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    Mac's prime was in Orlando.
    Harden is not going to hit his prime until about two to three years.
     
  6. SamFisher

    SamFisher Contributing Member

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    No. Not a knock on harden, but Tracy McGrady in his prime (in Orlando) put up a LeBron/Jordan/Wilt caliber season in 2003 - almost nobody has ever been that good.
     
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  7. Angkor Wat

    Angkor Wat Member

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    I don't know...Tmac had the POTENTIAL to be as good as a Kobe or better. Never lived up to it. But I do think Harden can be as good or better than what Tmac turned out to be.
     
  8. meh

    meh Contributing Member

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    One thing to note about Harden is that he benefits as much as anyone from our run and gun style of play. Many of his baskets come from transition, before the defense could fully set up. T-Mac, though, was capable of generating all of offense almost purely in half court set, which is incredibly difficult to accomplish. In this sense T-Mac is similar to Rose and AI as a guy who despite his inefficiency, is very valuable through sheer volume in a low-efficiency environment. Harden has shown more than a few times to struggle in the half court.

    I think T-Mac has a lot of flaws, but he was a superstar game-changer in every sense of the word at his peak. I get annoyed at him mainly because he could've been so much more, and for his quitting, but not because he wasn't great.
     
  9. thadeus

    thadeus Contributing Member

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    I don't know.
     
  10. onreego

    onreego Member

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    Definitely had the potential to better than Kobe. If you were to put Kobe's personality/heart into Tracy's body, we're talking GOAT arguments.
     
  11. joepu

    joepu Member

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    Basically, Tmac's career peaked at 23. Harden at 23 is just entering his prime. How can a player peak that early? Most likely Tmac could have been even better but he never got the mental aspect of the game. Harden, I think is way ahead of Tmac in that regard.
     
  12. catch22

    catch22 Member

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    hell no... you obviously haven't seen tmac in his prime (orlando years)
     
  13. NL Rocket

    NL Rocket Member

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    Different type of players so cannot really compare and career wise Harden will probably have more success but in his prime, T-mac was MJ like so that's really hard to do. Doesn't mean he can't do it though but body wise Tracy was a freak, but Harden is deceptively good and FTs are going to keep him a high volume scorer for a long time.
     
  14. haoafu

    haoafu Contributing Member

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    No, but he has a chance to win rings. Not that he's a better player, but he has a good GM in Morey to surround him with better supporting cast.
     
  15. ralphabetsoup

    ralphabetsoup Member

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    He's already arguably at that level with less flash. If he can stay out of a back brace, he'll be more successful.
     
  16. jtr

    jtr Contributing Member

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    I don't know. TMac had a phenomenal season in Orlando. But Harden just seems to blow around his man and then stroll into the lane for a point blank basket or foul shots. Time after time. It just amazes me.
     
  17. BeeBeard

    BeeBeard Member

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    He already is.
     
  18. thekad

    thekad Member

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    No, he's not.

    T-Mac (peak): 32.1 PPG, 6.5 REB, 5.5 AST, 1.7 STL, .564TS%, 30.3PER, .262WS/48, +7.7xRAPM.

    James Harden is the more efficient scorer on no where near the volume and also less of a playmaker, rebounder, and defender. Put that T-Mac on this team and we would be talking about contending for a title next year (and Josh Smith/Paul Millsap trades would actually make sense).
     
  19. AggNRox

    AggNRox Member

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    tmac was born to be an offensive player. unfortunately, his effort did come with it.
     
  20. OlajuwonFan81

    OlajuwonFan81 Member

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