Would you rather have Harden, or the 04-05 McGrady?

The thing is, we know what peak TMAC was like (awesome), but Harden is still young, who knows what his ceiling is. He could be a seriously GREAT player in the coming years.

Having said that I can't decide between them. At their peak, they both can take over a game and win it, and carry their team on their backs. Flip a coin, and maybe take TMac for his height & reach advantage.

 

I laughed so hard I farted. It is what it is doe.

 

If were going by pure skill and this roster and not including injuries I think mcgrady by far is the better player. But like I said without injuries and etc.

 

04-05 T-Mac played 78 games. So the question to me is...a healthy T-Mac in his prime vs a healthy Harden who may be a little before his prime. I'm taking T-Mac every day of the week. I think the way T-Mac ended his career here has tarnished how good of a player he was. The guy played GREAT D and always made the right play/pass(JVG said he was the best decision maker he ever saw...always made the smart play). I honestly believe that TMac in his prime was a better all round wing player than Kobe was.

 

Just saw the poll results....78% harden. You people are crazy!

 

beard me.

 

You want a star that enjoys big curvacious booties that are held up via glass heels :grin:

 

Harden and it isn't even close. I criticized him earlier this year for gaining weight last season and being a step slower...but he has without a doubt put a lot of work into his game (both ends) and it is REALLY showing. Dude was getting stripped on his way to the hoop or dribbling off his foot and now hes back in control. Harden is playing like a machine.

 

I'm tempted to say Harden easily, but I think you have to factor in that JVG's offense wasn't ideal for a scorer like T-Mac. IIRC we played a lot of half court possessions and easy baskets were hard to come by. That's not the case with James Harden and this Rockets team. T-Mac took a ton of long 2s also (37% of his shots) though I'm not sure why.

They're very different types of players so it's hard to say one over the other. But, with that said, I'll take this version of Harden. He's a bad man.

 

The one and most clear difference btwn Harden and TMac...Harden is one tough SOB both mentally and physically. TMac would fold if he was hit as much as James is currently. Harden relishes the contact, and his game thrives on it. Harden has relentlessly attacked the rim and drawn fouls. Also, Harden's greatest attribute is his ability to shoot at a high clip. To evaluate the type of shooter a player is, look to their FT shooting %. James Harden's career may not have had a massive peak, but he will have a longer/tenured career...

Only one statistical year I wouldve taken Mcgrady over anyone else...that is 2002-2003.

 

maybe McGrady should have tried to stay healthy like Harden.

Sorry, there's no injury excuse for McGrady, he's not the most special player in the NBA.

If you want to play with an all injured team that's fine, I'm taking durable players like HAKEEM OLAJUWON and JAMES HARDEN and CLYDE DREXLER and OTIS THORPE on my team

you can have Tmac and Penny Hardaway and Andrew Bynum

 

Ok look.

McGrady was the product of one of those 'basketball puppy mill' high schools. He never went to college, he never even really had a normal childhood or high school experience.

His ENTIRE adolescence and growth into adulthood was completely and totally conflated with basketball, to the point that his entire sense of self-worth and self-esteem were dependent solely upon basketball.

And not just basketball, but more specifically, what people THOUGHT about him in relation to basketball. He had no personal emotional growth as a teenager and young man. The fans and the media were his mirror, and it showed.

He could be on top of the world (13 in 35) and there was not a more ecstatic young man in the world.

But then things could not go his way and he would sink into a funk, sulk, and it would cause him to perform even more poorly. (It's my fault. It's always my fault.)

This made McGrady mentally weak. That's just the truth.

I liked the guy, personally. I wanted him to succeed as a Rocket, and I was already counting the championships when we acquired him to pair with Yao.

If you are talking just pure talent, then yeah, it's probably McGrady, and not really even close. He was gifted as a scorer and basketball player as few people ever have been. But the pressure got to him, and try as he might, and even though he personally elevated his stats in the playoffs, he never had that ability to hoist the team on his shoulders and carry them across the finish line.

I may not have seen EVERY game during the T-Mac era, but I saw most of them, and as I sit here and ask myself the following question: 'How many last-second three-pointers did McGrady hit to tie or win close games?' Apart from '13 in 35', were there even any others? I don't remember any, surely there were some.

But with Harden.. he is a worker, and he is skilled specifically in manipulating the current NBA rules to give me an almost unfair advantage. Heck, after he his that 3 last night, I swear he almost looked SORRY for the Nuggets.

But that's the key. That was the second time in a week that Harden hit an absolutely cold-blooded clutch 3 to tie a game or give us the lead in the last few seconds. Already, even at this young age, and even with the ugly-duckling 'old man's game' Harden plays, everyone knows that *HE IS GOING TO MAKE THAT SHOT*. The other teams know it, we know it, Harden knows it..

That.. THAT.. is what strikes fear in the other teams, and keeps coaches awake at night.. like ice water dripping down the backs of their necks, that fear, telling them, 'No matter what we do, Harden is going to GET us in the end and we are going to lose..'

Harden is building himself into this monster, because he is just that good. Jordan, Kobe, Duncan, Bird, even Olajuwon.. These are all guys who became the monsters of fear in their opponents minds. I am not saying Harden is on their level (not yet anyway), but if he keeps doing what he is doing, then yeah, he may get there.

Harden has the ability to carry the team on his shoulders. McGrady did not.

Both players, high BBIQ, yes. Highly skilled, yes. Heart even, yes.

But where McGrady had mercury in his veins, Harden has ice.

I'll take Harden over McGrady, please and thank you.

 

Actually I think that was perfect for Tmac, he had to have the ball in his hands and create for others or himself, our offense ran through him...

T-Mac would shy away from contact and pull up for fadeaway. Thats what I remember most. With Harden, its kind of like...results at the end of the day. W.e he has to do, he'll do it.

 

TMac had an amazing season in 04-05, his first one with the Rockets. It really looked like the Rockets were a team on the rise and just a couple small moves away from being very serious contenders.

Of course, it all went downhill with multiple injuries and then what appeared to be lack of motivation, but T-Mac's first season was a great one.


That said- I would take Harden this year over T-Mac that year. I don't think T-Mac was ever seriously in the MVP chase that year. If we had T-MAc from that year on this year's team, I don't think we would be 19-5

 

Don't forget that handicap pick a fight with a guy 12 inches shorter than you, Ralph Sampson.


I know you never picked up a basketball in your life, so you probably wouldn't know, but injuries happen.



To be fair to both guys, I'd take Tracy from the neck down, and harden from the beard and up, (and hands).

 

Sampson took the Rockets to the NBA Finals. The only thing similar with McGrady is that they were on the Rockets.

 

I think i have to give the edge to Harden a bit, i don't even know how to put Mac into this scenario really.
Hypothetical never works, plus when harden gets us out of the first round this will seem like an after thought.

 

Probably Harden.

2002-03 Tmac is a different story

 

Harden is playing defense this year, so harden...if you'd asked me last year I'd have said 05 tmac

 

I didn't quite understand why we were down... and then I saw it.

Free Throws. 5 for the team all half...Pelicans with 11.

I've only watched most of the 2nd, no 1st, but it just seemed odd. Pelicans aren't shooting all that well or hitting their 3s. Whelp, there it is. I'm pretty sure we usually have like 17-18 by now. Wow. and 4 of the 5 are Black's right?

dam.