The irony of this post is that Harden has always backtracked, slumped, and choked in the playoffs wearing Rockets Red. 1st round exit, 1st round exit, WCF with majority of credit to Josh Smith going nuts, and the consistent playoff beasting of Howard, our best player in the playoffs the past 2 years. McGrady would always go beast and take his game to another level in the playoffs. Shoulda Woulda Coulda....man it would have been so great to have McGrady and Yao's good health align just once. Sad sad sad.
And the stats, McGrady was inefficient. When he was hot it was fun but he had less hot than not. I was at the San Antonio game and I remember thinking that if he improved his defense he was better than Kobe, ha!
He was the best player in the league that year in my opinion. Dude was on fire most of the games . Hid best rocket year.
Moses Malone won a MVP and took the Rockets to the finals. Even if Tmac 'had more luck' , he wouldn't even be able to lick Mose's Malone's toe nails. Think about that, we're talking #2, When Hakeem is #1.
Debatable. We already know T-Mac's prime was in Orlando but don't know if Harden has reached his ceiling. Harden's game will age well if he can stay healthy, and that's what makes him more valuable. Short term? I think it's close. Long term? Harden for sure.
TMac had a better Center . . a better coach . . .and as good of teammates and still could not get it done Rocket River
Which one has the most points in the Second Round, Conference Finals and Finals? Harden . . . . LOL TMac's Post 1st Round Stats are like 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DNPCD DNPInjured The Pairing of Artest and Yao did more than Tmac and Yao Rocket River
It's sort of silly to say T-mac was worse than Harden because Harden went farther in the playoffs. I know it's common for pundits to make these types of evaluations but it's actually a poor exercise in managerial decision making. There are a multitude of factors that determine how far any one player goes in the playoffs - luck, teammates, coaches, opponents, etc. In their prime, I would take T-mac over Harden.
04-05 We got jobbed by the refs and Michael Finley. 05-06 We didnt even make the playoffs because Yao could only be healthy for 57 games. McGrady back injuries, back spasms begin. 06-07 McGrady Back injuries. The year of Synergy Release Therapy. It's on me. I tried man I tried. 07-08 Yao Ming out for season. Didn't play in the playoffs. 08-09 McGrady wrecked with injuries. Wasn't in the playoffs. My apologies as a Rockets fan, if I don't join you in a gleeful dance looking back on those 5 miserable years wrecked by injuries whilst convienently,sloppily, and erroneously hanging it all on McGrady.
the worst i ever felt as a rockets fan was loosing to utah in 2007 game 7 at home in the 1st round. saying that, tmac was a player that can score in many ways. harden is still young but relying too much on the whistle.
I expected Tinman to be hyperbolic with the hate, but he actually is quite reasonable with the criticism in this thread. What's the matter, Tinman? Getting soft as the years pass by?
Even with Morey at the helm in 2004-2005 I think JVG chose most of the players. Would Morey have pulled the Steve Francis , Mobley, and Cato for Mcgrady trade? Remembering that team though reminds me so much of this team. Just another failure of a Rockets team because our organization has no idea how to build a championship. Sure wish we could get Charlie Thomas back as an owner and one of the Patterson boys to help fix this team.
Harden carried us to the WCF with no All-Stars. She-Mac choked with Yao who popped his 1st round cherry without the choking loser. Claiming he's the best Rocket ever after Dream is disrespectful to Moses, Harden & Yao. Each of Harden's first four seasons as a Rocket are better than anything T-Mac ever did in Houston. T-Mac was just fools gold, looked pretty at times but incredibly inefficient and the biggest choker/loser in NBA history.
